How to Make Design Decisions

There is a wide and wonderful range of things people mean when they say ‘project’. Some want to change out the sofa cushions, and some want to add a second floor to the house.

Wherever you are on the what’s-a-project spectrum, there are only two things you need to do at the start of any potential project. I wish every DIYer did these.

With these two documents, you can rock any remodel, any furniture purchase, or any little handyman project. It’s faster, clearer, and less stressful than any other way.

I’ve been managing and designing projects for 25 years. What works for super small scale projects works for large builds. Fails similarly scale.

And the fails hurt. Realizing you’ve painted the exterior of your house the wrong color hurts. Realizing that you need to give up your steam shower in your dream bath (your one splurge!) to pay your contractor with the last of the bathroom budget, for mistakes that could have been avoided, hurts. Realizing that you just bought your first ever grown-up sofa after months of indecision and you don’t really like it hurts. 

There is no size project at which failing to plan at the front end costs less than fixing avoidable mistakes at the finish.

Any project, of any scale, only needs two pieces of paper to be a success. If you get any project out of your head and into these two documents, you can choose your design with total confidence, and predict final costs with accuracy. That’s where you want to be.

1.   Drawings.

Doing a project without drawings is like asking your contractor to read your mind before you’ve made it up, and then handing them a blank check.

Sounds insane, but there’s a lot of little projects that run this way. Typically to “save money”. Design is an iterative process. The construction of your vision should be a direct outgrowth of the planning you did at the front end.

Trying to approve a design you love without wanting to pay for drawings, but then second guessing the concept design because you can’t ‘see’ it, is a waste of time and money. It will also not produce as nice a product.

The right drawings for your project can mean everything from:

a quick hand sketch, to renderings, (realistic pictures of the finished room), floor plans (dimension checks for flow and furniture placement), to a CD (literally, ‘construction drawing’) set for your permitting agency to check that it is to code, and for the contractor to build off of. Whatever level you and the project need to discuss, budget, plan, edit, and communicate, there’s a drawing for you.

There will be revisions, discussions, epiphanies, side detours, and explorations. Just like there are in any other creative process, in any industry, the process may look a little wild, but actually follows a pretty standard set of activities. It can be so much fun, if you allow it.

Drawings are the output of that process. They indicate that you have a vetted, budgeted, buildable, communicable, lovable design, whether that’s a garden gate or a new kitchen layout or a whole house.

Drawings show you where the problems to be solved are, force final decisions (I could write an entire essay on that point…) and feed into a reliable cost estimate, by allowing contractors to see what you want built.

Drawings are your ticket to ease, confidence, and a beautiful result.

2.  A buying list  

The second thing you need on paper is an itemized list of everything you need to buy.

(This is called an FF&E schedule, for furniture, fixtures and equipment. The schedule means spreadsheet in this case, not timeline.) It’s part of an overall project budget.

The numbers thrown at you for a project are wild. It’s understandable that you might feel vulnerable or overwhelmed.

A list puts you in control of your own reality check. You can confirm what others are telling you, and get real with yourself about what your time and money are worth, and what the project is really going to cost.

 If you’re stuck on, “there’s no way it could be as much as they say”, you’ll never move to the next stage (um, acceptance?) and make decisions. Write it all down.

Why a purchase list is important: Because the truth will set you free.

And because stuff adds up. (If you forget the garbage disposal, cabinet pulls, and a light over the island in your kitchen list, that’s easily $1500 that is now a surprise to you, before we add that ‘new’ work to the electrician and plumber costs. At the end of a major project, you will not appreciate any more surprises. Write. It. Down. Before. You. Start.)

Want a budget template, a second opinion, or general project guidance?

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