First, no one here knew what they were doing when they started. All of us figured it out from plans/friends/books/this forum and other sources. There will be moments but a willingness to carry on will get you through pretty much anything. Wood and supplies really depends upon where you live, what woods are available, shipping etc. Estimate 250 to 300 hours to build a kayak. That translates into anything from a few months to a couple of winters depending on how much time you can put in at a time. The decorations are not included in the plans but Nick's book and the One Ocean site give good ideas on doing it and there are lots of ideas on other places in Nick's site and the Redfish site. If you just want a boat, go plastic or glass. If you want something personal and beautiful which will likely paddle better, go hand made be it wood strip, stitch and glue or skin on frame. I've worked on nine kayaks of my own and friends now and enjoy the process. Generally, the people I have been involved with have felt the same. I do have one friend with a kayak in my shop who has been two years working on it and has come to hate the process -- and he is a talanted artist who we thought would love it. Evaluate yourself carefully before you start.
best of luck
don

: Hello,
: My nameis Jess and I'm interested in building a wooden kayak. I have no idea
: how to go about this process. I am a beginner and had a couple of
: questions. How are hard are these plans for beginners to figure out? After
: buying the plans how much generally does the rest of the wood and supplies
: usually cost? How much time does it take to build a wooden kayak? The
: patterns on the boats that I have seen, are those included in the plans
: and if not how would I go about that? I hope any of you could shed light
: on this for me. Thanks, and I would appreciate any help at all.