C[H]SO is a strategic design service for homeowners who want expert guidance before finalizing their home’s design. Whether you’re building new or renovating, we refine layouts, optimize flow, and ensure your home functions seamlessly. Through a structured process—including 3D visualization and a customized Project Playbook—we help you make confident, informed decisions before construction begins.
C[H]SO is for homeowners who see their home as an investment and want to get it right the first time. It’s for those who value expert guidance, streamlined decision-making, and a clear plan—before costly mistakes happen.
Whether you’re working with an architect, builder, or designing independently, C[H]SO ensures your home is not just beautiful, but built around your lifestyle.
C[H]SO follows a structured four-week process from Project Kickoff to the delivery of your Project Playbook:
Week 0 – Client Homework
Once your agreement is signed, we start with Client Homework—not busywork, but the foundation for everything ahead. This step clarifies your goals, priorities, and how you live, work, and play.
Weeks 1-3 – Three Interactive Work Sessions
We meet weekly for 90- to 120-minute strategy sessions, using 3D visualization so you can see and experience your space—not just imagine it.
Week 4 – Project Playbook Assembly
While you focus on your life, we pull everything together. The LC+C team consolidates all discussions into your Project Playbook—your guide for a seamless design and construction process.
The Project Playbook is a structured guide that captures key decisions, layout refinements, and your design vision. It ensures everyone on your team (architect, builder, designers) has a clear roadmap to follow.
For new builds, it includes:
• Project goal summary—outlining your vision and priorities
• Preliminary block layout—showing room placement and flow preferences
• Room sizing guide—based on how you live
• Visual features & finishes guide—helping your team budget according to your tastes
• High-level pre-construction & construction timeline—so you know what happens and when
For renovations, it includes many of the same sections, but with added emphasis on:
• Functional flow adjustments—maximizing what’s possible within your existing space
The layouts in your Project Playbook are conceptual—designed to help you and your team make informed decisions before moving forward.
• For new builds, this means a preliminary block layout, which helps guide your architect
or designer.
• For renovations, the layouts are more detailed to help you visualize what’s possible
within your existing walls.
While these are not construction-ready drawings, they give you and your team a clear direction before moving forward. Your architect or builder will still need to verify measurements and develop final documents.
Our goal is to bring fresh, strategic ideas to the table—solutions that are often missed in a traditional design process.
Not at all. C[H]SO meets you wherever you are in the design process—whether you’re at the
starting line or finalizing plans. We assess your current stage and structure our approach
accordingly.
During our Discovery Call, we talk about:
• Where you are in the process
• What’s working
• Where you see room for improvement
Then, we tailor an approach within the C[H]SO framework to tackle the challenges you’re facing
head-on. Whether you’re at the starting line or already knee-deep in design decisions, we can
step in and bring clarity.
We get it—you have a career, a life, and an inbox that never seems to hit zero. That’s why
C[H]SO is built for efficiency.
Your Client Homework takes about 30 to 60 minutes, and after that, you’ll spend 5.5 hours in
meetings with us—broken into three structured sessions. That’s it. We do the heavy lifting, so you get maximum clarity with minimal time investment.
C[H]SO is all about strategic design—helping you refine layouts, optimize flow, and make confident decisions before construction begins.
Areas of specialization where we can help:
• Space planning & layout optimization – Ensuring rooms flow naturally and function well
• Floor plan review & modifications – Identifying opportunities to improve efficiency
• Design aesthetics & style consultation – Clarifying the overall look and feel
• Hard surface finish selections – Flooring, countertops, tile, and more
• Lighting & electrical layout review – Strategic placement for function & ambiance
• Exterior materials & curb appeal – Ensuring the outside matches the inside
• Custom cabinetry & storage solutions – Optimizing organization and maximizing space
• Site plan & landscape strategy – Evaluating outdoor functionality
• Budget allocation & project phasing – Making strategic choices that balance cost & impact
• Furnishing recommendations – Providing a virtual furnishing plan with retail links (Client handles procurement)
You’ll walk away with:
Your Project Playbook
A structured, high-level roadmap for your home’s design. It distills all your ideas into a clear, actionable document for your architect, builder, and design team—so nothing gets lost in translation.
