Clients are going to live, work, play in this space. Maybe sleep, eat, entertain. Who knows, maybe their child will take her first steps here. Or write a best-selling novel. Or they’ll love cooking dinner or doing the laundry. And that little oasis in the backyard, it is just that. Construction can be messy. The design process can be organizing.

It doesn’t have to cost more, it doesn’t have to look different, it doesn’t even have to be visible. It’s about looking at a building or a room as a system. It’s realizing design includes dreaming about ideas, but also construction and budgets. It’s just good architecture.

How do you use the space most efficiently? How do you get more storage space? How do you maximize the return on investment? Light? Light? Light? Proportions? Historic details? Each project has its own potential – find it.

Curve balls, detours, permitting, and bank accounts. Not often is it possible to do all the dream renovations at once. So plan. Make sure what works today, works tomorrow. And design for livable construction: showering at the gym, washing dishes in the tub, and eating take out with your 3 year-old gets old fast!

Give them. From designs to scheduling to budgets, each project – each client – is different. In the end, it’s the process of design that creates a great project. So, provide design options work hours that fit busy work schedules, find solutions that fit different budgets.