OUR PROCESS

The pre-design phase establishes the foundation for everything that follows. It begins with a comprehensive programming meeting where we gather information about your home, clarify your goals and priorities, and collect what we need to develop a design proposal and budget for all four phases.

For remodels and additions, we take field measurements and document existing conditions — including photos and detailed drawings — focused on the areas under design consideration. For new homes, we build a preliminary model from drawings you provide or set up a diagram that helps us make sure the new home will integrate well with the building site and views.

From our measurements and photos, we build a schematic 3D model of your home in SketchUp, geolocated on satellite imagery to establish site context, access, and views. The model is designed for flexibility in big picture space planning, editing and general design exploration.

This phase also sets up the Drawings and Deliverables phase that follows — after your first design meeting, you'll receive printable pre-design drawings or screenshots to review.

Fees for this phase typically range from $800–$1,200 for average homes (2,500 sq. ft. or less).

This is where your project takes shape. Using everything gathered in the Pre-Design Phase, we develop schematic 3D floor plan options that explore how your spaces can be arranged, connected, and oriented — including how functional spaces relate to each other, to natural light, to views, and to the outdoors.

We focus on the underlying structure and flow of the home — working through layout concepts, circulation, proportions, and the size and placement of openings to find an arrangement that feels right. Our models are built with limited materials and are intended to be fast and flexible, so design review meetings become collaborative working sessions where we can test ideas, try alternatives, and explore options together in real time rather than waiting on revisions between meetings.

These drawings are intentionally schematic — designed to communicate ideas and invite feedback, not to serve as construction documents or photo-realistic renderings.

Review meetings are scheduled as needed to walk through options, gather your input, and refine the direction toward a final schematic package. In this phase we also identify options you want included in your schematic package so you can gather feedback from builders and pricing information to maximize the function and value of your home.  

Fees for this phase typically range from $1,600–$2,400 for average homes (2,500 sq. ft. or less).

With the floor plan and spatial layout established, this phase brings the schematic model closer to what your finished home will actually look like. We layer in suggested window styles, roof profiles, exterior finishes, and interior materials to give the design a realistic character and help you visualize the overall direction.

This step is about more than aesthetics — material and finish selections have a significant impact on project cost, so exploring these choices early helps set realistic expectations and informs decisions before work begins. Selections at this stage remain schematic and suggestive rather than specified, giving your builder flexibility while ensuring the design intent is clearly communicated.

Fees for this phase typically range from $400–$800 for average homes (2,500 sq. ft. or less).

The schematic design process culminates in a final design playbook — a comprehensive package that documents your project clearly enough to share with builders, get accurate pricing, and make informed decisions before any work begins. Depending on the scope of your project, the playbook may include (as needed) a schematic site plan, dimensioned floor plans, exterior elevations, a roof plan, enlarged room plans with suggested fixture and furniture layouts, 3D views of the model showing interior and exterior relationships, material and finish ideas, and planning square footages to support budgeting.

For many projects we document more than one design direction or multiple options — a version you could comfortably live with and a version you'd love — along with targeted options or upgrades that can be priced separately, so you have a clear picture of the tradeoffs before committing to a scope and forming an agreement with a builder or other construction professionals.

Fees for this phase typically range from $1,200–$2,400 for average homes (2,500 sq. ft. or less).

Following the design phase, our team is available to support your licensed builder or general contractor throughout construction — acting as a design subcontractor to help keep the project aligned with the original vision.

Services may include preparation of detailed permit or construction drawings, on-call design guidance, material and finish decision support, and coordination between the design intent and field conditions as they arise. Whether your builder needs drawing documentation for permitting or ongoing design input to navigate decisions during the build, we can tailor our involvement to fit the scope and pace of your project.

Construction phase services are scoped and quoted based on project needs and scope of request.