Why is making decisions simultaneously across all design so important?

Making decisions about design one piece at a time is very inefficient because you can't see the whole picture. You may like a style or design one way, but upon seeing other project details, change your mind. This happens a lot during extensive projects, when clients aren't able to make proper decisions, not knowing the whole plan. When you merge architectural design simultaneously with interior design, MEP (mechanical, electrical, & plumbing), and budgeting of the whole project, you are able to see the whole plan from all required angles to make accurate and unwavering decisions. This easier decisiveness helps progress the project much faster and clearer with much fewer mistakes and change orders.

Example:

When you wait to do interior design until after you have made a set of architectural plans, you are not able to see the spaces clearly. It’s hard to envision walking through spaces that are presented to you as a bare 2D flat view with no furniture or understanding of the use of space, flow of one space into another, or grandness of each space (understanding the volume).

Why is project management important?

Very few people have the coordination skills to oversee an entire project, let alone do that for a project that didn’t design themselves. Most project managers are hired by the contractor, so although it’s great having someone on site, their best interest is appeasing the contractor, not the client. When the designer is also able to oversee the construction and fabrication of the project, quick decisions and actions are more likely to take place, helping make the construction process smooth. Most designers are not accessible beyond designing your home and handing you a manual. Getting someone to complete the manual is a whole other project. Sabina V can help you plan, design, and then execute the whole project.

Example:

The appliances your designer selected for your kitchen are no longer available due to tariff changes. The project is completed based on its status, so now you are left looking for a replacement on your own. This has happened to several of my projects, where initial selections had to be replaced on the fly, but because I was overseeing the project completion entirely, I was able to find replacements without holding up the entire project.

Why does paying more up front actually save money?

You get what you pay for. Well, hopefully, because living in Miami, the guy could just “not show up” also. Most of the time, if you splurge and get the expensive thing, you do so because it’s better quality, it makes you feel luxurious, and it’s packaged and completely thought through with every detail. The same goes for the design process. Getting a cheap professional is easy, but it always costs more in the long run because they are not as communicative, not as reliable, and care less about the details of your project. Someone who costs more upfront, but justifies that with saved time, energy, and overall value of the project, while paying attention to every detail of your interests, is worth every penny. You either try to save money and go through hell and torture (you never actually wind up saving this money; they always get it out of you anyway), and most likely for double the time you thought the project would be, or you pay more and relax throughout the process. Hiring the proper professionals is as important as hiring the proper employee.

Example:

You go for the cheaper design professional because you think, “Oh, I can just order all the stuff myself”. Then the thing you ordered doesn’t show up, and you get a replacement, but the cabinet door won’t open now because it’s the wrong dimensions. Now you get a different model, but the pipe connection in the back is the wrong valve, or the floor doesn't match, or the bed doesn’t fit, etc. You can wind up in this rabbit hole forever, because one incorrect change can set off a domino effect, and only an experienced design professional can think through every aspect.

Another Example:

You hire the cheaper architect, and they seem like they know what they are doing. In reality, they do the easy, cut-and-paste job from their other projects, knowing you don’t fully understand the spaces, and rush you through their process. When you finally see it starting to get built, you realise it’s entirely not what you wanted, by which point it’s too late, because to make any changes will cost more money than the “more” quote.

Yet Another Example:

You hire the cheaper contractor, thinking they are all the same, only to realize that everything on the plans, once you have done the demo, is an unforeseen “change order”. They wait until there is full demolition and you are at a point of no return to charge you more. Not only that, but most contractors will threaten to pause your project if you do not pay for all these change orders. At the end, you wind up paying even more than the “more” cost.