Concept

How to Houzz

Houzz has to be one of the single most powerful architect-client interaction tools invented in the last decade.  It is a beautiful platform for architects, and clients to pull inspiration for home renovation, addition, or new construction projects.  A great place to find examples of cutting edge residential styles.  There are endless ways to use Houzz, but I have outlined what I find to be most helpful.

Photos

Houzz is currently broken up into Photos, Shopping, Pros, and Stories.  We will begin by reviewing strategies of how to best use the Photos.  First of all, using the built-in Ideabooks function which allows you to organize saved photos into groups like, Kitchen, Bedroom, Patio, etc. is critical to keeping your thoughts together, and strategically assembled.

The second way to utilize Photos is to help you find furniture, light fixtures, or other products that users have tagged with a link as to where to find them.  Most of the time you are able to find the product right on Houzz, and can buy them without having to leave the site.  This feature is fantastic, because it allows you to purchase the items that helped complete the aesthetic of a well designed space that you may be looking at to inspire your next project.

The final way we will go over in this article to use Photos in Houzz is their comments section.  I find this function to be the most useful.  If you were to identify a detail, or material you liked that was used in a photo, a vast majority of the time you can ask the Professionals associated with project what the material was, or how the detail was executed, and they will respond to your comments.  This is a huge help when you, as a client find a tile, wood flooring, or fabric you like, and we as designers have to investigate what was used in order to provide a similar aesthetic to the initial inspiring photo.

Shopping

Houzz may have initially been a social media platform for home design, but it has evolved into a comprehensive home design, planning, and execution tool.  Not only can you become inspired by great design you seen on Houzz, but you can also buy furniture, fixtures, and decorations you see in your favorite spaces through the Shopping section of Houzz.

Directly in the Photos of these spaces, people can place tags on items that are for sale directly through Houzz allowing you to complete the design of a space with the appropriate final touches.  Beyond simply being able to purchase items from Houzz, their pricing is incredibly competitive allowing you to buy excellent looking furniture at affordable prices.  Finally, if you are working with a nationally accredited design professional, and a Houzz Pro, they can provide you with a discount on pieces you buy on Houzz, if you buy them through your professional.  This program is called the Houzz Trade Program, and is an excellent way Houzz is extending their abilities to provide a comprehensive solution to great home design and execution.   If there are pieces that you would like to buy that you see in Photos, you can still add them to ideabooks, and send the images to the Houzz pro you are working with, and ask them to find these pieces.

Shopping for furniture, and truly getting an idea of what these pieces look like in a space has never been more effortless.  I cannot stress enough how useful it is to be able to be inspired by, and purchase pieces from Houzz directly.

Professionals

The Find a Professional section of Houzz provides every user, whether you are the home owner, designer, or builder the opportunity to find professionals in the industry to help complete your job effectively .

Designers, of all kinds can be found under the design & remodeling section of the Find a Professional portion of Houzz.  The range is from whole home architectural designers to specialty kitchen or bathroom designers.  This is a useful tool for home owners as they are initially seeking design assistance to get their project running, but similarly design professionals can find specialists within this section to help complete the job if unique conditions are required beyond the designers skills.

Contractors can also be found in this same section of Houzz, ranging from whole building construction, to specific home services.  This is an excellent way for clients and designers to find contractors as they tend to have a collection of photos of their work available for reference.  Finding a good contractor is always a challenge, but Houzz makes it as easy as possible with both reviews, and portfolios available to assist you in making a decision on who to entrust with your construction project.

 

Sticky Note Conclusion

Houzz is an extremely powerful tool when preparing, designing, and executing home projects of all scales.  These 3 areas, Photos, Shopping, and Finding a Professional, I have covered are just the sections I utilize most often, and recommend to my clients.  There is a separate Stories section of Houzz which is rich with information that anyone can find useful.  I will have to cover that in a future article, as it is such an excellent resource on its own.

If you need help at any stage of your next home project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

Office

3 Steps To Start Planning A Home Office

When thinking about a home office renovation there are plenty of variables to consider.  This article should help get you going in the right direction to get the most out of your renovation, and make home your own.  This article is pertinent for those who use their home office for their full time profession, or just when they need some quiet time to get something done.

