WHEN TO HIRE A DESIGNER

When we first start working with clients on a renovation project, they are often shocked at how long it will take for their project to go from vision to completion. Depending on the extent of the renovation, the availability of contractors, and the inevitable bumps in the road along the way, most projects take 15-17 weeks to complete from design to construction. 

When should you think about hiring a designer? The short answer RIGHT AWAY.  It is never too early to begin planning your renovation project. Bringing a designer in a minimum of FOUR MONTHS before your desired completion time allows for the proper planning that is needed for any major renovation.

Generally, if you want to be enjoying your completed space by Christmas, we’d like to begin work together before the 4th of July.

How does the process and timeline breakdown? A little something like this:

Prelim Design + Planning time- 4 weeks

• This phase includes our initial meeting, getting all the site measurements and detailed information about your needs as well as preliminary time designing, planning and creating a budget for your project. Phew! It’s a lot of prep to make sure things flow smoothly.
• We start putting feelers out to General contractors to get an idea of who will be available during our ideal start time.

Revisions + Final Sign Off-  2-3 weeks 

• After the initial phase is done, we meet with you to go through the project. Once we completed any revisions required, you give us the final sign off on the design. Hooray! 
• We send the approved design out to general contractors to put out feelers for who is able and available to complete the job.

Scheduling trades-  1-2 weeks

• During this phase we get quotes from general contractors and schedule work to begin.
• Depending on availability of your favorite contractor and/or the market for trades in your area, this phase can take slightly longer. 

• As we nail down (pun intended) a general contractor we keep in mind that cabinets and countertops take 6-8 weeks to order, so we plan this purchase for early in the construction phase. 

Construction time- 8 weeks

Total time frame for DESIGN + Construction:  15-17 weeks

That is 4 months…WITHOUT any delays or setbacks (which are often a part of the process, even with a skilled team and well thought out design plan…renovations are tricky that way!)

The overall stress and strain of a large project can be reduced by proper planning. Start talking to a designer four to six months before you would ideally like your project completed.

If you wait too long? Not allowing for proper planning/design time can result in:  expensive setbacks or delays. Not thinking things ahead of time through means having to wing it on site, which does not give you the chance to find the best solution for your needs and sometimes causes a need for expensive re-work. 

If you want your dream space, giving yourself and your design + build team time to make sure it’s done right is crucial. Renovations are expensive. Proper design and planning is like an insurance policy to guarantee the outcome is exactly what you need to FUNCTION + exactly how you want it to LOOK.

We’ve created this guide to help you decide when you need to start working with a designer. Choose the month or season when you are hoping to have your project finished, and work backward from there.

Ready to get your project underway?  Let us help! We work locally with clients in Marquette, MI and virtually with clients nationwide!