You’re ready to tackle your new home build or remodel your existing home and your trying to decide if you want to be the team manager, coach, and quarterback. Do you have the time and know-how for planning the strategy, writing the playbook, calling the plays, motivating the team players, hiring and overseeing all the players, and pulling all the details together for the win. More likely, you have an idea about what you want the team uniforms to look like, an excitement to watch the games from the sidelines, and vision of a glorious win at the end of the season. If that sounds more like you, you’ll want to recruit pros for the top team positions – in this case an interior designer, a contractor, and likely an architect. Let’s look at who these pros are and why you want them on your home project:
The Interior Designer
My personal favorite team position. Often, choosing an interior designer is the first hire on your roster. Your designer can assist in putting the team together. A good interior designer can help you express your inner vision, asking questions to discover your dreams, needs, and goals, then help you convey your vision to the architect and contractor, acting as your on-the-field guide and go-between. The designer is a mix of detail oriented and artistic, keeping the endless details of your project in play and the overall vision in sight as well. Your designer coordinates with the contractor and often recommends specific professionals in the various trades to see your home design come together perfectly.
You’ll get the benefit of a trained designer’s eye. Your designer can help you see possibilities you might not have envisioned and steer you away from poor design choices. A designer will also keep you realistic about your budget. Often, your designer knows where to find the best prices and has access to resources only available to design professionals.
Your interior designer can suggest color combinations you might not have imagined on your own, as well as textures and lighting effects. Designers can develop 3D renderings to help you see the design and help you shop for the perfect furnishings and accessories at the best prices. Designers stay on top of design trends and have the training, insight, knowledge and artistic vision to bring that WOW factor to your home design.
If you are only looking to redecorate your home, the designer will be the only pro needed for your project (or will be able to bring in pros from various trades to do installations). But if your undertaking a larger remodel or new build, you’ll need to expand the team to include a contractor and possibly an architect.
The Contractor
The contractor guides you in filling your team with star players, they learn the playbook know how to follow it, they can troubleshoot on the field, and they keep the players in line. Your contractor will bring the architect’s vision to life. They are familiar with all the different trades from plumbers to electricians to carpenters to tile experts and beyond. They know which players to call off the bench at what time, who to overlap and who must go in a specific order, and they have a network of working relationships with professionals in all the trades. They are good troubleshooters and can often head off trouble quickly if they see someone veering away from the playbook. They can also help you with specific goals like going green or being energy efficient. They know what works and what doesn’t through experience and who does it best. This can also save your time, money and stress throughout your project and make sure you achieve the home of your dreams.
The Architect
Architects know the league rulebook forward and backward and they write the team playbook. The architect does more than just draw home plans. Architects are well-versed in building codes and zoning laws. They work effectively with contractors to make sure the design is realized. They are creative problem-solvers, often finding ways to help homeowners get most of their wish-list items included in the budget. They guide homeowners away from awkward functional layouts by visualizing what it would be like to live inside the design. They think of all the details from the placement of electrical outlets and molding to energy-efficient heating and cooling to green building options. They also see the big picture, designing total environments rather than walls, floors and roofs. All this expertise can actually save you money in the long run!
Bringing this team together will undoubtedly save you time and stress. You’ll have trained professionals to help you make decisions and keep your project on time and budget. You’ll have others to track the details, make the phone calls, keep the checklists and monitor the work in process. Sweet relief!
Touchdown!
These kitchen transformations represent a culmination of professional knowledge along with thousands of decisions and details that came together in beautiful final designs. Go team!