Step 1:  Realize

The first big step in starting a home office renovation project is realizing that your current home office isn’t working for you.  For the sake of this article, I am defining a home office as it’s own space, a room with a door that can be closed.  This room is dedicated, for the most part, to being a home office.  This article may also be beneficial to those weekend warriors that spread out on the dining table, but the non-permanent nature of that work space doesn’t easily translate into helpful design solutions.

Signs that your home office is no longer working for you, but instead working against you, come in all shapes and sizes.  Most signs of this fact revolve around whether or not you are having to leave this space more often to take a break from your work, or collect your thoughts rather than being able to do these activities all within the space.  Another sign that your home office isn’t working for you any longer is if you find yourself working in another space in your home for a “change of pace”.  If you recently turned a hobby into a full time occupation, and require your office to take on the role of being your daily work space, this can also have an enormous impact on whether the space is adequately designed for your needs.

I am in no way an advocate for a “swiss army” space that is able to adapt to every possible requirement you may have, but a well designed home office should provide space for the user to work efficiently, help remove themselves from distractions found elsewhere in their home, and provide sufficient comfort to be utilized for 1 hour or 10.

If you are realizing that your current home office is not doing the job it used to, then it is time to review your needs, and how a home office can be designed to fit those needs.

Step 2: Review

The second step in a home office renovation is to review your existing space, what is has, what is lacks, what you like best, and what you would like improved.  During your review you will find that an ideal work space is complex, but certainly necessary for a well designed home office.

Some examples of items to consider in your review include:

  • Location – If your current home office is not in a dedicated space, or doesn’t have a window, try to find a spot in your home that you could set aside, and wall off for this purpose.  In the end your home office needs some privacy if you want to work effectively.
  • Ergonomics – Make sure you have a good chair.  I am a huge proponent of Herman Miller furniture, although pricey, they are the best of the best.  If you spend a lot of time sitting, and working, it is worth the investment.
  • Comfort – Along with ergonomics, I feel it is necessary to have a separate seating arrangement for more relaxed moments during your working hours, and although I would love to recommend an Eames Lounge Chair, any seating you find comfortable is appropriate.  I would recommend that you do not utilize your desk chair as your comfortable chair, because the scale, and dimensions of a comfortable chair are rarely optimized for work, and vice versa.
  • View – Having a view to the outside, preferably a nice view is essential to a healthy home office.  If this is absolutely not an option, then having windows out to the rest of the house may be an alternative.  I cannot stress enough how important an exterior view with daylight is, so if you can have one make it a top priority.
  • Organization – Having shelving, or drawers is a great asset to any home office.  Being organized allows you to focus on the task at hand, rather than seeing multiple items that all want your attention at the same time.  An ideal office would have a mixture of built-in, and movable storage organized to keep your home office an effective space.
  • Technology – Not all home offices require technology, but most benefit from them.  This may be as simple as making sure you have sufficient power for your computer, or as extreme as setting up server racks, and adding cooling capacity to your HVAC.  Regardless of the extent of your home office needs, evaluating and understanding that technology will most likely play an important role in a renovation is crucial.

With your review complete of your current home office, and some ideas of what your new office should include, you are ready to reach out to a design professional.

Step 3: Reach Out

I would love to say that reaching out to architects, and other design professionals is the easiest step in planning a home office renovation, but I know it can be daunting.  However, if you have run through the previous two steps, and are able to describe to your architect what it is you are looking for in a home office space, how much you can spend on your renovation, and how much down time you can afford to have without your home office,  any architect should be happy to help.

Sticky Note Conclusion

A home office renovation can be an impactful project whether you do work at home for 1 hour a week or 60.  Getting it right isn’t easy, but following these 3 steps, Realize, Review, and Reach Out, will make sure that your home renovation project goes smoothly.  In the end you, and your architect share the goal of creating a great work space.

If you need help designing your next home office renovation, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

Budget

What Does An Architect Need to Know to Help?

If you are at the stage of your project planning where you have realized it is time to get help from a design professional, how do you kick off that process?  First and foremost, please consider the three legs of a good project, as every architect will want to know these things coming in.  If you don’t have everything figured out, that is perfectly normal, as the design professional should be available to help fill in the blanks.

Beyond the basics of the three legs of a good project, there is a long list of things an architect would like to know about their client and project before diving in.  I will break them up into three simple categories, Accomplishments, Aspirations, and Aesthetics.

