06/05/2026
Before the drawings, before the selections, before any of that, there’s this.
Five questions we ask every client before a project starts:
1. “How do you actually use this home across the year, not how you hope to, but how you realistically will?" A home designed around aspirational use ends up feeling wrong for real life. Second homes especially. If you're here six weeks a year, that shapes everything from storage to how the kitchen gets set up.
2. “What's the first thing you want to feel when you walk through the door after a long day outside?" Where gear lands, how you transition from outside to in, whether the space feels warm or cold the moment you walk in… those decisions start here.
3. “What's one thing about a space you've lived in that you'd never want to recreate?" People are more specific about what doesn't work than what does. This question surfaces the real constraints faster than any inspiration board.
4. “When you're not on site, how involved do you want to be in decisions, and what would help you feel confident from a distance?" Most of our clients aren't here while the project is running. How we communicate, what we escalate, and what we handle without interrupting their day gets defined early so nothing stalls mid-project.
5. “Have you been through a project like this before, and if so, what would you do differently?" Experienced clients know where things broke down last time. That answer tells us where to pay extra attention before it becomes a problem on this one.
Save this and come back to it when you’re ready to start the process.
