General contractor is a given..the rest-it largely depends on you-your funds, confidence what you can/cannot do, resilience, time and energy you can devote, etc. (And experience and passion of your contractor. He won't pick your finishes of course; but he might have an idea to put a window instead of a door for example or some other thing you didn't think of by yourself. Brainstorming is part of the process) we pulled off gut remodel plus addition plus reconfiguring stuff with the help of GC only but I'd say I longed to have a designer not once..would be easier. it's a very trying experience, long as well, you want more professional people by your side. It doesn't get done by itself-and it's a full time job, if nobody undertakes it, you do. So by all means either contact a designer, or maybe look at design-build firms. Just make sure you have a good chemistry with that person. Important with everybody of course, builder as well. You'll spend hours with these people..days..months..hopefully not years but can happen:) Minimize stuff that can go wrong by choosing right people. Some things will go wrong but the better your relationship is the more chance in overcoming obstacles. Architect, I'm not sure you need..your builder may advise with structural engineer if needed for that to be removed wall "Understand that if you are tearing out walls, finalization of the plan occurs AFTER the walls are out and you can see what is behind them"-agreed (we didn't tear down walls though, if anything we added some lol..but as we fully gutted the space-I know some stuff can't be predicted until you touch the wall and know what's there) So yes..the combo of general contractor and interior designer would be best. Whom to contact first? I'd start with a GC to get a feel of a general scope of the work, but I think both can be contacted simultaneously, or one can start with a designer too Whether people do double duty? Rarely. They might want to, but will not be best equipped for it even if passionate or simply won't have time. But you don't neccessarily need them to do double duty, in your particular case. Interior designers, for example, are trained to understand how the house works, so they are not architects but can have great vision and realize the mechanics that are required to achieve it.

I started looking through our client database, and it appears that we have hundreds of clients in the Los Angeles area, and so it might be a good idea as suggested that you start a thread asking for experience and recommendations from people who have used designers here. I'm kind of at the other end of the experience, since the designers are our clients instead of vice versa. Also, since I am in product development and design, I really do not get involved with clients, although years ago I used to. My experience now is rather dated, and many of the designers that I've known have retired. The only one that comes to my mind at the moment is Lisa Merkle, and I did some drawings for her back when I lived in Venice more than ten years ago. I've done freelance drawings for some other designers as well, but I can't remember their names at the moment, as it's been over ten years. Another one of my clients (who produced tiles) worked with Michael Smith, and I think his work is very good also, but he usually works on fairly large projects, I think. Another person I could recommend is Suzanne MacPhail, who used to work with me here. She also used to work for my boss Sally Lewis in her interior Design business SSID as SSL's in house architect, I believe. She also used to work on the floor plans for our showrooms, but she is now out on her own, as my boss no longer does interior design work, due to her health. If you do not want to work with Suzanne, she could recommend someone for you. Jack Lowrance is one of our clients that I can remember, but I've been out of touch for several years. At least he is still alive.

My friend in Los Angeles did this and in many areas of Los Angeles are being renovated in this manner because the land is so valuable and the houses built were extremely modest relative to their value now. Obviously this kind of tear down and extensive renovation only makes economic sense in places like the West Side of desirable part of the Valley. Anyone driving down any street can see the hordes of dumpsters :-) Based on what my friends have done, you hire an architect to draw up the plans based on your providing what you want to achieve. To the extent they need a structural engineer, they would then hire the structural engineer as part of the process. I don't know anyone who used a design build firm. The trades in Los Angeles are incredibly busy - you need to hire the architect and have the actual plans drawn up with exact specifications - and have them permitted. This provides the basis for getting actual bids from GC - generally the architect or architectural firm will have recommendations and leads but in the meantime you network among friends and colleagues trying to get your own personal recommendations as well.

This is not the path for everyone, but I'm being my own kitchen designer. My remodel project does not require an architect (no structural changes, just gutting and refinishing the whole room), but having ample design education and background (which include drafting skills) and a very clear and precise vision of what I want to accomplish, I'm confident I'll get what I want without another designer. My dad, who has done this sort of design work (he is not officially an architect, but has all the skills and is very talented), has advised me to lean on architects, other designers, and the artisans and subcontractors I'll be workomg with for feedback and criticism. Part of the reason I'm designing everything myself is because no one is going to make me Eastlake style cabinetry on their own.