Accomplishments

When referring to accomplishments in this article, I am specifically referring to past home renovation project experience.  Most architects will want to know if you have a history of using architects, or similar design professionals, and how that experience went.  Similarly, if you have had experience with home renovations going straight to an expert (pool builder, chimney contractor, etc.), or a general contractor without the help of a design professional, an architect would like to know how that project went in order to make sure any lessons learned are carried over.  This is also helpful in case there is a network you have built up over that time that you would like to incorporate into your next project.  Most architects will want to hear both negative and positive feedback from past accomplished projects to understand where your expectations land for future projects.  It is our job as design professionals to make sure we set expectations, and meet them.  We will always need your help, as the client, to set them at the right level.

Aspirations

When discussing a project, the scope is important, but typically it is described physically to help define the space.  When hoping to achieve intangible goals, making a room feel more inviting, or  cozy, for example, these aspirations need to be communicated with the architect.  Similarly, if the goal for the project is to make the space produce the greatest return on investment, this will provide additional information for the architect, that a scope description of spaces to be designed could not. If you, as a client, have certain expectations of your architect that may be out of their normal scope of work, please bring that to their attention.  We cannot deliver what we do not know is expected of us.  For example, if you expect your architect to produce a master plan for your home renovations, meaning a phased plan with a set of guidelines to help inform future projects, and design decisions, this would be out of the normal scope of work for an architect, but not out of their ability.  Another example may be that you would like your architect to bring you to some of their previous projects they have completed with similar scope to your own.  This is not typical of an architect’s services, but again well within their ability.  Aspirations, when it comes to your project, and your experience with an architect is a huge opportunity to ensure that nobody on either side of the relationship has an assumption that is not voiced.  Assumptions in the architectural field are dangerous, and it is our goal, as architects to answer as many questions as we can to keep everyone informed, and the entire project team going in the same direction.

Aesthetics

As a client, your personal aesthetic, and an architect’s ability to integrate it into a project, is critical to the success of a project. My personal favorite way to compile samples of what defines my aesthetic is to use Houzz, and the ideabooks function built into the website.  I will discuss further the best way to use Houzz as a communication tool between yourself, and your architect in a future article.  Unless you approach an architect asking them to produce their masterpiece, and that you will then live in it, most projects have to maintain an existing architectural integrity of a home, or begin to create a new aesthetic.  In order to do that, these ideas must be conveyed, and understood by both parties.  Pictures being worth a thousand words is an egregiously overused phrase, but it is because there is so much truth to it.  As an example, if you solicit the services of an architect, and want to remodel a bathroom, having a handful of pictures of projects you like, and reasons for liking their features, at your first meeting with your architect puts you several steps ahead in the process allowing for the entire project to hit the ground running. An architect is formally trained to develop their own aesthetic with its own identity and preferences.  The sign of professional is the ability to understand a client’s aesthetic, and how to properly apply it to their project.

Sticky Note Conclusion

Accomplishments, Aspirations, and Aesthetics are key items to consider when beginning a conversation with your architect.  As archtiects, we are happy to express our thoughts and ideas, but in order to truly make home your own, we need to know about your experiences, what you hope this experience will be, and what your personal style is.  The more information the better.

If you have any questions about the things an architect needs to know, or you have compiled these and are ready to discuss your next project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

Budget

When to Spare No Expense

This article is going to focus on budget, a topic we began to cover in the article on the “3 legs of a successful project“.

Almost every project will have room for strategic budget decisions to allow for the total cost to come down while maintaining the integrity of the project.  However there are certain instances when the expense of a specific element, or the extent of a new finish cannot be minimized without compromising the quality of the overall project.  This article is aimed at educating you on how to identify these parts of your project, and how to maintain project integrity even in the face of impending cost cuts.

There are several ways to consider a budget when planning for a home project.  One type of budget for planning your project is an overall budget, the money available to do the whole project, and this approach tends not to put any hierarchical preference to any one piece of the project.  A second approach to budgeting for a project is to segment the overall budget into pools based on what the project is.  For example, if you are planning for a kitchen renovation, you may have a budget for cabinets, countertops, flooring, paint, and appliances, and each of these items has its own budget within the overall budget.  A final approach to budgeting is to have an itemized budget.  This strategy would require a lot of pre-planning, and would benefit from  coordination with an architect.  An itemized budget would have every single element of your project listed, like a shopping list, providing the most accurate overview of your project.

