Don't skip this step before starting your renovation project

First, a warning: I'm about to give you some very self-serving advice. But unlike many who give professional advice for their own benefit, at least I'm being honest about it. Anyway, here it is:
If you're planning a home improvement project this year, make sure that you include the cost of hiring a designer or architect in your budget.

There's a chart from the October 2019 issue of House Beautiful magazine below that breaks down the typical costs of a kitchen renovation:

note who gets 25% of the kitchen budget

As you can see, it's not unusual for 25% of the budget to go to the professional who is designing the kitchen. This is to be expected whether the designer charges a percentage of the furniture, fixtures, and finishes specified for the project or charges an hourly fee or flat fee based on the size of the project, as I do. Too many times, I've encountered potential clients who hadn't factored it in. Part of the problem, I think, is that the step of consulting a design professional is left out of seminars about investing in real estate or even just buying a fixer-upper home.

Working with a designer and/or architect is skipped over in favor of discussing whether to do it yourself or hire a contractor. Then homeowners who get overwhelmed by the numerous choices they face either work with someone at a big box home improvement store (nothing wrong with that, though the selection is going to be limited to that store's products) or come to me and realize that they can't afford to work with me from start to finish. And though I do offer services for clients in that predicament, I can't help but think of the frustration that all parties involved would have been spared if only they had gotten a quote from me at the beginning.

So here is my advice to you: before you take out a home equity loan or start saving up for your project, get a quote from a design professional. Find out how much we would charge so that you can plan for that cost. (It might not be as much as you think!) There are a lot of unforeseen expenses that can arise with a remodeling or new construction project, but design fees don't have to be one of them. And because I list my fees on my website, you can even get a sense of how much it costs to work with me before I create a quote for you.