FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Each project is unique. Some of these questions and answers may not apply to your project. Please do not hesitate to call us! We’re here to help.
Do you work out of town?
We love working with clients from outside of our immediate geographic area and do so regularly.
There are many ways to accommodate the needs of an interior design project from afar and we are happy to discuss how we coordinate this.
From regular phone conferences to submitting digital concept boards, compiling hand-drawn sketches and 3D renderings to share, bundling up samples and material finishes and sending them to you as we refine the bigger details of your design…we’ve got you covered! Any project is just one flight away.
What can I expect during the initial consultation?
Every project starts with a consultation. These meetings are typically 60-90 minutes in length and are very casual. Consider it a thorough meet and greet that allows our team to absorb more information about you, your expectations, your style of communication, and your pain points about the space(s) you want help re-designing.
Our ability to ask the right questions during this meeting will result in a succinct outline of the exact scope of work that will help you achieve your interior design goals – no matter the project.
We charge a fee for the initial consultation (contact us for this cost as it is dependent on your location and specific needs). The fee is non-refundable and does not get deducted from the design fee in your design agreement if you decide to hire us for your project.
Our time, wisdom, and intellectual value is what you are paying for during this meeting and we have never had a prospective client feel as though they did not get value from our meeting together.
What do you charge for design services?
There is no tried and true formula to determine what we charge for design services on any given project, but there are some baseline rates you could expect depending on the type of project you are looking to pursue.
Typically, with a medium kitchen or master bath remodel, you can expect $10,000-$12,000 minimum for the design fee portion of the project (plans, selections, drawings and detailed specifications) and for rates to increase from there depending on the logistics, scale of the space, and other detailed needs you may require. For a bedroom refresh, you can expect to invest $2,500 minimum in design fees.
Our minimum styling fee is $10 per square foot.
We charge hourly for project management for our time and involvement in the finer tuned logistics that will be required in the execution of your project. This project management fee is accrued over time and billed bi-monthly in most cases.
There is no cookie cutter way to approach pricing.
It is very important for us to understand your budget. (Read a great blog post by my colleague Cheryl about that topic here)
Having a frank conversation about what you’re expecting to spend is an important step to how we work because it’s the only way for us to begin to reasonably assess what’s going to be practical for your space. We are very transparent about these discussions and know that clients who are a good fit for our firm trust and appreciate this approach because it’s honest and straightforward.
Most important for you to know is that we treat each project with a thorough and independent review, starting with a consultation meeting in your space to better focus on the specific scope of work you want to engage us in, and absorbing some of the site specific conditions that may make the project more or less intensive in certain ways, and getting a better sense for you and what you are looking to hire us for. Information is key in these meetings and we gather it both in our discussion with you and in our visual analysis of the space.
How long will my project take?
This is always an important question. It is impossible to say until we meet and get the ball rolling. It really depends on the scope of work, time of year, and our production calendar.
What should I expect on install day?
After we get the orders for your furniture and accents submitted we will begin to compile a timeline for install that factors in the arrival time of your orders from the manufacturers and the needs of our local workroom for turnaround on items like window coverings, custom bedding and pillows, etc.
Depending on the scope of work for your project we will also factor in any subcontractor work so that their timeline coordinates appropriately.
We can help coordinate each of these items or put you in touch with the professionals who will then bill you direct for their labor. (We always resort back to a very basic order of operations when it comes to project managing subs to be sure that you don’t have the painters in on the day the windows are being hung or the wallpaper being hung before the ceiling is painted… all that sort of thing!)
As we near install day, you can expect the design assistant assigned to your project to be in touch about selecting an install date and clearing out any existing furnishings you have that will need to be sold/moved so that the space is 100% ready when the delivery truck arrives.
We prefer client’s to be away from home when we’re completing the final install and work with our team to meet and facilitate the delivery truck* early so that they can get right to work and we can get you back into your home as soon as possible!
Then, when you arrive back, the big reveal is truly a reveal (without you having to watch over the delivery guys as they move things in!) We will do everything from style the space with accessories and art on install day if you want us to! It’s so much fun and the best part of the whole process, for sure!
*The delivery company we use will bill you directly – typically they charge anywhere from $90-$150/hour depending on how large and logistically tough the install is. If you need them to remove your old furniture beforehand please just let us know ahead of time so we can help coordinate with them accordingly.
Want to know more? Feel free to shoot us an inquiry.