When considering a home renovation project, I find that the second approach, segmenting your budget into pools under the umbrella of the overall budget is the best way to plan for a successful project.  This allows for you to appropriate funds to parts of the project you want to be the best, and can cut back where a more economical option would still keep the project in budget, and maintain the overall quality.

Example

Example

Now, to the meat of this article, when to spare no expense.  In the end, this is a judgement call on your part, but prioritizing goals on a project is the key.  I will use my kitchen renovation example once again (sorry, but I will keep bringing it up as it is easy to relate to).  In this example, your overall budget is $10,000.  Your budget for countertops is $4,000, your budget for new cabinets is $3,000, and the remaining $3,000 is for appliances.  You really want new quartz countertops, and thought that while you were replacing them, you might as well get new cabinets and appliances.  This sets up your expectations, and priorities.  It is critical that you do not lose sight of your original goal, so that the final project will reflect that rather than dilute it.  Now that you have a budget, and scope in mind you contact an architect, and they explain to you that the design and construction will be approximately 6 weeks.  You now know the three critical components to your successful home project, and you decide to move forward with the project.

After design work, and initial bids from contractors you find that your project is over budget by $3,000 for a total of $13,000. This could have happened for several reasons, but for the sake of this example, the breakdown ended up being as follows:  $4,500 for countertops, $5,000 for cabinets, and $3,500 for appliances.  At this point it is imperative that you consult with your architect on how best to bring the project back to within your budget.  Together you should have a clear idea of what is critical to the success of the project, where you can spare no expense, and what may be made more economical, or eliminated altogether.  A sample solution to this could be to eliminate the new appliances from this project, and complete the countertops and cabinets for the original budget.  The finished project would have successfully included new quartz countertops, and cabinets (the majority of the cost), and allow for future replacement of appliances when funds become available.

A separate article on effectively phasing projects is forthcoming for those of you who would like each project to spare no expense, and have time to build up budgets for each portion of your project to complete them as the funds are ready.

I hope this article was helpful in educating you on how to keep perspective when budgets may get blown, and how an architect can aid in maintaining project integrity, and allowing the project to move forward on budget, even if some more economical choices need to be made.

Sticky Note Conclusion

When to spare no expense can be an incredibly hard decision to come by when you have so much emotionally, and literally, invested in a project, but maintaining clarity on the goals of the project are essential to ensuring the final product is a success.

If you need help planning the budget, and setting the goals for your next project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

*Photo credit for the featured image: toolstotal
Planning

The 3 Legs Of A Successfully Organized Project

A colleague once explained to me that a successful project is like a three-legged stool.  The three legs of a successful project are Scope, Schedule, and Budget.  In this article I will explain each leg, how they can affect each other, and why they are the critical components of a successful project.

Scope

Scope, when used in the context of architecture describes the entirety of a project.  This can be as simple as “Kitchen Renovation”, an itemized list of every portion of the kitchen that you want renovated, along with finishes, new plumbing fixture model numbers, etc., or anything in between.  When considering how to communicate the scope of your project it is best to write down, and organize your thoughts on scope.  When preparing to discuss the scope of your project with a design professional, the more clearly defined scope you can have, the better they can assist you.  A succinct scope will also allow an architect to decide whether their involvement in the project is mutually beneficial, or necessary.  For example, if your scope involves replacing two windows, adding wood sills, and painting, an architect could tell you that in this instance a window installer would be sufficient for the project (in Allen County you are required to pull a permit for this work, but a good window installer should include that in their services to you).  This could also, all be done in one brief phone call thanks to your organized, and clear description of the scope.

On the other hand, for this same example, if you were to mention that you had a project in mind with some exterior remodeling, and some interior remodeling, most design professionals would come into the project assuming you needed their services, as well as coordination with various contractors.  This miscommunication due to vaguely defined scope may lead to unnecessary confusion, and cost on your part from the designers and contractors brought in to help.

As a side note, if you have an overall theme or style you would like to maintain for your home, an architect can certainly be of service to help maintain that theme or style with any project you may have in mind, big or small.  The intent of this article, is just to help inform you that defining a specific scope for a project you have in mind will help to successfully kick-off the project.

