You may have heard us talk about how Oakley's goal is to bring our client's vision to life throughout the custom home building process - but what does that actually mean? How do we really go about doing that - and why should you care if you're considering a custom build? To us it's so much more than a catchy line to lean on. By having in house architecture and design, we've built the entire process around ensuring we can deliver on that to the best of our ability.
From Rendering to Reality
In the video below you'll see many of the homes we've designed and built over the past two or so years. We create these renderings well before exterior selections are made - so we can use them as a planning tool throughout the build. The renderings look pretty darn close to the finished product. For an investment of this size, isn't it ideal if you can better visualize how the windows will look or how a paint color will come to life? Adding in the step of 3D renderings has undoubtedly been helpful for our clients, but it also serves as a great check for our architect and design team so we can advise you accordingly before buying and installing materials.
Before we even get to the rendering there are some important steps that also ensure we can bring our client's vision to life. Here's a rough way to think about how the design process unfolds:
1. Uncover our client's vision
Through a series of conversations with us asking plenty of questions, we begin to understand our client's style and needs. Some clients walk in with an extremely clear sense of what they want their custom home to look like. Admittedly others come to us with a much blurrier vision. Either one works for us - and we manage to uncover style regardless of where our client's starting point is. We always encourage clients to gather photos of what you do love - whether from homes you see online (Instagram, Pinterest and Houzz are great resources), driving through a neighborhood you love, or even capturing things you like about your current home.
2. Align vision with budget
We realize talking about budget while we're talking about a dream home can feel like a dream killer, but we look at it like this: The more realistic we are upfront, the better our clients can plan for where to spend money and the better we can manage the project's overall budget. For those of you that have worked with us, you know we can be brutally honest upfront about costs. We'll arm you with facts and info and you then have the power to decide where to splurge and save. We'd rather prepare you for reality and let you change plans if needed vs. surprising you with a huge overage over the course of your build. The good news is, if you stick with the decisions made at the start of your project - we can predict your custom home build costs.
We also know plenty of ways to make smart selections so a space looks like you splurged, but you actually chose some cost friendlier options. So pulling back on certain budget areas doesn't always feel like a loss. Case in point - this Master Bath's large format porcelain tile looks like a million bucks and is extremely easy to maintain, offering a nice alternate to a higher priced marble material.
3. Design to the budget
This is a big one. We can design a home that is incredible, but what good is that if it's not in budget and won't ultimately be built because it's gotten too expensive? Instead our in-house architect steps in after we've aligned to a budget and specifications and begins designing the home against those data points. Seems like a no-brainer, right? We avoid a situation where you've fallen in love with a home design and then bid it out only to find out it's far exceeded the budget.
4. Act as a steward of client's design vision throughout the build
Over the course of the build, we have broken down various selections starting with your exterior and working through interior materials and decisions. Armed with an understanding of our client's taste, we come ready to share ideas that we feel will add to a cohesive look throughout each home. By bringing ideas in budget and ensuring we are keeping an eye on how each room and selection flows with the others, clients have confidence that the end result looks great.
Similar to our rendering phase, we also realize that not everyone can visualize the finished product in the same way. Because of this we often turn to our extensive image library to show clients examples of options for trim, doors, hardware, cabinetry and more during various selection stages - anything to give confidence in making a selection.
Because of these steps, clients that were most intimidated to tackle the design aspect of a custom build end up liking it the most. We've got you covered throughout the process with our design expertise and intelligent planning.
Check out more of our finished projects here and start compiling your own dream home inspiration!
