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Our commitment to you -

Expectation setting and mutual code of conduct:

• Your dreams are our dreams – we are your personal muses, artistic visionaries and personal story tellers. We are here to serve you, and your wish is our command (within reason).
• We will transform your home into a warm and inviting retreat for you and your family.
• We will treat you as a valued family member.
• We want you to have confidence and trust in our decisions based on twenty years of experience.
• We guarantee that we are not perfect, nor will the project be perfect – but it will be an ideal result for you and your family.
• Personal service and unique designs are a luxury that not everyone can afford; however, we will not suggest that you spend recklessly. Even the most affluent clients have a spending limit.
• If you are unavailable to work during normal business hours, we will do our best to accommodate you. The fees are higher for services outside of normal working hours.
• Renovation, building and designing your space is very personal, invasive and involves a great deal of trust – if you don't feel comfortable working with us, there are other designers that might be a better fit.
• Quality results require time. Please allow enough time to do the project well.
  Time = money. When you rush, it costs more.
• Highest quality, fast completion and lowest cost – two out of three is realistic, but not all three. We will always work with you and be sensitive to your two highest priorities.
• You will be investing a significant amount of money in your home and we need to know your limits so we can responsibly guide your investments in your home. If we can value-engineer a design to save you money, we will always offer cost-saving options for your consideration. We won't suggest that you spend more than is reasonable.
• We understand that you don't know what things cost and therefore it is hard to say what your budget is. Ask us and we will be happy to give you some guidelines.
• We will not persuade you to buy things that are not right for you or suggest that you spend money on unnecessary items.
• But please, don't go on freelance shopping sprees thinking it will save time or money. We don't mind if you do early reconnaissance, but please discuss your findings with us before making an investment in a costly purchase that may not fit in with the overall plan. What looks great in the showroom will not always have the color, style or scale to fit your finished home. Unwinding these extracurricular purchases could easily cost more than having one of us assist you with all product selections to insure consistent design quality.
• When you make changes after a project has started, it could totally disrupt the schedule causing the contractor or us to completely re-juggle the schedule. This will add to your costs. Ka-ching! We call this scope-creep. The best antidote for this is to plan well before the project starts and set some money aside for the inevitable changes.
• You've probably heard or said, “while you're add it.” Ka-ching!
• Communication is a two-way process. We will do everything possible to communicate clearly and openly with you, and that we will keep you fully informed about all progress even when it isn't what you want to hear.
  We will tell you the bad news even though it isn't fun for us. We will do our best to minimize the bad news.
• Let's agree on the process of communication – if you want to hear from us by phone or email, it is your choice. If you want to hear from us every day at a specific time, we will accommodate you. The sooner you are able to respond to our questions and requests, the faster the project will proceed.
• Let's agree in advance about what to do when challenges arise.
• Planning takes time. Let's discuss the scope of your project how long it should take.
• Pricing for custom products or remodeling takes time – sometimes weeks depending on the season (end of the year is not the best time to start a project).
• If you ask us to guess the cost of something, we can guarantee that it won't be accurate. We prefer to request quotes and provide a proposal to you for the costs.
• Once you sign a proposal and provide payment within 30 days, if the price of the components go up, we will absorb the extra expense.
• We will make carefully reasoned suggestions to you and you will have complete control of the decisions that affect your home.
• You will be totally involved in all of decisions leading up to the proposal, so once you sign the agreement and provide the 100% payment, it is non-cancelable.
• We pay all component costs and sales tax to our suppliers well before delivery. This reduces delivery lead times. Because of our reputation for prompt payment, when problems arise, our suppliers work very hard to help us resolve the challenges.
• We will use the best subcontractors and contractors possible on your job and communicate with them clearly to make sure that you are getting the result that you and we expect.
• We ask that you not share the names of our resources, contractors and subcontractors. We want to be able to provide the same responsiveness and level of service to our other clients when your project is complete.
• Perfection is unrealistic even though we have exceptionally high standards.
• Full participation is required by both spouses or partners. If you care about the finances, you must both care about the process and decisions along the way. It will ultimately save money, time and a great deal of frustration. The project will also go more smoothly.
• We also expect that if we provide the level of attention to detail and service that ensures that the result is achieved that you agreed to throughout the process, that you will willingly and promptly pay all invoices as they are presented.
  We promise that we will make every effort to resolve any problems to your satisfaction and within reason.
• We fully expect that your result will be outstanding and that you will want to refer us to at least two of your friends that are of similar mindset and means, so that we are able to focus on providing the best possible service to you rather than being concerned with marketing.
• We assure you that your home will be award and publication-worthy if you choose to participate in publicity.
• We also ask for permission to photograph your project and use it for competitions and promotional reasons. This is at no cost to you.
  We request a “written rave review” at the end of the project when we've met and exceeded your expectations.

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