Design Direction

comprehensive interior design

Design Direction is WellHaven Design’s most comprehensive residential service, created for homeowners who want professional guidance across the many decisions that shape a home.

From early planning and space considerations through materials, finishes, furnishings, specifications, and procurement, WellHaven develops one clear design vision and helps carry it through the decisions required to bring it together.

Depending on the project, Design Direction may also incorporate New Construction + Remodel Plan Review and collaboration with your architect, builder, contractor, and other project professionals.

Who Needs Design Direction

Design Direction may be right for you if:

  • You are building, remodeling, furnishing, or substantially updating your home
  • You want a coordinated design across multiple rooms or interconnected spaces
  • You have many selections and decisions ahead and want professional guidance managing them
  • You want help translating inspiration into a complete and coordinated design
  • You need support with materials, finishes, fixtures, furnishings, and specifications
  • You want professional sourcing and procurement rather than managing every purchase independently
  • You value a clear design vision but will rely on your builder, contractor, and trades for construction implementation
  • Your project needs more depth and continuity than a Design Consultation can provide
Furniture, flooring, fabrics, and accessories on a mood board with a coastal theme.

What Design Direction Can Include

Every Design Direction project is tailored to the home, project stage, and level of support needed. Depending on the agreed scope, services may include:

  • Interior plan review + spatial recommendations
  • Space planning + furniture layouts
  • Overall design concept development
  • Color palette development
  • Flooring, tile + countertop selections
  • Cabinetry finish + design direction
  • Plumbing fixture selections
  • Decorative + architectural lighting selections
  • Paint + wall finish selections
  • Furnishings + decor
  • Window treatment selection + specification
  • Product sourcing
  • Product + material specifications
  • Purchasing + Procurement
  • Design presentations + approvals
  • Coordination of design information with architects, builders, contractors, and trade professionals
  • Ongoing design guidance within the agreed scope

Why Homeowners Choose Design Direction

Homeowners choose Design Direction when they want to:

  • Create a cohesive vision before individual decisions begin competing with one another
  • Reduce the mental load of tracking selections, specifications, approvals, purchases, and interconnected design decisions
  • Make decisions with greater confidence and professional perspective
  • Keep materials, finishes, furnishings, and architectural elements working together
  • Maintain design continuity as a project moves from planning into detailed selections
  • Give builders, contractors, and trades clearer information about design intent
  • Have one design perspective guiding the overall interior experience of the home

Timing + Investment

Timing

Project timing varies based on scope, complexity, decision-making needs, product lead times, and the stage of construction or remodeling. Once the scope is established, WellHaven Design will outline the anticipated design phases and timeline for your project.

Investment

Investment is based on the size and complexity of the project, number of spaces, project stage, and level of design development, sourcing, and procurement required.

Following a Discovery Call and review of your project information, WellHaven Design will recommend the appropriate scope of services and provide the proposed investment before work begins.

Before We Begin

To establish the project scope and begin Design Direction, WellHaven Design will need:

  • Current architectural or builder plans when applicable
  • Clarity around the spaces included in the project
  • An understanding of the project’s current stage and anticipated timeline
  • Budget parameters and any known project constraints or decisions that are already fixed
  • Insight into your daily routines, priorities, preferences, and goals for the home
  • Inspiration or examples of what you are drawn to, when available
  • Participation and alignment from the primary decision-makers for the project

Significant changes to the project scope, plans, schedule, or requirements after design development begins may require an updated agreement on scope of services.

Stylish living room with cozy sofa, coffee table, and decorative elements.

What Working Together Looks Like

discover

We begin by understanding your home, priorities, lifestyle, project requirements, aesthetic preferences, investment expectations, and how you want the completed spaces to feel and function.

Develop

WellHaven establishes the overall design vision, considering space, materials, finishes, color, furnishings, and the relationships between the elements of the home.

Refine

Design concepts, selections, and specifications are reviewed and refined through organized presentations and approvals.

Align

Approved design decisions are documented and coordinated so you, your project professionals, and relevant trades have clear direction moving forward.

