The design consultation is a time to listen to whatever challenges you are having with the existing space, learn more about your vision for the space, how you'd like to use it, what your lifestyle is and how you'd like to feel in the space. This means that we take a tour of your home and we ask questions about what is working for you in each space and what's not working. We then focus on the areas that you want to address for the scope of work we are about to embark upon. The consultation is all about grand ideas; ideas that we willingly give to clients because that is a part of the value we bring. These ideas are just that, ideas. They are grand visions which could develop into something remarkable, or they may have to be tweaked somehow because they may cost more than the budget allows, or they may not be the best solution once they've been thought through more carefully. It is the time for you as the client to be open and honest about your own grand visions for your home, without fear of the expense or other factors not yet determined. We typically like to cover things like the way the space will layout, the best materials to really showcase the space, the addition of millwork and other architectural elements, furniture pieces, lighting, art and window coverings. This means that we are verbally discussing these elements in the room. We are not making actual selections. Actual selections take time to develop and one element impacts the next, so we cannot design a space in two hours. We may show you examples from our portfolio of a similar project or feature, or show you any ideas we have collected, or other online sources to help you visualize what we have in mind, but it is often not exactly as what we would design for you. We are typically designing something unique for you, so it doesn't exist to show you. This is why a design plan has to be later developed to address your unique needs. The next step usually is discussing the project budget. Most times clients do not know what their budget should be, so we will do different exercise, like a budget worksheet to help clients determine a good range to consider. We will also discuss the timeframe, and even go as far as establishing a loose timeline for your project, that we later firm up. We discuss how we work with your trades people, as well as the trades people we recommend to you. We talk about some of the challenges that could happen and how we solve them for you. Challenges like delays, backorders, damages. We talk about next steps and explain, or in some cases, do a run through of what to expect in the fee proposal. We try to allow enough time to answer any questions you have. We encourage prospective clients to make a list of questions before our appointment to make sure they are prepared. We also suggest making notes during the meeting based on how you understand what we are presenting.

We don't run into this very often, but every once in a while we have a prospect that may assume that we can design a space in two hours. While it is not out of the question to sit at a computer and try to help you identify some specific pieces for your home if you want to go the DIY route, we cannot reasonably do the best job just looking at isolated pieces. We much prefer spending that time exploring ideas and the broad vision that we can later take the time to develop and fine-tune. Design is considering the space overall and how each element relates back to the next. It is about layering and knowing what works for the space. That requires a thought process and some time to develop. This could be drawings, pulling fabric and color swatches together, doing a concept board to see how things relate to each other, or even doing a 3D rendering. Design takes time, and is probably the biggest chunk of what you will pay in design fees. While we can stand in a room and we can feel what the room needs - it's an instinctive thing, we also may develop that initial concept into something more brilliant. That is where custom comes into play. Often times we can dream up an idea and the only way to achieve it is to create it from scratch. So while we can provide you with great ideas, and solid guidance, we need time to make sure those ideas work for you. We also don't re-arrange furniture or hang artwork at consultations. We never do that at any appointment unless we have our installers present. This means that it has to be a scheduled installation. From time to time we will leave you with a handwritten list of paint colors if you ask for that - usually up to 3, as that is all we would reasonably have time to select. We do caution clients however, that paint colors are usually the last thing we select in the process of designing a space. If you called us in for a remodel or any changes to the fixed elements in your home, then it is not the time to select paint colors at the consultation. That should happen only after you've chosen wood/tile/carpet flooring, countertops, cabinetry. We can absolutely provide you with up to three neutrals, but it is really not based on anything and may or may not work with the new materials you choose. The concise way to explain what a consultation is - You have invited an expert into your home to advise, guide, counsel you on what you are attempting to do. We in turn provide ideas, resources, concepts, expertise to help you make decisions and move to the next step. One more question that we get from time to time is if the consultation fee is applied to the design fee if the prospective client hires us for the project. The answer is no, it is not applied to any future fees. The consultation fee paid at that point is for our time to travel to your home and provide you with expertise. We collect this fee ahead of time (prior to the meeting), to ensure that our focus is on the design work we are there for.