Our Services, Explained
When you hire an Interior Designer to take the lead on your project (whether it’s a new build, renovation, or large decor project), you are trusting that they will take care of every detail for you. That’s not something we take lightly.
Here at SCID, we have refined our process to ensure we provide our clients with the most efficient and streamlined experience possible!
Although we have a page on our website dedicated to the services we offer, we wanted to explain them in more detail!
Before we begin sourcing and designing, we gather a lot of information about our clients.
A Guide to Our Process and Services
Where We Begin…
The first step is the initial phone call where we learn a little bit about you, your goals, and your vision for the project. We will ask you to describe your space and the needs you have for it so that we can fully understand the scope of the project and discuss the desired budget. Once we determine we’re a good fit and want to proceed, we will then book a date and time for the initial consultation; an onsite walk through of your space. This is a paid service that allows us to effectively gather the information we need to launch your project.
During the consultation, we will ask a more detailed series of questions to better understand your wants and needs as we walk through the space. We take extensive notes so that we can be prepared with everything we need to efficiently and effectively launch your project.
At the end of the consultation, we will leave you with a questionnaire to fill out to make sure we didn’t miss any important points during the meeting. We then take your project details and inspiration images back to our office, and come up with a design proposal where we provide an estimate for scope of work, timeline, and design fees. Once this has been reviewed and agreed to, we require a signed contract and retainer to move forward.
At this point, the fun can begin! We will set up a time to come and do another site visit so that we can take the measurements and photos needed to come up with a proper space plan, which will be the foundation for the rest of the design process.
We are here to effectively manage your entire design project from start to finish!
During the Process…
Here is an overview of the services we offer throughout your project.
Concept Design
We will come up with a concept for your project based on our previous conversations. Prior to coming up with the initial concept, we will ask you for some inspiration pictures from Pinterest and the like, so that we can better understand your likes and dislikes.
From your images and our investigative work, we will create the design concept. If the scope of the project calls for moving walls, relocating rooms, built in storage, or a new furniture plan, we will take our time to look at space planning aspects and propose solutions once we have gotten further into design. We want this to be a discussion, where we can explain why we made these selections, and why other options did not work.
This is your home and we welcome your feedback, so please don’t be afraid to share your thoughts!
Documentation
A huge benefit of hiring an interior designer is that our job is to stay organized and take care of all of the moving parts that happen behind the scenes so that you don’t have to. We document the entire process from start to finish to ensure nothing is ever missed.
Every time that we have a meeting, we take extensive notes to ensure we have all the information needed to create a space that you love! We also track all of the selections made (and any revisions that happen) by creating project folders with all of the details to keep everything catalogued.
We keep records of all email exchanges between us and our clients, our trades, our vendors, etc. and we create documents for quotes, purchase orders, tracking, contractor notes, measurements, and pictures. Phew!
Are you getting the idea that our job involves a lot more than picking pretty things?
Construction Drawings, Floorplans, and Elevations
A big part of the process is our construction and renovation drawings. If the scope of work includes creating a new floor plan, we will generate drawings to give to the contractor for construction. We also produce drawings when making your furniture plan so that we can plot the furniture and make sure it will all fit in your room properly.
When possible, we like to make 3D renderings to help our clients visualize their new space! Sometimes we will create rendering videos so that you can “walk” through your space and see how the design will all come together. This is a valuable tool for us as well! When we can “see” the space in 3D it helps us with design decisions as we can see the space in a more realistic view and it guides our choices, therefore improving your final design.
Budgeting and Timelines
We will discuss preliminary numbers during our initial phone call as it helps us to determine if what you want to accomplish is realistic with the amount you want to spend. After we have had an in person meeting, seen your home or floor plans and determined our scope of work, we will give you an approximate range of fees based on similar projects we’ve done. As the project progresses, we continually review the budget as things change or get refined.
We will also give you a projected timeline once the design has been approved, and furniture and goods procurement begins. At this point, we will have a clearer picture of install dates and the big reveal.
Design and Decorating
When you hire the SCID team, we make sure that all details are taken care of from start to finish. We make the selections for all of the hard finishes, such as cabinetry, paint, flooring, and countertops; as well as your decorative elements, like cushions, drapery, and furniture. We add art and accessories for your reveal, leaving all of it with you for a few days to decide what you want to keep.
We take care of all of the details so that you don’t have to!
You are part of the design process, even though we take on the heavy lifting. You are the one making the final decisions. The design process takes time, but we will make sure to keep you in the loop and have weekly check-ins with you, whether it’s via email, phone, or in person.
Our ideas are based on your input and feedback, but if something just isn’t quite right, let us know and we will come up with a solution that you will love!
This is YOUR HOME and we are here to help you love it!
Are you ready to build, renovate or update? Contact us