At Blueline the home design process begins with and focuses on your wants, needs and vision. Our Home Designer, Yvonne, will focus on capturing these elements and create a roadmap for your contractor to bring them to life. This process is important and can be as exciting as the first day of construction. The most important thing to know is that you'll have a talented, innovative, and accommodating residential designer working for you.
While every project is unique, there are several common steps we take to provide you an attractive and functional home design that is within your budget.
Step 1: Choosing Your Professional Home Designer
Selecting the right designer for your project is arguably your most important step on the path to your new home or remodel. Qualities to look for in a home designer:
Experience. Yvonne has 27 years experience in residential home design
Creative insight. For new construction you and your designer will be starting with practically limitless possibilities. It is important that your designer understand your vision, then bring there creative insight into that vision to bring out the best possible product. Your desired style can be brought to life threw a a variety of elements including: trim, siding, roof, windows, layout and other finishes. For remodels it is important for your designer to be able to produce a functional design that fits well with the existing structure. This includes blending the roof, providing interior flow, and replicating or mirroring details to blend the old structure with the new.
Technical knowledge. Your building department will require technical drawings that conform with the labyrinth of standards within uniform building code. Your plans must meet these standards to obtain a permit. You need a designer that knows the code and can take your approved design and produce a set of drawings that indicate your project will meet these standards.
Your Vision. It is critical to have a designer that can envision your project in a finished state. It is important that your drawings are reflective of, and built on your vision.
Experience with Building department officials. It is an advantage for you to hire a Home designer (and Contractor) that has or can establish a good relationship with the building officials. The bulk of Yvonne's work is in Davis, Woodland, Winters and the unincorporated area of Yolo County. During the coarse of this work she has established herself as a reliable professional that the building official can work with to get projects out and into the hands of the clients contractor. She has also worked with and had good experiences with building departments as far away as Monterey and in adjoining counties of Sacramento, Yuba and Sutter.
Step 2: Opening the conversation - Free initial consultation
During the initial consultation, you will meet Yvonne, Blueline Design's Professional Home Designer. You will be encouraged to discuss your vision and goals for your remodel or new home. She will will often meet with you at your home or proposed job site. At this time you can discuss the details you would like to see in your project: The square footage and type of space you desire. You can also indicate where you would like the project to go on your property. Covering these items early in the process will ensure that your new home or remodel will not only be beautiful, it will also be functional and efficient.
Step 3: Development and preview of your home's layout
During this step, Yvonne will will develop and present one or more proposed floor-plans for you to consider. You will be able to see the location of each window and door, where the sinks, bathtubs, and cabinets will be placed, potential furniture layout and other finish details. You can choose to accept a plan scheme as proposed, indicate desired alterations, or a give direction on a complete new path. Many clients will often mix and match elements from different scheme proposals. You may like the master suit layout from scheme one and the kitchen layout from scheme three. Take your time with these choices as changes are very easy at this stage. If you would like, keep the plans for a while and really think about the flow of the home and functionality of the space. Consider the needs of all family members and your lifestyle now and in the future. Taking the time to carefully consider your home plan at this point is important. Yvonne will produce refined drawings at your direction. You will be presented with these drawing and have an opportunity to approve them or request further refinement. We will repeat this process as many times as necessary to create a home that's a perfect fit for you. There is no limit to the number of revisions or meetings.
Step 4: Design approval and Service contract
Once you have approved a design, you will be asked to sign a service contract with Blueline Design. This contract delineates what service Blueline Design will provide and associated costs. We work a on an hourly bases with a not-to-exceed limit. This means you will have a good idea of the cost to produce the construction documents. These documents are all interrelated with each other, and the chosen design. Any design changes after construction documents have begun can be very time consuming. Because we cannot anticipate when or if we will receive change request, additional hourly cost will be accrued above the not to exceed pricing.
Step 5: Elevations
After you have approved the floor plan, elevations will be produced. These elevations will show you how your new home or remodel will appear from the outside. Under some circumstances Yvonne will also produce interior elevations to show how a specific element will appear.
Step 4: Previewing your home's exterior layout
Once you've decided on the interior layout of your new home, you'll move to the exterior elements. During this step, Yvonne will show you a proposed overview of your lot showing how the home will sit on your property, the location and shape of the driveway, and how other exterior elements like patios will be placed. Again, changes are very easy at this stage, so together you'll take the time needed to review the plans and make any changes.
Step 5: Finalizing the plans for submital
During this step, Yvonne will complete all construction drawings, including: Site plan, Removal plan(demolition for remodels), Floor plan, Foundation plan, Floor Framing (two-story only), Roof plan, Electrical plan, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) plan, Elevations, building dept required Sections, and other structural documents. She will also bring in a structural engineer, of your choosing, to provide structural calculations, provide structural recommendations, and a wet stamp. Blueline design has worked with several engineers over the years. We can help you find an engineer if you do not have one already selected. The collection of work produced and coordinated by Blueline design will provided you with the necessary documents to submit to your building department.
Step 6: Submital and review.
The plans will be provided to you for summital to your building officials. At this time you will turn in your plan sets and pay your building department for the plan review. During this review the building department will often want clarification of one or more aspect of the plans. The Building official will indicate, on the plans, what clarification they are looking for and give them back to you. You will give them to Blueline Design. Yvonne will review the request for clarification or additional information and provide them with the requested documentation for re-submital by you.
Step 7. Plan approval
After the plans are approved by the building department you will pay for your permit and receive an approved set of plans for your project. Congratulations you are ready to build.
