You know when you have people over and suddenly you notice how small your dining room is? Or you realize that in order to have enough seating you need to dash around the house grabbing the piano bench and the kids’ desk chairs?
We find that gatherings can act as a kind of lens. You see your home in a different way when people are milling around or helping in the kitchen. It helps highlight possibilities.
If you wish you had better seating, a more efficient space, or a little more elbow room for and you’ve been dreaming up some house addition plans — you know, all the ideas you’ve been popping into a Pinterest board — we can help.
If you want to put an addition on your house or just change a room to make it easier to accommodate a crowd, here’s how we make it actually happen:
We Have An Initial Conversation
First, we talk with you. We ask you a lot of questions so we know what you want but also so we can get to the root of your frustration or desire for the space.
During this phase, we’ll find out about your current, day-to-day living situation. Is it working for you? What about when you have that annual family gathering? This helps us address your needs based not only on what you want but on what will work well, daily and on special occasions.
This process is designed to help you, too. Talking with someone who thinks about the efficiency, function, and aesthetics of spaces every day (that’s us!) can help unlock new ideas.
We Visit Your Home And Bring All The Details Together
Next, we’ll come to look at your home in person. Seeing it in real life helps us better visualize the space and to understand what you’d like your refreshed space to be like and how you’d like it to function. We gather the data we need, taking measurements and photos, noting how the structure itself is put together and how the various spaces in your home flow and work together.
We want to gather as much information as possible so we can offer feasible options and help you make informed decisions.
We Create a Floor Plan & Models
Back at the office, we take all of that information and work it into a refined vision.
We create sketches and a floor plan for your new space. We also create 3D models of your existing structure, especially if you’re adding on, to make sure you’re clear about what your home will look like from the inside and the outside.
All of this helps you visualize the possibilities and picture what the flow and function of the space will look like once it’s finished.
While we work through the plans, we incorporate your ideas about finishes — this is your moment to share your Pinterest boards! We use images of spaces you love to make recommendations for flooring, wall finishes, tiles, countertops, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and more.
Keep in mind that hiring an architect can actually save you money. Sometimes people hire us to design an addition or to move an expensive space, like a kitchen or bathroom. With our experience and professional approach, we can possibly save you the trouble, and expense, of a costly remodel or addition by reorganizing the space — instead adding more — or proposing a clever shift that leaves the most expensive elements in place.
We Help Oversee The Work
Then, it’s go time!
We’re skilled partners during the implementation process and would love to be involved in the construction administration process to help make sure that everything is going to plan. We meet regularly on site, to answer questions, help solve any problems that crop up, and to oversee any finishing touches. This is how we do good work.
We’ve found that projects go more smoothly when we’re available to answer questions and to go over details or areas of concern ahead of time.
When we’re involved in construction administration, we meet with the contractor and discuss the plans before they set a construction schedule or order materials.
We stay in communication with contractors throughout the process. We oversee the quality of the work but, even more than that, we help guide decisions when contractors discover something that would keep them from executing the work as we envisioned in our plan. It can be helpful to have us involved in these conversations; we’ve been in conversation with you, the client, since the inception of the process and understand not only your budgetary goals but your aesthetic and functional ones. This helps us make recommendations focused on what you want.
The execution of ideas is just as critical as having them to begin with. To ensure that you get what you paid for, it’s critical to have experienced project management and high-caliber engagement during every phase of delivery and construction. This includes working with craftsmen, one of our favorite ways to help everything work in harmony with the original vision.
Posted on December 01, 2024