One additional item about scope to keep in mind is that it is easy to get excited about a project, and begin to include extraneous scope items that may not be in your best interest to include.  This, in the architectural community, is called scope creep.  For example, while considering a kitchen renovation,  you may think you might as well renovate the flooring in your dining room “while you’re at it”, but if this then affects your budget requiring you to downgrade the quality of your countertops, the extraneous scope has lessened the benefit, and impact of your overall project.  Putting constraints on your scope, a fixed set of goals, will allow for your project to turn out exactly as you planned.

Scope influences schedule by defining the work that needs to be completed, and the time it takes to complete that scope drives the schedule.  First, architects need time to complete schematic, and construction drawings to communicate your project scope to contractors.  Then, contractors need time to both bid, and build the project. Scope and Schedule have a direct relationship, in that as you grow or eliminate scope, your schedule will expand or minimize accordingly, in most cases.

Scope influences budget by defining how large the project is, and inherently how much it will cost.  These two legs have a direct correlation, as you shrink or grow scope, you lower or increase the budget.

 Schedule

Schedule is important to consider early on in a project, because much like the other two legs of the project “stool”, it can drive both budget, and scope.  When thinking about a project you will want to consider how long you are willing to have it take.  A kitchen renovation is a great example, as most people don’t have a secondary means of preparing food, so you have to take into account how much down-time you can have before you want to have your kitchen back.  If you can only live without your kitchen for 1 week, then maybe your project will have to be floors, and countertops, rather than a full gut and remodel.  If you can live without a kitchen for 3 months, then your scope can equally increase.  This also applies for new home construction, or additions.  You always have to keep in mind how long you are willing to have the project take, and communicate this early to any design professional you may have on board.

Schedule can influence budget in multiple ways.  If your schedule is set, and it is tighter than what contractors, and architects believe can be done during regular working hours, then it is likely that the budget will have to increase if the scope does not change.  The reason for budget increase would be a result of contractors working overtime, bringing additional crews to your home to help finish the job, or simply how you fit into their schedule.

Similarly, if your architect proposes a specific design schedule, and you inform them that you need it to be 60% of that design time, this will result in one of two possible outcomes.  A decrease in the architect’s services, fewer design iterations, and meetings to discuss them, which minimizes the opportunities to ensure the design is properly realized.  Shrinking the design time may also result in an increase in their fee to work overtime to produce design and construction drawings.

Budget

Budget

Budget may be the most complicated of the three legs of the project stool, because it is not as simple as setting a number, and hoping that the scope and schedule you have in mind will fall into place. Your budget for a home project may very well be the portion of project planning that needs the most coordination between an architect, and yourself.  To continue with the kitchen renovation example, if you contact an architect, and tell them you want to do a kitchen renovation, and you have $10,000 to do it, an architect can explain what that can buy when it comes to cabinetry, floor finishes, countertops, paint, etc.  If you then realize that the scope the architect recommended for your budget is not enough, then you can tone down the quality of the new materials, decrease the scope, or increase the budget.

Your architect should be able to walk you through the process of evaluating what you want, what you can afford, and how soon you can accomplish that.  Other items to consider when organizing your budget are, architects fees, incidental costs (dumpsters, delivery fees, etc.), and a contingency.  As an architect I would recommend at least 15% contingency, meaning that in the event that something doesn’t go according to plan during construction, you have a small amount saved to take care of these items.  As much as I would like to say that a project can be completed exactly as planned without a single change, it has never happened, and being up front about saving for the inevitable revision is the only way to have a successful project.

One final point to make about this kitchen renovation example is that an architect could help you consider phasing your project if it is over budget.  An architect would be able to educate you on what scope you could afford today, and then if you save an additional $x,000, how to effectively finish the original project you had hoped to complete with minimal rework or removal of newer materials, at a later date.

Budget directly affects scope by constraining it, in a good way.  Whatever your budget may be for your project, it helps to set ground rules for how to design it.  For those lucky enough to have scope in mind, and the budget is “whatever it takes”, this helps to inform your architect that quality, and a comprehensive project is the most critical aspect of the job.

Budget’s affect on schedule is slightly more subtle.  If your scope, and budget are aligned, and your personal schedule for the project is within what contractors and architects find to be acceptable, then there is no affect.  However, if your budget is larger than the scope of your project, and you need the schedule to be fast-tracked, the schedule can be compressed for additional fee in most circumstances.  Inversely, if your budget is smaller than your scope, unfortunately, lengthening the schedule does not help the project.

