Our Process

Every project begins with a conversation. First contact is typically made through an email inquiry or a phone call. During the initial call—or a follow-up Zoom meeting—we begin to understand your goals, project type, location, and expectations. If the initial exchange confirms a good fit, we’ll schedule an in-person meeting—either at your home, on-site, or in our office—where we’ll explore your needs in greater depth and walk you through how our process works. This phase culminates in a detailed proposal for your review and signature.

Before we begin designing, we listen, investigate, and document. We gather and review all relevant site information—HOA guidelines, zoning requirements, surveys, existing conditions, and more. We visit the site to assess its strengths and constraints, document existing conditions, photograph and measure, and create a digital baseline for design. This is also the phase where you get to share Pinterest boards, torn-out pages from magazines, and wish-lists and where we discuss architectural style and look at precedent imagery together.  We need to attain a deep understanding of your aesthetic desires, programmatic needs, lifestyle, and long-term goals—so we can begin the design process with clarity and purpose.

This is where ideas begin to take form. We explore multiple design options—each grounded in your priorities, site conditions, and evolving feedback. Together, we iterate toward a cohesive solution, refining floor plans, elevations, and models until the design reflects your vision in full. Visualization efforts can be limited to conventional 2D architectural drawings or expand to meet the client's needs including photo-realistic 3D renderings or videos. Depending on the specific site conditions, the 3D visualization efforts might include accurate depiction of an expansive surrounding landscape to articulate distant views of and from the project. This phase typically culminates with your approval of the floor plans and a 3D model of the exterior. 

With the overall design direction approved, we begin defining and clarifying your expectations for quality—and by extension, cost. This phase includes detailed, room-by-room conversations to establish your preferences for amenities, materials, finishes, cabinetry, lighting, and more. We continue to study design options while expanding the drawings and outline specifications to address windows, doors, cabinetry, appliances, fixtures, building systems, and potential structural challenges. Similar to schematic design,  visualization efforts for the building interiors in this phase can be limited to conventional 2D architectural drawings, basic black and white 3D modeling, or expand to meet the client's needs including photo-realistic 3D renderings or videos. Depending on client need, the interior 3D visualization efforts might include accurate depiction of finishes, furnishings, fixtures, lighting, and exterior views. This phase culminates in the delivery of a coordinated drawing set and outline specifications to a select group of general contractors, who will prepare preliminary budget estimates for your review.

During this phase, our design work pauses while selected general contractors prepare budget estimates based on the drawings and outline specifications. Our involvement is typically limited to answering contractor questions, checking in on progress, and facilitating communication. Once estimates are received, we help you interpret the results, weigh tradeoffs, and consider where adjustments might be made. At this point, you should have enough information to determine whether the project remains viable. This phase often concludes with the selection of a general contractor to collaborate with through the remainder of the project and discussions regarding adjustments to the projects scope and finish quality to keep the budget in line.

With a clear direction in place, we begin refining the design and working through every room, condition, and required decision to eliminate unknowns and assumptions. This phase often involves extensive coordination with other design professionals and consultants—including structural and civil engineers, landscape architects, and interior designers—as well as showroom visits, interior finish selections, and continued drawing refinement based on your feedback. Every decision is documented with precision and integrated into the drawings and specifications to support accurate final pricing, smooth permitting, and flawless execution. This phase typically culminates in the issuance of a comprehensive drawing set to the general contractor for use in preparing the contract budget and securing a building permit.

As during the Preliminary Pricing Exercise, our design work pauses during this phase. Our efforts are typically limited to answering questions from the general contractor related to the contract budget and responding to permitting inquiries from the municipality or HOA. We may also use this time to finalize any remaining details in coordination with the contractor and consultants. Once the permit is secured and the budget is complete, we issue a “For Construction” set—formally marking the start of construction.

Our work doesn’t stop when the drawings are printed. We remain actively involved throughout construction—serving as your primary advocate and maintaining continuity between the design and execution. We attend regular site meetings, answer questions, review submittals and shop drawings, issue clarification drawings, monitor construction progress and installation quality, and review the contractor’s applications for payment. Our continued presence acts as a kind of insurance—helping ensure the final outcome precisely reflects the time, care, and effort invested in all the prior phases.

The beginning of the end is marked by an exhaustive walk-through and punch list prepared by our team. We inspect every inch of the project—opening every door and drawer, turning on every light and faucet, flushing toilets, wiggling handles, and checking the fit and finish of every surface and detail. Once everything has been made just right, it's ready for you and your family to enjoy!

Even after move-in, we remain available. Whether it’s answering a follow-up question, offering guidance on a future decision, or providing documentation long after the dust has settled—we continue to serve as your advocate and counsel. Many of our clients reach out just to tell us how much they love their new space, how well it works for their everyday life, or that they’ve just noticed a small detail that only revealed itself over time. Others return to engage us for a second phase, a new property, or a project in an entirely different setting. We consider this relationship ongoing. Our door is always open.