If you’re feeling ready to make some changes in your home or of thinking it’s time to design + build that new home you’ve always dreamed of, but you have some questions, this blog post is for you.
Here are some of frequent questions and topics that come up to us as well as things every Architect and Designer want you to know before starting on home design endeavors. We wanted a place to share these with those of you beginning this exciting journey:
Do Your Homework and Know Your Budget
Know When to Hire an Architect or Designer
What Services are Offered?
What are Starting Prices for Consults?
What’s the difference with using a Builder with pre-made plans that are cheaper vs using an Architect or Designer?
Trust the Professionals
Do Your Homework and Know Your Budget:
There are so many factors when designing your home and the price is affected by this. Depending on construction material costs that fluctuate on the daily, knowing where you want to splurge and where you want to save room-by-room, area-by-area is important. A benefit of designing your own home is that YOU get to decide where you want to spend your money specifically. Maybe you want high-end designer light fixtures, but you’re fine with cheaper tile on the backsplash. Maybe you want marble countertops, but you’re find with standard plumbing fixtures. At Studio Cassa, we do provide you with a budget worksheet that can help give you an idea of what to expect on costs so you don’t get sticker shock down the road.
Know When to Hire an Architect or Designer:
There are two parts to this. If you have already found and purchased the land you want, and it’s not in contract with a developer or builder company, then you will get the advantage of being able to design your own home. And no, it doesn’t always cost more. Builders can put lower prices up front to get you signed on, and wrap up costs somewhere in the budget. If you want to do any changes to their spec plans, it’s an additional cost that ends up being more than if you had designed it from scratch. The costs of land may also seem cheap, but you’re paying for it somewhere in there.
If you haven’t found land, that is even better. Before you purchase the land, you need to have the site analyzed for what you can build as far as codes, setbacks, easements, floodplains, and special circumstances that you don’t want to find out after you’ve purchased the land. I’ve had a situation where the client bought the land and wanted a certain high-roof style house and at the end of the day, the codes for that specific site had a special height restriction. We got the house to work out, but it was a bit of a headache trying to make a style work for a site that the style wasn’t made for.
Studio Cassa offers Site Analysis for those who are looking to purchase land and need help finding the pros and cons of the site. The short answer is the best time to hire an Architect or Designer is when you are looking to purchase land or soon after.
Design: Studio Cassa
What Services are Offered?:
Here at Studio Cassa, we offer many services encompassing architecture and interior design. Cassie has worked for a few top architecture and interior design firms over 15 years and learned skills that she’s brought into her business. Below are our services we now offer:
Residential:
Architectural Services:
Site Analysis
Neighborhood Site Development
Interior Design Services:
Commercial:
Architectural & Interior Design Services:
Office Space Design
Retail Space Design
Non-Profit Design
Site Analysis
Exterior Façade Imagery
Master Planning
Historic Preservation
What are Starting Prices for Consults?:
For the year of 2020 and 2021, Studio Cassa offers a complimentary consultation for potential architecture and interior design clients. We are just happy to have the opportunity to work with you and show you why so many are choosing us! Our first consultations are in-person at the project site. We ask lots of questions about specific items that you like and don’t like about your space. We go over what your style is and how you use the space. We take overall measurements to get an idea of the square footage we will be working with and take photo documentation that we can use as we are estimating design time and cost for you. Within a week, we email you our exclusive 6-10 page consultation report that details room-by-room what we discussed and add inspiration images so that we have that all in one place. We also will recommend which Studio Cassa Design Package would be best based on your needs and give an estimated construction cost. We show our rates as well as our preferred contractor’s rate so that you have an idea of what to plan for.
What’s the difference with using a Builder with pre-made plans that are cheaper vs using an Architect or Designer?:
The main difference is going to be what is most important to you. If you are on a tight budget, and just want to build a new home and aren’t really concerned with designing your house, using a builder may be your best route.
If you want to design and build a custom home for your specific site and your family’s lifestyle and get the most bang for your buck, using an architect or designer is the way to go. You really won’t understand the difference unless you have used both builder plans and designed your own home. The difference is incomparable and there is so much more value for your money in using an architect or designer. At Studio Cassa, our main goal is not our bottom line and moving to the next project - it’s making sure you are happy with the end result and whether it is your forever home or not, it feels like a dream home for you.
Design: Studio Cassa
Trust the Professionals:
Using an architect or designer is like using any other professional (hairdresser, doctor, dentist, accountant). This is one of those times in life where the best outcome is to just let go and let the professional steer the wheel. You hired us to do what we do best. We are trained here at Studio Cassa and do this day in and day out and we are darn good at it. Your happiness at the end product is what truly motivates us most. We are on YOUR team and we are your biggest fan when it comes to the outcome of your home. Your home becomes one of our “babies” and we take pride in our work and work ethic. It will be a much smoother journey and much better outcome by trusting us!