FAQ

What's the benefit of hiring a designer?

Designers save you from lots and lots of time, headaches and costly mistakes.

Here are some key benefits:

• We have incredible eye for detail and lots of experience problem solving for just about anything that happens in a project.
• Space planning is pretty big when it comes to renovations and decorating projects. If you are lost with what to put in a room or what size piece of furniture or scale of wallpaper or tile to use, look no further. We got your back!
• Hiring vendors/ contractors can be a bit scary. Some of them are great and some of them like to cut corners. We provide our eagle eye and years of experience to see if the work thats being done is being done corrrectly.
• Adding a designer to a renovation vs just a contactors is also a great benefit. I have seen time and time again contactors trying to take the role of designers and the result is something that could be extremly well crafted and lost in craftmanship but lacking in any sort aesthetics. If that's your thing go for it! If not, hiring a designer will help you make sure that the materials you are choosing will be not only aesthetically pleasing but also have a look that is unique, authentic and seamless with the architecture of your home.
• Hiring an interior designer vs a big retail store to furnish your home is also a big one. My role as a designer is creating and sourcing a custom and curated experience from an array of vendors rather than just one. It offers a flexibilty that big stores that offer design services just dont offer. The same goes with larger companies that offer e design (they are incentivized to only source with a few vendors). The results with a designer is a much more bespoke and personal experience.
• Interior Designers also most of the time can get better pricing than most retail stores on items that if you look at the entire budget for things purchased on your own vs hiring a designer you might be shocked to know that hiring a designer is a lot less pricier than you think and the process is a lot more fun.

Hope that helps and always adding more to this list with time.

What do renovations include?

The work we do for you may include any or all of the following based on your specific needs:

• Interior renovation including structural and architectural alterations. We will work directly with you, or your architect to make spatial changes that will liberate, or make sense of, your existing interior.
• Collaborations with our preferred design professionals. If the project needs an architect, landscape architect or other specialist, and you don’t have your own, we can recommend professionals with whom we have developed strong collaborative working relationships.
• Custom designed joinery such as wardrobes, built-in cabinets or freestanding pieces that will provide tailored solutions for your needs.
• Custom designed kitchens and bathrooms with structural and cosmetic alterations.
• Selection of materials and finishes such as flooring, tiles, stones, timbers, paints, wallpapers.
• Selection of furniture, lighting, rugs, accessories.
• Design and installation of window treatments.
• Design and management of bespoke upholstery and furnishings.
• Art selection, curation, expansion and exhibition
• Color blocking for interior and exteriors

I have never worked with a designer before. How does it work?

Good question! Below is a step by step process of what to expect

1. After an inital discovery call of (15-30 mins) we will conclude the call with a scheduled consultation

2. Before the consultation we will send you a welcome kit. At the consultation (approx 60-90 mins) we will go over each room that needs work, give you some advice and get some general dimensions. we will then work on creating a design proposal with a budget in place and scope of work-

3. upon acceptance of the proposal an agreement is signed and payment is submitted. The first 10 hours of time usually goes to behind the scenes work ( floorplans, and budget developemnt)

4. We present design layouts, renderings with some furniture options / design for approval. Once We have final selections we finalize the budget and start ordering and tracking items.

5. Deliveries/ installation day is the last step
6. extra steps after installation is staging and photography.

How much will I need to budget for?

It's difficult to figure out a cost of a project especially a renovation, without seeing it first and getting to know what the full project scope and dimensions. We might spot things (structurally, design or code) related that was not brought up until we see it.

With that said, we take our budgets pretty seriously. After the inital consult of $240 we send you a free proposal with low, medium and high price points. You have the final say every step of the way and want you to feel confident and great about the investment.

Here's some ballpark numbers to help you out. We will also include a budget worksheet in our welcome kits

• Decorating projects with an average size family room, master bedroom, or dining room the budgets start around $15,000+. If you are planning to decorate an entire home, the cost to decorate can be around 15-20% of the home
• Kitchen Renovation: expect to spend anywhere from $20,000+
• Bathroom renovation: $10,000+
  

Can we use existing pieces into the design?

