HOW LONG THE DESIGN PROCESS TAKES

We like to keep the process moving and generate drawings or redraws within days of a design session.  Once the floor plans and elevations are more or less set we produce the working drawings in one to three weeks depending upon the size of the job.

How long the process takes, though, is really up to our clients.  Some like to move quickly.  Others take their time, and we don't push.

Figure a remodel project will take no less than three weeks from the first meeting, and a new house design will take no less than six weeks.

DESIGN AND BUDGET

During our initial meetings with new clients we ask a great many questions about what they want and need, what their priorities and tastes are, and how much they are prepared to spend.  People can't begin to answer the questions until they see what they might get; so sketches of floor plans perspective drawings, and the like accompany these early sessions.

Our goal in this intensive early phase of design is a preliminary plan with a ballpark price that gives our clients latitude in making the dozens of subsequent decisions about what goes in the house and on its exterior.

Why the emphasis on cost?  Two reasons.  Most people don't realize how much construction costs have risen since the last house recession in the early 90's and many don't fully appreciate that you can design to budget, but you can't build to budget.

We don't want to give our clients a finished set of plans that they can't afford to build.

LOCAL STORES AS RESOURCES

Western Massachusetts is not a great place to shop for all the things that go into a house.  Many of our clients use the internet for furnishings, vanities, and lighting fixtures.  Below is a list of stores we have found to have good selections and sales people who know their stuff.

As part of our standard service one or both of us spend a day with local clients visiting kitchen centers [including two we designed], flooring stores, and whatever seems appropriate for the given project.  We are both available at our hourly rates to get more heavily involved in interior design.