I’ve worked on a lot of houses, but I’ve never used a designer. In this case, though, the house had so many unique aspects that I felt like I needed some professional guidance to make sure it all came together correctly.
Make sure you know what everyone does in the process. A designer is not an architect. They can’t do structural design. They might produce rough drawings, but if you need blueprints, you’re likely to need a structural engineer or an architect or both. Designers focus mostly on finishes- finding the right materials and pulling together the “look” of a building. In most of those “home improvement” shows on HGTV, the “wow” factor is because a designer did a great job of making it all look right.
Don’t get me wrong- “good bones” come first, and if you screw up the heavy lifting (framing, plumbing, electrical, etc.) there’s not enough splashy tile or slick cabinetry in the world to make up for a sagging ceiling or a structure that won’t pass inspection. In my case, I felt like I had enough of a handle on the other trades, so I’m acting as my own general contractor. (I actually got a GC license to do these projects. More on that later.). If you have the “bones” settled- either because you’re not changing them, or you already have someone for that work, then it’s worth looking into a Designer.
Designers usually work on a percentage of the budget. You might allocate $30,000 for fixtures and finishes. The designer would either make the purchases and take their margin from that, or they may just charge it as an explicit line item. In other cases, they may work more on an hourly basis, particularly if the scope of the final project isn’t as clear.
I am very fortunate to have found Katy Popple, a Pittsburgh-based designer who has a bit of a specialty in these older homes. I viewed a number of her projects via the web, and was quickly convinced that she had the right aesthetic for what I wanted. I’m very pleased she took us on as a client.
Katy’s initial work has been focused on layout and capturing the essence of what we want. We aren’t making a lot of huge structural changes, though we are doing a few interesting things. Once we decided on the interior layout, it dictated a few updates to the outside. We’ve moved some of the windows – which is no small feat in a 3 story brick building. In all, we added two new windows, relocated one, closed up one doorway and added a new one. (I’ll cover that more when I talk about my mason). Katy’s early work formed the basis for how that structural work was done.
As we’re progressing the project, she’s getting more active with us. My wife and I have been building a Pinterest board, and Katy has used that to draw inspiration. We got a good chuckle to learn that one of the pins we added was actually Katy’s work!
At this point in the project, while demo is just getting underway, Katy’s starting to pull together a “first room” for us to review and comment on. I get the sense this will confirm that we’re on the same page. We are going for something of a “London row house” look to the place- lots of light, taking full advantage of those high ceilings, etc. Once we get a first room design together, I’ll share it for everyone to see. There’s a lot of dirt between here and there, but we’re really underway now. Follow the links below to see more of Katy’s work.
Entropy Properties LLC 