Custom Birthday Cake Ottoman, designed by the studio.

Let’s say hello

Our work with you is a creative, collaborative, and oftentimes personal endeavor. We’ll meet up as a way to understand your project and to get to know each other. This meeting generally lasts about ninety minutes and comes with neither fee nor commitment. After this we’ll begin the Program Development phase of your project. We’ll exchange some basic ideas about your project, talk about what’s possible and find out what you hope to achieve. We’ll establish both budget and timeline.

*Studio resource materials, custom casework, 2022.*

Your aspirations

Next, we’ll have additional in-depth conversations about your ideas for the space, about how you live and how you’d like to live better. Through the distillation of images and ideas — from books, magazines, and conversations — we’ll deliver a creative brief for your project as part of its Schematic Design. We’ll consider design intent, materials and color palette. The studio will present concept drawings, representative furnishings, finish options and a detailed budget.

How it will look & feel

At this stage of your project we’ll review floor plans, elevation drawings and perspective drawings, making adjustments where necessary and taking the plunge into Design Development. A Final Design will be presented and the studio will specify furnishings, fixtures and materials for order — all to be met with your approval. Project timelines will be updated and finalized, with requisite changes made to the budget.

*Hand-screened wallpaper, powder room, 2019.*

*Honed Calacatta Carrara. Madison Park, 2019.*

*Natural materials. Bainbridge Island, 2022.*

*Hand made terra cotta field tile, hearth, 2019.*

Transforming space

Now your project really starts to take shape. We’ll provide Construction Documents to general contractors, subcontractors and tradespeople and meet with them to ensure our design intent is fully realized. (The studio is able to recommend an array of reliable and trustworthy tradespeople, nimbly tailoring the size of the workforce needed to the scope of your project.) These documents will be used to solicit firm bids on your project.

*Field tile and natural light. Madison Park, 2019.*

The homestretch

The next phase of your project is aptly named Contract Administration: We’ll check in with contractors and tradespeople on a regular basis, work on your behalf to resolve any issues that may arise, arrange for delivery of all goods ordered, procure furnishings and materials, and coordinate placement and installation according to our Final Design. We’ll advise on any maintenance recommendations, then hand off your project to you.

Pricing on goods procured & services rendered

Our fees and client expectations are laid out in signed service agreements. We bill hourly, and clients can generally expect to spend 10%-15% of their overall budget on design services. The studio has access to the finest trade-only showrooms in North America and Europe, and to talented makers and artisans from all over the world. We receive trade discounts and extend this pricing to clients at a service fee of 20%.

The long run

Each project is its own journey and through yours we have likely managed to bring some beauty into the world. We probably know each other a lot better, too — most of our clients become friends through the process. We believe in long-term relationships, and our hope is to make this collaboration the first of many. We want to help you enjoy your new space and, over time, discover what’s next for you.

Process