Three Interactive Work Sessions
Including 3D visuals showcasing key refinements.
Confidence
Your home is designed with intention, before costly mistakes are made.
Investing in expertise upfront is always more cost-effective than fixing mistakes mid-construction.
We’ve seen it too many times—homeowners who thought their plans were perfect, only to realize mid-build that something doesn’t work. The kitchen is too cramped, the bedroom feels disconnected, or the sightlines don’t flow.
C[H]SO saves you from costly rework, change orders, and regret.
In our experience, C[H]SO gives our clients the clarity they need to move forward without additional help.
At the same time, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. If the unexpected arises or you need further refinements, we offer continued consulting on an hourly basis—allowing you to tap into our expertise without committing to full-service design.
C[H]SO isn’t about replacing your architect or designer—it’s about enhancing their work.
We specialize in strategic problem-solving and upfront design clarity, ensuring that by the time your architect or designer steps in, the big-picture questions are already answered.
Absolutely. Many professionals see C[H]SO as a time-saver—it streamlines the onboarding process and helps clarify a homeowner’s vision before major design work begins.
We eliminate the back-and-forth. Your team gets a clear, structured plan, so they can execute with precision—no second-guessing required.
For a select group of local clients, yes. If you need full construction drawings, we offer this service separately—based on our working relationship during C[H]SO, your selected builder, and our team’s availability.
We encourage both partners to join—after all, your home needs to work for both of you. To keep things productive, we recommend chatting through any differing priorities beforehand. We’re here to create a great strategy for your home, not to referee a debate over closet space (though we completely understand why that one’s important).
No, and here’s why: our process is structured for efficiency. We’ve found that when too many voices are in the room, it slows down decision-making and can derail progress.
Instead, we focus on asking the right questions to get the answers your team will need—without
unnecessary back-and-forth.
That said, we don’t leave them out of the loop. Once your Project Playbook is complete, we follow up directly with your architect, builder, or designer to ensure a seamless handoff and answer any questions they may have.
Yes! C[H]SO was built for a nationwide audience. Roughly 30% of our clients are out-of-state, and our process is fully optimized for remote collaboration. Of course, we offer our local clients the option of meeting in-person.
C[H]SO is the first step. We only take on three full-service clients per year, and all of them start
with this process. If you’re considering working with us at the full-service level, C[H]SO allows us to determine if we’re the right fit for each other.
The first step is to fill out an inquiry form and schedule a discovery call. We’ll walk through your project and determine if C[H]SO is the right fit.
For us, full-service design is a start-to-finish experience where we handle every detail for you. The process consists of two parts. The first focuses on the finishes and design elements that shape your home itself. This includes designing interior wall elevations, custom millwork, color selections and all hard-surface finishes. We compile these details into a digital specification book that works in tandem with your construction plans for a comprehensive project understanding.
The second part focuses on furnishings. We develop a curated plan for one or more rooms, including furniture, decor, and styling. While construction is underway, we manage all sourcing and procurement for these items. Then, just before you step into your new home, we oversee a seamless installation, ensuring every element comes together. This final touch brings the home to life, delivering a turnkey experience where your space is not just move-in ready but tailored to you from day one.
Our approach prioritizes your experience by taking care of every detail, allowing you to truly enjoy creating your home. We streamline the process by making all finish selections before construction begins, presenting them in a stress-free environment with 3D visualizations for complete clarity. Every detail is meticulously documented with precise drawings, so your builder knows not only which shower fixture you’ve chosen for the primary bath but also the exact installation height for your 6’3″ partner—simply because every aspect of your custom home should be tailored to you.
In contrast, builders with in-house designers typically guide you through finish selections by accompanying you to multiple vendor showrooms. Their role is more like that of a shopping companion, offering feedback on individual items without the cohesive vision supported by 3D visualization—an essential tool for envisioning and guaranteeing a well-coordinated design. While vendors may note your selections, detailed drawings and to-scale elevations are rarely provided. This leaves critical details open to interpretation and often requires you to invest extra time overseeing the process to ensure your vision is brought to life with the quality and precision you expect.
