There is a lot of overlap between the services of an architect and the services of a designer, and there can be a tremendous difference between any two people having the same title whether that of architect or of designer. In either case you can find pie-in-the-sky dreamers who can draw lovely designs without understanding basic construction or traffic flow, or you can find a jewel who can take your ideas, improve on them, and follow through with skill and knowledge. You will also find a considerable sliding scale of $$, depending on how much is involved. Least $ is taking your plans and drawing them into usable blueprints. Most $$ will be the guy who takes you plans, improves them, re-draws until you are satisfied, does the blueprints, and checks during construction to be sure there are no problems; quite often coming up with sources for materials and subs. If you are absolutely positive that you have thought of everything you want and it's the way you want it, you should swing your plans past a building engineer who is both aware of safety requirements as well as what is needed to satisfy local building codes. Do this even if your state does not require it. It's lots easier to know in advance that a balcony requires specific stress supports that it is to add those supports after it fails the inspection. Ask around locally for recommendations, and absolutely do not go with anyone who has no recommendation and/or with whom you are not comfortable with when explaining your needs. Like buying a car, you need to do some looking and some research before choosing, and make sure all the options are listed. If a firm or group is recommended, get specific because it is possible to have an intern or apprentice doing most of the work under the group name (inexperience is not necessarily bad, but it is something to be aware of).

I have built 2 houses. One with a little designer help, and one without any designer help. We have "mistakes" in our first house that we are now correcting before we sell it. A designer could have helped us avoid those and I am sure we would have had a better laid out basement plan! (it is pretty bad.) Whenever I have had a designer, they have usually saved me money by choosing a cheaper option, using things I already had, or avoided mistakes. We had a little designer help on the 2nd (vacaton) home. The things she picked out were great. Again, we made a couple changes on the plans, this time (our 2nd house) the changes we made were better, but I think the designer could have really helped make those changes great! To save money on the designer, I usually do a lot of thinking and leg work before I meet with her. I collect fabrics from Joanns (cheaper) bring tile from big box store, or tile store, I just try to be ready knowing what I want and avoid more hourly fees due to my indecisiveness or trips to stores. So I say go with the designer, but know what you want, and choose carefully. Ask the hourly fee or fee per job. Check a few and talk to happy customers. And make sure she knows your budget. I am OK if some things come from Joanns, big box stores, etc. My designer was too. Another designer I worked with couldn't use cheaper things, so I won't use her again. Make sure you and the designer are on the same page. And have fun!

Whether or not it is "foolish" to piecemeal the project is why I'm asking questions. We've heard plenty of stories of folks who install it after the fact, once they have the cash to do so, (and often save a bundle) after all the more immediate cash needs are addressed (e.g. landscaping). It's only somewhat of a cost issue, because if we can get a better deal at a later date, then great. It's also a "don't want to finance it" issue. The cost goes up significantly when interest is tacked on. The house will also be significantly more energy efficient than our current house, so we have some questions as to just how unbearably hot it may (or may not) get. As you can see, it's not a total slam dunk either way. Hearing that the "prewire + line set" option done by the builder, and followed up with installation by a "certified dealer" (of course) of whatever appropriate condenser unit may be unwise is helpful. Why would the unit's warranty not be filed by the tradesman? On a related note, just got word that the builder's chosen unit is a Rheem 13 SEER. I will go do my own research here shortly, but any thoughts on this brand etc would be appreciated.

We "built" the house we live in now, tract home in new neighborhood, with some customization. House conversations with friends and neighbors always have regrets in there. Bump-outs, boneheaded designs we should have caught, upgrades that should have been made, upgrades that aren't worth it... the list goes on. Based on our experiences here, I already know there will be design / decor issues that will have D'oh! moments. It's impossible to think about EVERYthing. I think we've hit all the major points, and have enough flexibility to change in the future. Our lives changed quite a bit in the 6 years since building (the once large pantry is now crammed because I now do the majority of grocery shopping at Costco and that not change for at least 15 years for example). I can't see into the future, but we learned from this build, and kept the evolution of our family in mind with our design. 1) The architect/draftsman is only as good as the information provided. They don't know us, or live our lives, ( I wonder if there'd be a benefit to having separate design consultations with the clients, much like relationship counseling, to get a really clear picture, lol), which is why we rely on their education and expertise. 2) The reason copy editors exist: to catch the technical mistakes writers make, and can no longer "see" due to closeness to the project. Same reason med errors occur. I think when we originally like a design, then look at it, dream about it, obsess over it, we can't "see" the flaws or potential problems that others might. Hence all the floor plan critique posts here. I think too, that online and builder plans lull us into a false sense of security- "they design and build houses all the time, they're experts, hundreds of people have bought the design, what could go wrong?!" We found that customizing our builders plan threw them for a loop, and didn't realize it would do so, until after the house was built, and weird things weren't right; towel bar location, depth o linen closet, outlets, etc. 3) We are often playing on tilt. We're all living SOMEwhere, right now, and designing a new place to live, with many features that we love (or would love to have) or without the ones we loathe, those HTOD, that we obsess over in our current or past homes. Finally, the same way any artist of any medium does, we aren't always satisfied with the end result of a project. Sometimes you just have to be DONE, even if to your artists eye, you could have kept going. Having said all that, I know there's going to be some regrets, but hopefully -I believe- the joy will outweigh them!