Help In which order please ??
We finally move in on 31st July ... we have decided in the below design ( ish ) and need to know what steps are next ... we also need some one with a bit of vision for some of the 'style ideas ' we have in terms of kitchen design and rendering the exterior and window style ...
in addition we need advice about replacing the heating in parts of the house, I'd like U/F heating in bathrooms and open plan living .... please can you confirm whether we need a concept planner, architect, building designer, builder or architectural technician next ... ????
Have attached photos again, some walls will need knocking down ( see old floor plan and new iPad design pic), a new extension but not much bigger, none of our changes will affect neighbours as they are too far from our building ...
Comments (6)
Claire Nicholson
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI would completely agree with the comments above!
We started a major renovation 6 months ago and got a concept planner / interior designer on board right at the start and it was the best thing we could possibly have done.
She helped us work with structural engineers and an architect to get what we needed for the builders, but helped us avoid going down a very expensive route with an architect involving having a full survey (just a scale drawing of the whole house that they wanted before they'd do the drawing of what we needed)
Our concept planner / interior designer helped us look at the space and maximise what we had (not get carried away about adding lots of bits as Man About The House mentions above). She provided different options for layouts and flow of how the space would be used and really challenged our thinking (in a very positive way!)
She was also an absolute life saver in terms of helping us understand what to do when and in what order with all the different trades- I would never have known how early on in the process you needed a lighting plan, never mind how to create one and in what format to give to an electrician!
She saved us large amounts of money by providing lighting plans and carpentry specifications, so we knew exactly what we needed and could give a proper brief to the different trades, rather than changing bits midway through, which is when the budget tends to creep up and out of control.
She also got amazing trade discounts and passed them all onto us, which made a big difference to our costs- everything from the kitchen to underfloor heating and right through to doors and lighting!
Just worth mentioning that our interior designer was able to offer the concept planning service, including all 3D images and video tours but then in addition all of the advice on colour plans and interior fixtures and fittings. This is quite a personal choice and you may only want the concept planning- for a small extra amount (which we definitely got back through all the trade discounts and accurate specs to give to trades) we chose to take the next step up to interior designer as I wanted to make sure that everything 'pulled together'.
I had seen to many super practical schemes that looked just a little bit 'flat' and I wasn't confident I had the skills to pull the whole look together without a bit of help!
More than anything we have had someone super knowledgeable and helpful on hand 24/7 (quite literally!) for any and every silly little question or wobble that I had. She's made the whole process enjoyable and taken away a lot of the anxiety and uncertainty of decisions. She's also stopped me making a lot of rookie mistakes :)
Just to give you an idea in onr part of the house she's helped us achieve; we started with three separate rooms and have ended up with one large kitchen / diner / pantry.
We'd never done anything more than a bit of decorating before and whilst I'm sure we'd have got done without her help, I'm 100% sure it would have cost us a lot more money, it wouldnt have been half as much fun and it definitely wouldn't look how it looks now!
Hope it helps!
Best wishes,
Claire
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