THE FAQS

What don’t we do?! When you google interior designers you are going to get a wide variety of relatively generic and fluffy answers to the above question. Here is what we do as designers at re:Design:

Besides being the creative geniuses behind the designs, executing a concept isn’t always as straight forward as you might think. There is a ton of detailed decisions to be made in the design process. We help you make them. Then, there is the coordination of the many working parts involved to make sure the execution of design and the construction process happens in an efficient, economical and, most importantly, positive way. We help communicate and coordinate. Our role varies project to project from just providing clients with a concept all the way to managing the project alongside a builder. We see it as our job to be the advocates for our clients, making sure they understand the process, their needs are met and they are educated and informed along the way. We do all this, while making sure to have some fun along the way!

This might be the mix up that bugs designers the most! Let’s take a moment to clear it up! If your project includes just the furnishings, some accessories/styling, and maybe even some paint selection, then “decoration” is the appropriate service for your needs. There are a lot of talented people who have “an eye for design” that can help put together a cohesive decor package.

On the other hand, if your scope of work includes new construction, a renovation, or specifications - meaning an overall plan is required that deals with a design concept, construction drawings, specifications, coordination, and the construction itself - you are looking for an interior designer who has received formal training. Working with an interior designer should lead to a comprehensive design package that is provided for construction. Many trained designers also offer interior decorating services as part of the overall package because there is definitely some overlap in adding those details when creating a finished space.

Besides the fact designers are a blast to work with (at least we think we are), a designer really does help navigate through the whole process and works with clients to understand how they want to live/work in their space. A designer will spend the time getting to know you and your preferences and help translate that information into a design. There is always a balance between form and function and it’s our job to provide clients with the best of both.

At the end of the day, this is our full-time job and we are good at it! We know the "ins and outs” and aren’t overwhelmed by the process. Hiring a designer will ultimately make the process a lot easier and saves time and money. Even though there is a cost to working with a designer, working with a professional up front to help create a clear plan will save a ton of rework or compromising later in the construction process. It’s much easier to revise the design on the computer than it is once a wall has been taken down!

A good rule of thumb is if your project involves changing structural load bearing walls, or adding square footage, an architect and/or structural engineer will most definitely need to be part of your design team. They provide the necessary drawings and structural calculations required by code to ensure your safety and welfare. If you’re not sure, we will let you know! We determine what is needed for a project after the initial consultation and will provide the necessary information in our estimate! We work with lots of talented professionals who we trust and can help put together a great design team!

We focus on residential design! We just like it better! We have also done commercial work and are happy to discuss if it’s the right fit for us! We like any scale of project from small kitchen + bath renovations to new builds! We make sure that we are the right fit for each client/project and if not, we will always suggest some alternatives!

Anything from concept design to full service interior design and project management. Check out our “services” page for more information on what we can do for you!

We do not work with an exclusive contractor. If you already have one you want to work with, great! If not, we have worked with some very talented contractors and builders and we are happy to recommend! Putting together a solid team upfront is key in the success of a project. The design is the first step of the whole process, but design has to be informed by proper construction knowledge. If a design is not buildable because of budget, structural requirements, or construction practicalities, then it simply won’t get built and that ends with a lot of disappointed and frustrated people. The more informed you can be before starting the better!

Whenever you want! Designers can be involved at any point of a project. Now, with that said, it’s important to note that we have a preference. The sooner a designer is involved the better! We often get called into a process when a client is stuck or isn’t feeling heard and in turn they are ending up with designs or plans they don’t love. We can always rework things, but it makes for a much smoother process if you have all those ducks in a row before you have started too far down a path. In the end, it will save you time and money.

We are big advocates for remote design. While there is absolutely some mandatory decisions that need to be made in person, the design process can mostly be taken care of remotely. Here is how we work:

Initial consults can be done in person or remotely. Once we have an idea of the scope, we provide a summary and design estimate to our clients via e-mail and set up a follow up meeting to review and make any changes needed. This meeting is either done at our Winnipeg office or, once again, remotely! When the scope and fees are agreed on, we send out the contract and deposit invoice and get to work! For more information on the process see below Q+A for more details!

After our initial consult, we break our process into 5 stages:

Phase 1: Existing Condition

This where we see, document and measure the existing space. If the project is new construction and the space isn’t already there, this phase is also where we have our first design meeting and start to flush out the design goals and get ideas flowing for the new design. Do you have inspiration images you are dying to show us?! Now is the time we want to see them! We are heavy on visuals and design terms upfront so that we are all speaking the same lingo!

Phase 2: Schematic Design

The SD phase is where we put “pen to paper” and draft our first design concepts. Want to see your space in 3D? Well, you’re in luck. We walk you around your new design virtually and show you all the potential your space has! We include meeting times and revisions in this phase to make sure we end up with a space plan and design concept our clients love and can sign off on before moving on to DD.

Phase 3: Design Development

This is where the details come together and is often the longest phase. Revisions to the concept are made and specifications like finishes, lighting and plumbing fixtures are picked. The concept design from SD is made into a cohesive final design. If there is structural work needed, this is the phase where those details are worked out as well.

Phase 4: Construction Drawings

Once the design has been approved in DD, we then put all of it together into a comprehensive drawing package that is passed on to the builder for final pricing and construction. This is the last phase of design and once the drawing package is sent off, our scope is typically done!

