The Moore House Design Process

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A remodel can be stressful, messy, chaotic but…wow! In the end it can transform your life. Creating a space for you and your family that works with your lifestyle and gives you that ahhh-feeling the moment you walk in the room, is life changing. Instead of moving to find that perfect home (that doesn’t exist), create a space that feels uniquely tailored to you. 

While we might be biased, tapping the right design team for your remodel or new build is essential. Working with a designer from the beginning to develop a design plan can guide the entire process. Designers, architects, and builders have done this hundreds of times and they’ve usually seen the same mistakes and dealt with similar challenges—which is amazing for our clients because it can spark ideas for functionality and design solutions. 

Step one: We start with a consultation This is where our team comes in and goes over these ideas with you, shares our vision for your space, and helps you talk through practical and aesthetic problems. We talk through our process, fee structure, and overall style. Blair always emphasizes that the most important thing is that you love your designer’s style. If you don’t like their vision it’s going to create problems—even if you think you’re saving money going with a less expensive designer, you’re going to spend way more time in “design time” aka dollars to create the look that you may gotten in the first place from a designer whose style more naturally aligns with yours.  

Step two: Design homework  Don’t worry, this is fun! Before the initial meeting we assign design homework. This includes creating a Pinterest board and answering our in-depth questionnaire—we get to know your design eye and what you can and can't live without. This will be addressed in the initial meeting.

Step three: Initial design meeting  Our team will meet with you in your home (or virtually for some distance design clients) to visualize the space. We’ll also walk through and meet with the architect and/or builders you’ve chosen.

Step four: Concept proposal  This is really the start of your design process and sets the tone for your full project. Before, our team peruses thousands of images and develops a concept and visual plan for your space. In this virtual meeting we discuss the concept for each room. After doing some drafting, this is a time where we also might present new solves for a space too. 

Step five: Design presentation  After the concept and tone of the project are decided, we create the best design plan for you and your space. This can either be completed by our team (we can always plan out a full design and renovation project with sign offs from our own engineers), we can loop in an architecture firm that we love to work with, or we can work with your own architect. This is our favorite meeting—well, second favorite after the design reveal—our team goes over the full design plan and presentation, so you can actually see your future home. Yup, this meeting is usually covered over two days and runs through renderings/sketches, mood boards, room boards, color boards, construction documents, elevations, lighting boards, material/fabric boards, furniture boards, purchase lists, and estimated costs for each space.

This meeting will flesh out all the nitty gritty and leave you with the full design of each of the spaces, including estimated cost sheets for each room. This meeting will develop a comprehensive plan that you're excited about so we can move forward. 

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Step six: Edits After the design presentation we go through any and all edits that we make together and compile a spec booklet. The spec book includes every item in each room, from measurement details to desired finishes. The details include: each wall elevation (where needed), renderings, product specifications, colors, etc. This is delivered to you, bound and organized by room. Think of this as a play-by-play per room. This is when we get real bids from contractors and builders because they know exactly what you are building. This is why it's imperative to get a design plan you love nailed down. Once bids are in, we break ground! 

Step seven: Project management  During the renovation process our team is available by phone, email, FaceTime, and/or zoom for site updates, troubleshooting, and decision making. 

For our distance projects we can most certainly hire a local interior project manager to handle the construction teams and help execute the vision. 

Step eight: Product procurement  Simultaneously with construction, our team sources a mixture of vintage, antique, custom, trade, and retail products. If you own pieces that fit into the design plan we’ll ask for their dimensions too. We love incorporating your antiques!  All new products are shipped to our receiving warehouse where our team can check on products; reporting and managing breakage, making sure all of the materials are correct, and setting up styling trials before installation. We do this so everything is previously staged in our warehouse so that installation is quick.  

Step nine: Installation  The grand finale is install week! Our team will be in communication about timelines and what needs to be completed prior, so we are able to move forward with install. We will work with movers to facilitate the placement of all products from the warehouse, install them, finish any touch ups, add decor, place art, and style all of the rooms for the grand reveal. It's like Christmas morning for adults…only 1 billion times better! 

After install, we do any adjustments, touch ups, or add pieces you might now want (it happens).  Then we deliver our clients a comprehensive folder of all your care documents that our team has collected along the way. Whether that’ where your Hans Wegner chair came from or how to care for your stain resistant fabric, we give you your instructions. Now it’s all yours to love for years to come!

Images: Erin McGinn & Zack DeZon

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