No, we have found that this approach does not provide the best client experience and limits our ability to deliver our best work. Our process is thoughtfully curated to streamline decision-making and allow us to create a cohesive, elevated design that reflects your vision. By working through our full-service approach, we focus on providing a tailored experience rather than making selections on the spot.
Our full-service design process begins with an in-depth exploration of your preferences and lifestyle. Through inspiration photos and thoughtful conversations, we capture what truly resonates with you. From there, we develop a Conceptual Design that aligns your vision with the flow of your home. We review this concept together to ensure it reflects your goals before moving into the Detailed Design phase.
The Detailed Design phase brings your concept to life. We meticulously curate materials—everything from metal finishes to cabinetry details – and present them alongside 3D visualizations, so you can see how each element harmonizes before finalizing decisions. This experience is carefully curated in our studio, where you can review your design in a relaxed, focused setting.
Once approved, every aspect is documented in a comprehensive digital specification book, giving all trades clear, precise guidance. This level of organization not only saves you time but ensures a seamless, stress-free experience as your vision comes to life.
Design Advocacy is our role during construction to bridge the gap between design intent and execution. While your builder oversees construction logistics, we focus on safeguarding the design details that impact the final result. This involves actively monitoring progress, addressing potential issues early, and collaborating closely with both the builder and homeowners. Our role ensures that every decision aligns with the intended design, guiding the project toward a cohesive and seamless outcome from start to finish.
YES, these visits are essential to ensuring your design vision comes to life as planned. When building a home with complex design details, it’s crucial to have an expert onsite who can spot potential issues and guide the process in real-time. We evaluate how each phase of construction aligns with the intended design and address challenges before they become costly problems.
Yes, we’ve found that delivering the best results requires our involvement in shaping your project’s overall footprint and flow. To become a full-service client, we must first collaborate on your floor plan. This can happen in one of two ways: (1) our team leads the design of your floor plan, or (2) we partner with your architect as a spatial design expert, offering high-level feedback throughout the process to ensure everything aligns with your vision.
We are a boutique firm, purposefully taking on only two to three full-service projects each year. This exclusivity allows us to dedicate ourselves fully to crafting one-of-a-kind designs and delivering a personalized experience at every touchpoint. By working with a select number of clients, we ensure that each project receives the attention, care, and creativity needed to craft truly refined and luxurious spaces.
We prioritize working with kind, like-minded clients who share our appreciation for clean lines, refined palettes, and nature-inspired living. It’s not about fitting into a single design style but about partnering with those who value a polished, cohesive look. We also seek projects with budgets that allow for high-quality finishes, furnishings, and styling. Since our portfolio reflects our story, we focus on projects that allow us to showcase thoughtfully curated designs rather than budget-driven solutions.
Yes, we have a national reach.
Once your project’s interior layout is set, we begin the interior design phase, which typically takes 12 to 16 weeks, depending on the project’s scope. During this time, we carefully curate all design selections and organize them into a digital specification book.
While this process may look drawn out at first, our experience has shown that taking this time upfront actually saves time during construction. With all decisions made and lead times accounted for, your project avoids delays and runs smoothly, allowing your builder to stay on schedule with accurate budgeting and timelines.
Open communication is one of our core principles. You’ll receive a weekly email update from us outlining what’s been accomplished, what’s coming up, and any important details you need to know. This consistent communication ensures you’re always informed and confident in the progress of your project.
Our design fees reflect the value and expertise we bring to each project while remaining competitive in the luxury market. Typically, full-service design fees are approximately 10% of your overall budget. After reviewing your project details, we’ll provide a tailored estimate that aligns with your specific needs and vision, ensuring you receive a bespoke, high-touch experience that delivers lasting value.
We recommend reaching out early in your planning process. At times, we do have a waitlist before we can start a new project. Connecting sooner allows us to better align with your schedule and give you a clear idea of when we can begin bringing your vision of home to life.