Phase 01 of the Design Process

Welcome to the first installment of our series deep diving into the design process here at Madison Nicole Design! Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down the steps of each phase we go through as we design and build your next home!

Of course we start with the initial inquiry. Imagine me sitting at this desk when you send it off, because I am most likely sitting right there working on floor plans or finish selections!

I know it has become commonplace to have full length conversations in Instagram DM's (guilty!) but the best way to inquire about your project will always be an email directly to us. Another option is to use our website contact form, which goes straight to our email anyway. That way we won't miss a message, and we can find all of our correspondence in one place!

With every inquiry, we send our investment guide, which provides design fee pricing, an outline of the design process, and details about the next step, the in-person design consultation.

Once we schedule our consultation, we typically meet in your home if it's a renovation, or sometimes a coffee shop or restaurant if you are working on a new build. During this consultation, we work together to determine your needs and develop a detailed scope of work. This step is crucial in figuring out whether our studio is a good fit for your project.

One thing to note here is that our initial in-person consultation is a paid consult to cover the time for the meeting (which is usually between 60-90 minutes), as well as the time to create the full proposal and estimate that will follow. Valuable advice is always exchanged in the initial meeting, regardless of whether we end up moving forward together or not. So even if we aren't a perfect fit for whatever reason, the consultation still provides so much value!

It's important to note that it's next to impossible to provide you an accurate estimate without seeing your space in person. We often get calls asking how much a renovation costs, but there are so many variables that goes into a project, that we truly are not able to tell you until we meet in person and review everything.

After the consultation, we are able to create a detailed and fully customized proposal that will give you a clear idea of the scope of work and your potential investment. This proposal will be sent via email within a week of our consultation, and from there, we both sign contracts to start working if it sounds like a good fit!

Does this sound similar to experiences you have had in the past? Let me know in the comments below! In a few weeks, we'll be sharing the next step of the design process... and it's one of my favorite parts!