Phase 5: Contact Admin

Contract administration is a fancy way of saying coordination. Once construction starts, there are inevitably site conditions and changes that will need to be made for one reason or another. Having a designer involved is very beneficial to help problem solve! We typically suggest 2 hours per week for the duration of construction and this generally includes weekly or bi-weekly site visits with the contractor to make sure everything is translating properly on site and working through any issues that come up!

We are a collaborative studio! Our clients usually work with all of us at one point during the design process! We have a system that works for us, is efficient and allows for more than one designer’s creative input on a project. For smaller scale projects, once the contact is signed, it’s likely that one designer will be your main contact from start to finish. For larger scale projects, one designer will be involved during different stages in the process and will work directly with you before handing it off to the next designer. We are all about collaboration and communication and it allows us to provide the best level of service and design to our clients!

While it’s all fun and good to watch HGTV, you MUST not expect that your project will be completed overnight. We hate to break it to you but, more time, energy and people are involved in those projects behind the scenes over a longer period of time than is implied. Shocking, we know!

Plan for 3-6 months of design depending on the scale of project. DO NOT RUSH THE DESIGN PROCESS! Rushing the process never leads to anything good. These are big decisions that need to be made and it can take time to really digest them and make sure it’s what you really want. Not allowing for the appropriate time for design can lead to quick and thoughtless decisions, details being overlooked, mistakes made, coordination missed and most importantly you are going to end up with a cranky and stressed out design team. Any of that sound fun?? The last thing you want is to add unnecessary, additional costs to the project and finish construction wishing you had done something differently.

That is up to the contractor to lay out for you! Setting a construction schedule is yet another benefit of involving a contractor early in the process so you can plan and set expectations.

That never happens. Ever. Just kidding... we are humans too and are capable of taking a swing and a miss! We tell all of our clients that all feedback is good feedback and that our feelings are never hurt if there is something that needs to be changed. We work very closely with our clients and put a lot of time in upfront to understand what the design goals are. We always allow for revision time and have meetings in every phase to make sure we are all on the same page. We never move a design forward without sign off from the client. Working closely with our clients throughout the process pretty much ensures that the designs they end up with are ones they love.

Send us a message! It’s as easy as that.

Our first consultation is free! We think of this meeting as a meet and greet! That means the focus of this meeting is on getting to know our potential clients and vice versa! It’s just as important that we are a fit for you as designers as it is you are for us as clients. We don’t dive into the design at this meeting, but rather discuss the project with you and get the information we need to put together a design estimate.

We broke our services down into 5 main categories, which can be found on our service page and includes our starting prices for each! Our typical design fees are based on $110/hour. For meetings scheduled outside of regular business hours (evenings + weekends) we base our fee on $165/hour.

We organize all of our estimates into our design phases and create a fixed fee for each phase. We never charge more than what was quoted unless there is additional services needed that weren’t included in the original estimate. The additional fees are always discussed prior to any additional work being competed.

You bet! We prepare a contact after the estimate and scope has been agreed on. We ask for a deposit to secure a spot in the queue and commit to the project. The remaining balance is billed at the end of each design phase. The deposit varies from 100% for smaller fees to 25% for larger fees. The final payment is required prior to the final drawing being released!

You may or may not have heard this term thrown around before. First, when we estimate a project it starts by defining a scope of work to be completed. Scope creep is when something is added to the originally defined scope whether it be the deliverables needed or site changes that have come up. Scope creep can happen in the design process or in the construction process. Sometimes these changes can be client driven, but they can also be unforeseen site conditions that can’t be helped. Either way, when there is scope creep it means that there will be additional costs associated with the changes to account for the extra time needed to take care of them.

There are pros and cons to both! We tend to like to design with a budget in mind and always ask in our initial consult. This isn’t to be snoopy! We generally know if we think what is being asked for is in line with the budget. However, to get accurate pricing requires a contractor’s involvement during the design process and it also means some coordination time along the way. Providing allowances for design is not without its shortcomings, but can be a good starting point and helps prevent “over designing”. Allowances prior to any design is generally not great, but if the contractor has something to base the allowances on, they can be much more accurate. We think the time spent coordinating up front, working with the contractor during design is usually less than the time it takes to revise/rework a design.

It’s not that we don’t love to design a client’s dream space too! You get to see everything you want, exactly how you want it and the cost to make it happen! It’s a great way to approach design because you get to understand what it takes to make your dream space a reality and decide what you value the most. You’re in the drivers seat, but sometimes it means that once the design is complete, we need to make revisions and scale back. Contractors do often prefer to receive a completed design package too, because it’s much easier for them price! We are happy to recommend what we think is best for your project during our initial consult!

Our favourite question. Probably the most FAQ of them all. We know as a client, you are hoping we can give you a magical number for the construction cost, but the truth is we can’t. You wouldn’t go to an electrician for a plumbing quote, or at least you shouldn’t! Interior designers can’t possibly know EVERYTHING, though we wish we did. We can likely tell you roughly if your budget is in line with the scope based on past projects or what the retail cost of a product is, but by no means is this an accurate overall project cost.

There is so much information in the world of construction and it’s constantly changing. How contractor’s price is not a standard across the industry, labor costs vary, material pricing changes constantly, and the list goes on! This is why we suggest getting a builder on board at the beginning of the design process. We can work with them throughout the process to make sure the design being proposed is actually doable and will be within budget. Alternatively, it is wise to get at least 3 quotes on a completed design package. This should give you a good comparison to choose from and a range of construction budgets to compare.