Why You Need an Interior Designer During Your Renovation Project
Why You Need an Interior Designer During Your Renovation Project
If you’re considering a major renovation or new construction project for your home, you may be wondering who you need on your trades team. If you have a general contractor and architect, do you still need an interior designer? Or, do you only need the designer for the design aspect, and once construction is underway, you’ll be good to go?
This is a common question we are asked, so in this post, we’re going to share how we work with contractors during construction to save our clients time, stress, and money.
Yes, as an interior designer, we are able to interpret your aesthetic and style and bring your vision to life through beautiful finishes and furnishings.
But we also have to know a great deal about construction methods; the impacts of plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and structural systems on interior components; residential building codes; interior finish materials and appropriate installation methods; cabinetry and millwork fabrication; maintenance requirements for products and materials; strategies for using and modulating light sources; and necessary sequencing for the installation of plumbing, electrical, and other building and finish systems.
I know it’s a lot…that’s why you have us!
It’s a bit more complicated than sourcing pretty fabrics (as much as we love that part).
Keep in mind, that by the time your project is under construction, we’ll likely already have an extensive amount of knowledge of the specific details of your project & design. In knowing that intimate knowledge of your project, when we visit your construction site, we’ll be able to recognize both the potential impacts of work completed, and the critical requirements needed for work to proceed.
In other words, as your interior designer, we’ll have insight into what may affect project progression, and what issues may or have arisen that could impact the final delivery of your design.
Yes, of course, your contractor and trades team (painters, carpenters, electricians, plumbers) have invaluable expertise in their particular trade. I for sure can not do what they do — they are greatly skilled in their line of work. And your general contractor brings immeasurable value to the project, in cost-estimating, construction sequencing, construction site safety requirements, permitting and inspections, ordering build supplies, and much more. (Note: while we aren’t licensed general contractors, we have been designing renovations & new construction projects nationwide for the past 5 years.) But, a general contractor and their subcontractors won’t really know the design intent the way we do as your interior designer (& they don’t want to.)
We’re the only people who can see the big picture (oftentimes even more than our clients can - which is what makes us so good at our job!) and know how construction activities may impact proper execution of the approved design.
We’ve seen many examples of installation and fabrication issues in completed homes. Meaning, the design wasn’t implemented properly and if an interior designer had been onsite during the critical time when certain events occurred, those issues may have been easily avoided.
So, here’s a look into how we support our clients during the construction phase of a project, either while making site visits, or while continuing to monitor installation progress and coordinate details via other communication channels.
01 | We are the point person for all questions or concerns that arise regarding the design of the space.
Because we are intimately familiar with every little design detail in a project, we are consulted throughout the project on anything that might impact the final outcome.
In a typical full home new build or large-scale renovation, we typically save our clients a minimum of at least 100+ hours throughout the construction phase of a typical 4-6 month project.
02 | We provide specific instructions to installers or the trades team.
Once the design is approved by our clients, we provide thorough documentation of the design via plans, elevation drawings, detail drawings, and specification sheets. Our spec books are thick! This book includes details on every detail chosen for the project, drawings for installation, reflected ceiling plans, electrical schedules, door schedules, finishes & furnishings. No detail goes unturned! Our spec book is given to the build team when the construction team begins & stays on site throughout the project.
But even with these detailed documents provided, questions of interpretation or intention do still arise. Relying on the installers to guess at the designer’s intent is not the way to go. We want to be consulted throughout construction to make sure any changes that need to happen in the field are aligned with our client’s overall vision for their home. This is why we are in constant communication with the trades team on an app called Buildertrend. Our trades send us photos of what got completed that day & any questions they have for the following day before they begin work.
03 | We answer questions installers and fabricators have about products, materials, and furnishings.
For example, if something came up related to extended lead time on an item already approved, we are there to determine whether the project can absorb the delay, or whether another choice should be made. If we decide another choice should be made, we’re there to make the new selection and ensure it works with the other elements already chosen, so our clients aren’t scrambling to pick something on a moment’s notice, hoping it will work!
If we help a client choose natural stone slabs for their countertops and provide drawings of where to make the cuts in the stone so the veining and coloring is best highlighted (or hidden). Sometimes these decisions are made on site once the material is in place and from experience, we know our clients typically don’t want to be responsible for where their slabs are cut.
04 | We ensure the installation matches the design intent.
There may be instances where something needs to be installed a certain way for the purpose of aligning with a detail of another component —a domino effect. The installer may not realize this. But because we have a big-picture view of the project, we’re able to make sure everything progresses according to plan, and in accordance with our client’s intended design outcome.
05 | We troubleshoot unforeseen issues that arise during construction.
It’s inevitable that — during demolition, or even construction— something problematic will happen. (In fact, we recommend to our clients to have an additional 10% of the total construction budget in a contingency fund just for situations like these.)
Maybe measurements were off by a half inch, or walls and corners are not plumb, or a mechanical chase or plumbing lines were hidden within walls in unexpected places.
As an industry - one thing we are known for, above all else, is for being creative problem solvers. We come in to determine the optimal course of action to deal with the issue and provide our clients with our recommendations so they don’t feel alone in making decisions during a stressful construction project.
06 | We help make on-the-fly decisions when it comes to changes.
As much as we’d love to say once the design is approved, nothing changes, but in a large-scale construction project, some changes will inevitably need to be made once construction is underway.
When this happens, we work alongside the construction team and our clients to assist with and review change orders. A “change order” is an official document that details the approval of a change to any aspect of the project — whether it’s the design of a specific feature, the elimination of an element, or the addition of a detail not originally specified. You don’t want to risk any change discussed being forgotten, misinterpreted, or overlooked. Having this paper trail is so important.
Not to mention, because these change orders are official documents, if work is done incorrectly or charged incorrectly, you can refer back to the original plan documents and the change order to find a remedy. We’ve also had instances of clients who did not approve change orders or authorize the additional expenses that came along with them, but their contractor certainly tried to collect. These change orders protect both our clients, the contractor, and us, ensuring that all changes being made are approved and acknowledged by all parties.
07 | We advocate for our clients to ensure everything is done right the first time.
Let’s say the plumber is just about to install the garbage control switch to the right of the sink, but the homeowner is left-handed. Or say that the same plumber is installing the shower head at standard height, but the client is particularly tall. These, among many other things, are the details a designer can help ensure are executed with the client’s best interest in mind.
08 | We open our clients’ eyes to what is possible.
When our clients are building a home or working on a large-scale renovation, they want to make sure they’re investing their money wisely. That means, they want their choices to make sense for their current life stage and their future life stage (assuming they’re staying in the home for a while). They also want their design to be timeless. Yes, you can change just about anything in a home with a good construction team, but it’s important to get it right the first time.
We provide insights and ideas into what is possible - what we’ve seen done on other projects that turned out beautifully, ways they add more natural light, or avoid future function issues by making simple changes, selections they can make that will create a timeless look they’ll love forever.
With our 5 years of experience, we’ve seen a lot, and always love it when we’re brought into a project from the beginning so we can help our clients fully maximize the investment in their construction project.
Having an interior designer involved during the construction phase of your project ensures you won’t live with regret that something wasn’t executed exactly to your liking, or that you missed an opportunity to make your home truly unique and perfect for your needs. And, as you might guess from reading this post, we save our clients hundreds of hours of time and years of stress simply by being there from start to finish.
If you’re about to embark on a large-scale renovation or new build project and don’t want to do it alone, we’d love the opportunity to work with you. Click here to submit a project inquiry form.