We have a major whole house renovation with most done in phase one but we have 3 or 4 phases. Depending on you scope and complexity you may want an architect. I interviewed 13. My architect was known for his use of natural light, keeping the renovations in context with the house and neighborhood and being strong on his opinions (I needed someone to stand up to me and not be yes man). He was suppose to be good in kitchen designs but I got better layouts here. Many of the architects didn't appeal to me or had the same vision. A few did and I looked at their work. I think it's better to see it in person. Talk to the references - I always talked to at least 3. Most references were from friends so they really gave me the real scoop. A few design/build teams MAY work but I think there are few and far between. It really depends on your overall scope of work. I think you don't necessarily need a detailed whole house plan but you do need an overall house plan for things like where electric, plumbing and HVAC is running. You don't want to destroy finished spaces for future work. We ran the plumbing, wiring, gas (for fireplace) and Cable/phone/computer lines for the the future guest room suite since all of this came thru the kitchen (and it was gutted for phase one). The plumbing is laying just below the floor and electrical is in 2 areas on the walls. The gas is where we planned the fireplace. good luck

Sophie Wheeler: You're assuming way too much. What makes you say that I don't seem to take into account the associated costs of removing bearing walls, when I clearly stated above: "I hate surprises, especially big ones. That's the reason we would like to know BEFORE we commit to this project just how many dollars we'll be spending on putting in beams, RELOCATING PLUMBING, ELECTRIC, DUCTS, etc." All the affected rooms will need new flooring that's not a news item for us. We also know we will need to spend money on floor matching if we enlarge the narrow opening between the kitchen and dining room. How much we will spend on this kitchen reno will not be limited so much by our finances but by the value increase that a large family kitchen will add to our 3000sqft , 4 bedroom house that has one big problem: A tiny, 60's kitchen more befitting a small cottage. We just simply don't want to overspend. The estimated size of the value increase will mostly inform our decisions.

If you're concerned with cost you don't have to hire the designer to help with everything. For example, you could hire one to help with choosing the overall look of the home such as color palette for creating flow, style of major finishes such as trim and door style, etc. Another option to use the designer for help key areas such as the kitchen. We've used a designer for some spaces in our current home (master bedroom and bath and sitting room) but some rooms we've handled ourselves (powder room, kids' bedrooms, guest bedroom and playroom) because we were confident that we knew what to do in them. When we put our house on the market we also consulted with a designer about a few minor issues such as what neutral color we should paint the rooms upstairs and which areas of the house were most in need of updating and how. As for doing the actual staging and updating work, we did it ourselves. Keep in mind that there are different payment methods for designers. Some charge per hour and some charge a percentage on top of what they source for you. Also, find out how and what they charge you for. For example, some charge for shopping for you even if they are shopping for multiple clients at once.

If you already have an idea of what you want, a design-build firm would be able to answer most questions and, if needed, bring in the required personnel. Sometimes they might do free consultations or estimates. An architect would be expensive, and you could get the job done with less money. I've heard stories of architects designing a house that's 2x budget. I remodeled my house two years ago, and I worked with https://www.boutiquehomeplans.com/the-process. They helped me out with everything, and it turned out looking fantastic. I hope this helped, and good luck with the build!