Design Process and what to expect

Our collaborative process ensures your vision is realized while maintaining efficiency and quality. All meetings are typically conducted virtually over Zoom for convenience and efficiency.  We want your input and feedback for the entirety of the design process. From the first sketch to the final set of drawings, our goal is to make sure you feel confident, involved, and excited about the home we’re creating together.  There will be many decisions along the way, and we’ll guide you through them in a way that keeps the process as smooth as possible—so you can enjoy the journey as much as the finished result.
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Initial Consultation

We’ll begin with a Zoom meeting to get to know you and your project. This meeting is a chance to learn about your dream home, walk you through our services, and answer any questions you may have. It’s also an opportunity for both sides to make sure we’re comfortable working together and that our approach is the right fit for your goals.

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Work Agreement & Retainer

Once we’ve agreed that we’re a good fit, we’ll prepare a work agreement that outlines the scope, process, and design fees for your project. To secure your place in our schedule, a retainer payment (typically 50% of the estimated design fee) will be due upon signing. This ensures we can dedicate the time and resources needed to bring your project to life.

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Site Visits

Depending on the location, complexity, and requirements of your project, site visits may be required or necessary. These visits allow us to verify site conditions, coordinate design decisions, and make sure the home design fits seamlessly with the unique features of your property. We’ll let you know when and if a site visit is recommended.

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Kick Off

During this stage, we encourage you to share any photos, sketches, or inspiration items you’ve been collecting. This helps us understand your vision and ensures we start the design process with clarity and alignment.

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Schematic Design

We’ll develop the main floor plan and site concept, then share PDFs for your review and feedback. Take a day, or take a week—this step is completely up to you. We want to make sure you have the time to fully understand the layout and how it will function for your family. Once you’re ready, we’ll schedule a Zoom meeting to go over your comments, ideas, and revisions together. After that, we’ll refine the design iteratively until everything feels just right. Once finalized, we’ll move on to the upper floor and basement, following the same collaborative process.

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Exterior Design

With floor plans in place, we’ll shift to the exterior. From the very beginning of this phase, we’ll create color rendering concepts to help you visualize the design in a realistic way. Starting with the front elevation, we’ll share these renderings for your review and feedback, then make revisions as needed before moving on to the rear and side elevations. This process ensures every detail of the exterior design reflects your vision.

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3D Model Walkthrough

To help you fully visualize the design, we’ll host another Zoom session where you can “walk” through a 3D model of your home. While not every trim detail will be included, this step gives you a strong sense of the flow and layout.

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Finalization

Once both interior and exterior designs are approved, you’ll sign off and we’ll invoice 75% of the design fee based on the home’s actual size. Any changes after this point may incur additional costs. We’ll also bring in the engineering team to begin their portion of the design.

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Detailed Drawings

As the engineers work, we prepare detailed construction drawings—adding dimensions, construction notes, building sections, and basic electrical plans—while coordinating closely with the engineering team.

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Project Completion

Once all design and engineering work is coordinated and finalized, we’ll issue a final invoice for the remaining balance of the design fee. After payment is received in full, the completed drawings will be released to you and your builder for use in permitting and construction
 

Construction Support / Administration (Optional)

We can provide additional support during the construction phase. This may include assistance with permitting, answering questions from you or your builder, or checking in on-site at key milestones. Please note that these visits are primarily courtesy observations and are not a substitute for full Construction Administration services.

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What is included

• Basic Site Plan: Positioning the home on the lot, location of driveway, and accounting for views and site features. 

   

• Floor Plans: Detailed floor layouts for the main floor, upper floors, and basement.

   

• Exterior Elevations and 3D Renderings: Front, rear, and side elevations with color renderings to visualize the design.

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• Building Sections as needed to identify heights, and key items necessary for your builder to construct the home.

   

• Roof Plan

   

• Construction Details

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• Basic Electrical Plans

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• Coordination efforts between consultant engineer and trade partners

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• HOA / ARC submitals for design review and approval. 

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Items not included

These will tyipcal be provided by your builder and/or trade partners for the permit application with the city. 

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• Truss Engineering

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• Gas Pipe Riser Diagrams

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• Manual D&J Calculations

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• ResCheck
  
   

Additional Services

These items are not included in our Design Fee and may be required for your project. If so, you will contract directly with the engineer or provider, while we handle all coordination efforts. We’re happy to recommend trusted partners we work with regularly, or we can collaborate with a professional of your choice.

 

• Structural Engineering This is to ensure the foundation, floors, roof, walls, etc, are structurally sound.  Required for all projects.
   

• Civil Engineering or Lot Survey, to ensure proper water draining and grading. This is not always required, but many citys and Communities do require.
   

• Landscape Design

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• Interior Design and Exerior Material/Color selections. 

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