Absolutely. If you have a favorite piece of furniture, accessory or something that holds sentimental value, please let us know at consultation or while filling out your questionnaire. This way we can ensure these items stay in the design plan and the design is coordinated around these valuables. If you have an item that you’d like to keep, please send us photographs of each individually for design purposes.

Do we have to use your architect or contracor?

Not at all. we can either work with who you love working with or send you a list of recommendations for you to interview at your convenience. We can also offer some advice and tips on hiring a contractor or architect. Additionally, we have a list of local handymen available for much smaller upgrades and/or repairs / maintenance after.

How does ordering work? Do I get a discount?

• For Full Service Design, we do all the ordering. It is part of the service and that includes tracking all the deliveries, dealing with any back ordered or damaged items, storing the items, and installing everything into the newly designed space. There are some items we recommend you purchase on your own.

• For E design we send over a shopping list of retail items that you purchase on your own.
  
  We share discounts with our clients on items we order. The discounts vary from vendor to vendor. The cost for any item does not exceed any retail pricing. we don’t guarantee any discount, but typically check 2 sources for each item to ensure that we are giving you the best price per item.

How long do projects take?

This depends on a variety of things from scope of work to be done, schedule constraints by the designer, turn around time, delays outside of our control, how quickly decisions are made etc. Here's some general timeline for projects.

• Retail stores generally have a leadtime of 4-6 weeks
• Custom made pieces have a lead time from 6- 12 weeks.

Communication is also a deciding factor on how fast we can source for you etc.

** Please note that Covid-19 has also caused some considerable delays with furniture and material orders and deliveries due to warehouse shortages and delays that are outside of our control.

What's the difference between retail and trade?

Glad you asked!

Retail is what you are used to shopping. Large furniture stores and vendors sell at a "retail price" which is top dollar for an item that gets shipped directly to you and is easily to be returned.

Trade pricing is a bit different but worth it!

typically these big retail stores are getting items from wholesale companies and charging on top of that. Trade pricing cuts of the mark up that retail stores are selling at and it allows you to get extra savings. A few things to note with trade that is a little different.

1. Purchasing happens directly through me. The vendors I work with have strict policies and only use my info to process orders. When we look at trade pricing I will let you know that it is trade and send an invoice accordingly.
2. All payments are to be 100% down. Usually once we get an item we cannot return it unless it comes considerably damaged or is delayed before delivery.
3. Trade pricing also allows for extreme customization
4. Much better deals than retail and more unique pieces.
5. Depending on the vendor the furniture or item can be shipped directly to your home or through a recieving warehouse. more on that in just a moment.

Can I change my mind once an order is placed?

In most cases, orders cannot be cancelled or refunded. In the event the vendor allows such, the item may be returned and receive a refund for the cost of the item minus the purchasing fee and any other applicable fees. Custom orders are non refundable.

How are items deliverd?

We offer a few options that depends on the vendors and budget. We can either get items shipped to you directly or through a receiving warehouse that then will delivery. For an additional fee we can have entire shopped rooms shipped to our receiving warehouse and then delivered and installed in one day.

What is a receiving warehouse?

A receiving warehouse is a company that takes trade purchases and stores and cares for the trade pieces before delivery. You know how HGTV has the one day reveal? Well Receiving warehouses are 100% behind that magic.

How it works:

Once an order is placed through trade or retail we can have the items go directly ro a recieving warehouse. upon delivery they do a thorough inspection of the pieces, if anything arrives less than par they help intitiate the return and exchange for perfect items.

Once everything is ready for intallation the receiving warehouse will be able to deliver and install all pieces as well as get rid of any packaging materials associated with the pieces.

Consider them the storage, moving company on crack! :)

What forms of payment do you take?

For packages and services rendered, we accept:

all major credit cards, check, ach