Measure Twice, Sign Once
Wondering what actually happens before the demo crew shows up?
Worried you’ll get talked into starting fast, then rushed to pick tile while your kitchen sits in pieces?
In this post, you’ll learn what Box Construction’s design phase covers, step-by-step, from the first phone call to the day you sign a construction contract.
By the end, you’ll know what you’ll decide, what it costs, how long it takes, and why we won’t swing a hammer until the plan is finished.
What to Expect During the Design Phase of a Remodel
During the design phase of a remodel, the big decisions get made before any demolition: your layout, your 3D renderings, your material selections, and your budget.
Box Construction starts with a walkthrough of your home, moves through design meetings and hands-on material selections in our Murrieta Design Studio, and ends with a presentation that locks your full scope and your final price.
You sign the construction contract only after all of it is settled.
See the results of our designs.
Inside Our Design Phase, Step-by-Step
Discovery and Vision
After our initial phone consultation, we meet at your home.
We walk the space and pay attention to how you actually live in it, opening drawers, asking where you keep things, and noticing what isn’t working for you day-to-day.
That tells us what your layout needs to do to meet your needs.
It’s also where we look at what’s realistic, whether the change you’re picturing fits the footprint you already have or needs more.
You’ll get a follow-up email that recaps the work and brackets your budget, so nobody is guessing about money later.
Design and Planning
Now you get to see it.
We build your floor plans and photorealistic 3D renderings in SketchUp, so you can see the finished look and the way light moves through it before you commit.
You make your material and finish selections in person at our studio, with the real samples in your hands instead of on a screen or in a booklet.
We pull those choices into mood boards that keep everything matching as the project grows.
You come out of this stage with floor plans, 3D renderings, a full material schedule, and a scope of work.
The Presentation, the Sign-Off, and the Handoff
We put it all together in a design presentation, where we line up the scope, the schedule, the selections, and the budget with you in one sitting.
Then you sign the construction contract.
Once you do, our design and build teams walk your home together before demolition, so your project manager knows every detail as well as your designer does.
Why do we operate as a design-build firm?
What the Design Phase Costs
Design is a paid phase.
Paying for the design gets you a designer who measures your space, builds your renderings, and sits with you through material selections until the plan is right.
It starts with a project retainer of $500 or more, which gets your designer and project team coordinating.
The design work itself begins at a $3,000 retainer that scales with the size and complexity of your project.
A single-room refresh sits at the low end.
A whole-home plan with structural changes and heavier engineering runs higher because there’s simply more to draw, price, and coordinate.
Budgeting tips for your remodel.
How Long the Design Phase Takes and Where Permits Fit In
How long the design takes comes down to how many rounds of changes you want.
Approve the first renderings, and it moves fast.
Ask for revisions, and it takes longer, which is completely fine, since the whole reason we design on screen is so you can change your mind before anything is built.
For a kitchen, plan on 2 to 5 months from your first design meeting through the finished build. Custom cabinets or structural work pushes that out.
Permits have their own timeline.
We pull any necessary permits and handle the inspections for you.
Here in California, they’re slow: a kitchen might clear in a few weeks to a few months, while an ADU or a large addition can run anywhere from several months to close to a year.
Why We Finish Design Before We Pick Up a Hammer
Most remodel budgets don’t blow up during construction.
They blow up before it, when the plan is vague and half the choices are still open.
A crew starts fast, the house gets torn apart, and now you’re picking lighting and tile on the fly while a backordered shower pushes the plumber, then the flooring, then the final inspection.
We flipped that.
Every layout, every finish, every fixture, and every dollar is settled while it’s still on paper.
That’s why the number you sign for is the number you get, unless you change your mind or we find something behind a wall that needs fixing or updating.
Your Designer Stays on the Job
Here’s what most design-build firms around here won’t tell you.
Their designer is involved right up until the design is done, and then they’re gone.
Ours isn’t.
Your designer keeps doing weekly site visits through construction, checking the tile edging, the cabinet end pieces, the transitions from one room to the next, and even the height of the niche in your shower.
You paid for that designer’s eye, so we keep that eye on your project until the last detail is right.
See It Before You Build It With Box Construction
We finish the entire plan before anything gets torn out, right down to your final material selections and a locked construction price.
The designer who drew it keeps showing up through the build to ensure the finished space matches the plan.
Ready to start with a real plan instead of a guess?
Fill out our contact form today or give us a call to book a design consultation, and put a team behind your remodel that backs its work with a 1-year workmanship warranty.