Sticky Note Conclusion

Scope, Schedule, and Budget make up the three legs of a successfully organized project.  If you have a good grasp on two of the legs, an architect can help educate you to understand the third.  All three components should be well thought out before undertaking a project to make home your own.

If you need help understanding any of the three legs of your next project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

Planning

Should I Do This On My Own?

With all kinds of DIY options around us it becomes easy, and attractive to consider undertaking home renovation, or even addition projects on our own.  Some of us are lucky enough to have the skills to plan, and execute a home renovation project, and have it turn out flawless.  Unfortunately not all of us can be renaissance people with a myriad of skills.  This article is intended to help you determine whether a DIY project is for you, and if it is best to start calling professionals to make sure your money and time is well spent.

Background

 

First and foremost, it is critical when considering a DIY project that you think seriously about whether or not you have the experience to successfully execute the project.  There are plenty of people who are capable of completing a project from start to finish without the help of professionals, and that is great.  I would like to think that my opinion as an architect is helpful no matter how little involvement your project may need, but I completely understand the fulfilling nature of a project completed on your own.

For those of us who do not have years of successful home renovation, and construction projects under our belts, it is important to review what experience we do have.  If you are doing hoping to complete a bathroom renovation, and have experience with plumbing work, but not with installing finishes like tile or drywall, then it is important to understand that there is the risk of regretting your project upon completion without contacting the appropriate professionals.  Beyond aesthetic, and personal appreciation for the end result of any project, code compliance is important, not just to fulfill any local requirements, but for you and your family’s safety.  If you have any doubt about what constitutes code compliant construction it is definitely time to get reach out to your favorite architect to make sure that what you have imagined can be pursued.

If there are certain portions of a project you would like to do yourself for budget, or personal fulfillment reasons, any architect should be happy to accommodate this effort, with the understanding that we have all evaluated our capabilities before we get ahead of ourselves.

Budget

Home renovation projects are a large financial, and emotional undertaking, no mater what the scope, because at the end of the project you literally have to live with the result.  As these projects tend to be rather expensive, in the early planning stages many people find that if they buy the materials from their local home improvement store, and do all of the labor themselves (for free), then they can afford a larger project, or nicer finishes.  Although this is true, this may not always be in your best interest.  As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.  If you have limited experience with the trades required to complete your project, but find the low cost of doing all the work yourself too alluring, it may be time to take a step back from this project to rethink the priorities.

Try to imagine any home renovation project you may have in mind, then imagine you completed it on your own, and you are not happy with it as soon as you are done.  This is the worst case scenario, but if you did keep this in mind, it is entirely believable for any potential project.  Upon completion of a project like this it will be easy to feel disappointed in the investment you made, and begin to let your mind wander into “what-if land”.  Of course, there is also the unfortunate fact that you would have to live with this renovation everyday.

Now, I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, I just want to make sure that you are well informed as to not be taken in by the glamour portrayed in every home improvement commercial where a project is completed perfectly, and all it took was a few trips to the store for materials.

When considering a project, and realizing how much more you can afford if you forgo utilizing professionals, please consider reaching out to one so that they can provide a second opinion on the matter.  Remember, planning for renovations is their life, while it may just be a once every 5 year occasion for you.

Benefit

Taking on a project to complete on your own is a very fulfilling act.  With the right experience, and budget, it is possible to get the result you had in mind from the very beginning.  If it is a whole family event, and everyone comes away having had a great time, and feeling proud of their project, that is also a great success.  Of course, as I touched on earlier, if you are able to upgrade your finishes, or expand the size of your project thanks to the savings that were realized due to self-performing the work, this is always a win.

I could never deny that the intangible satisfaction you can receive from finishing a project with your own two hands is worth some potential pitfalls.  However, as a design professional, I always recommend you reach out to one of us to make sure that your project, your goals, your experience, and your budget are all in line to create a great product.  In the end, all architects want to see great architecture, even if it’s not their own.

Sticky Note Conclusion

Completing a project on your own can be both daunting, and fulfilling.  Knowing your capabilities, and keeping the goals of the project at the forefront of your mind will ensure that the project goes as well as possible.  Your projects deserve the best, whether you can provide that, or you a need a little help.  We, as architects, are here to be a resource for your projects, and to make sure that we all have the opportunity to surround ourselves with better architecture.

If you need help deciding whether or not to undertake a project on your own, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.