ProcuRE + INSTALL

When included in the project scope, WellHaven manages sourcing, purchasing, and procurement, delivery coordination, and installation or placement of approved furnishings, window treatments, art, decor, and other design elements.

What You’ll Receive

Depending on the agreed scope, your Design Direction may include:

  • A customized interior design concept for the project
  • Concept and presentation boards
  • Space-planning recommendations and layouts
  • Coordinated color, material + finish selections
  • Furnishings, lighting, fixture + décor selections
  • Product and material specifications
  • Selection schedules or organized project documentation
  • Annotated or redlined plans when plan review is included
  • Sourcing and procurement services
  • Design presentations and approval documentation
  • Coordination of design information with relevant project professionals
  • A clear, organized design framework for moving approved decisions into the next phase of your project

Redlines and annotations are provided for interior design review and discussion purposes only. WellHaven Design does not provide architectural, engineering, permitting, or construction documents.

Where WellHaven Design’s Role Fits

WellHaven Design guides the interior design and related selections, specifications, and procurement within the agreed scope. When included in the agreed upon scope, WellHaven Design may also coordinate delivery and install or place procured furnishings, window treatments, art, decor, and other non-construction design elements.

Construction execution and the installation or management of building materials and systems – such as tile, cabinetry, plumbing, electrical, flooring, or other trade work – remain the responsibility of the appropriate builder, contractor, and trade professionals. Design Direction does not include architectural or engineering services, general contracting, construction scheduling, trade supervision, site safety, or construction project management.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Design Consultation is a focused working session centered on specific questions, decisions, or challenges. Design Direction is WellHaven Design’s most comprehensive residential service, providing a broader level of design development, selections, specifications, sourcing, procurement, and coordination throughout the design process. If you’re unsure of which service is the better fit, the Discovery Call can help determine the right starting point.

Deliverables are tailored to the agreed scope of your project and may include a customized interior design concept, concept and presentation boards, space-planning recommendations, coordinated material and finish selections, furnishings and lighting selections, specifications, schedules or other organized project documentation, and sourcing and procurement services. When plan review is included, annotated or redlined plans may also be provided.

Yes. When appropriate for the project, Design Direction can include review of your current plans as part of the broader design process. If plan review is the only level of support you need, the New Construction + Remodel Design Review is also available as a standalone service.

Yes. Design Direction can be tailored to a single room, several interconnected spaces, or a larger whole-home project. The appropriate scope depends on the number and complexity of the decisions involved and the level of design support needed.

It can. When included in the agreed scope, WellHaven Design may source, specify, purchase, and procure approved furnishings, window treatments, art, decor, and other design elements, as well as coordinate delivery and their installation or placement. Construction installation and trade work remain the responsibility of the appropriate builder, contractor, or trade professional.

Yes. WellHaven Design can coordinate interior-design information with your architect, builder, contractor, and relevant trade professionals within the agreed scope. This helps keep approved selections, specifications, and overall design intent clear as the project progresses.

No. WellHaven Design guides the interior design and related selections, specifications, procurement, and agreed furnishings installation. General contracting, construction scheduling, trade supervision, site safety, construction project management, and installation of building materials and systems remain the responsibility of the appropriate construction professionals.

Ideally, as early as possible. Bringing WellHaven Design in before key plans, selections, and construction decisions are finalized allows more opportunity to create a cohesive design and coordinate decisions before changes become more difficult. Design Direction can still be valuable later in a project, depending on which decisions remain open.

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One Vision. Hundreds of Decisions.

A harmonious home is rarely the result of one big decision. It is created through dozens or hundreds of smaller choices about space, materials, lighting, finishes, clearances, specifications, color, furnishings, and timing.

Those decisions are not typically successful in isolation. Flooring affects cabinetry. Cabinetry influences countertops. Lighting changes how materials are experienced. Furniture and its scale affect circulation. One choice often creates the next and all of them impact the overall style of the space and how it is experienced.

Design Direction gives those decisions one shared foundation. You remain involved in the choices that shape your home while WellHaven keeps the design details organized, connected, and moving toward the vision you have approved. The result is your vision realized rather than becoming a collection of individually beautiful ideas or unintended, and potentially costly, missteps.

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