Renovation Basics

Imagine that you are looking at 140 square feet of kitchen that you’d like to update. It might seem sensible to just hire a Design/Build kitchen specialist and let them guide the renovation. This can result in a lack of competition among trades and vendors; a better approach is to invite an architect who takes a more broad view and brings value to the project.

An architect is able to recognize both the opportunities and the constraints that impact the design, bringing up concerns that others may miss. How will the changes in this one room affect your movement throughout the rest of the house? Can a door or wall opening be enlarged or moved, or do structural issues make some suggestions untenable? How might lighting affect the design?

Childress and Cunningham’s interest is in optimizing the design for your use and may lead to custom features that make the space feel special. Request your architect to guide a bidding process to keep costs under control, rather than you being at the mercy of a Design/Build contractor who may pursue financial advantage in this non-competitive approach .

Your architect can provide design leadership to guide the contributions of multiple vendors and contractors, leadership that otherwise must be provided by the owner. Based on a broad experience of other similar projects, the architect can spot potential issues well in advance and recommend solutions that are best overall. Without that guidance, each contractor and vendor may propose and enact solutions that are easiest, or most profitable for themselves, without regard to your specific interests.

With an architect’s careful leadership, that 140 s.f. kitchen remodeling can turn into the biggest selling feature of the house!  The pride of having a kitchen that is so well-tuned for your own needs may well mean that you never want to sell and leave that home.

-Michael Rountree