Every new client relationship begins with our Discovery Call. The goal of this call is to understand your unique design needs, timeline, and budget. We’ll explain more about our process, what it’s like to work with us, and how we can guide you through your design project.
The Initial Consultation is an in-home exploratory meeting that gives us the opportunity to meet with you in person, experience your space, and provide high level advice on the strategy for your potential renovation or decorating project.
We gather all of the information we need to prepare a detailed design investment proposal for you.
After the consultation, we send you a written proposal outlining the scope of work for your project including our design fees and your level of investment for the project. Our business model is based on a flat fee investment for the creative portion of your project, hourly project oversight to see the project through to completion, and a minimum investment with our firm for furnishings, lighting, window treatments, and/or other design elements.
Morris Lare is a full-service interior design firm. We design complete rooms from start to finish – space planning through accessorizing and styling. Each individual project has a unique set of requirements, but we follow the same process every time, which allows us to deliver our clients the best results and experience.
The goal of the Discovery phase is to develop a game plan for the project and determine the investment level required for both construction as well as furnishings and decor. If the project does not involve any renovation work, we may combine Discovery with the Conceptual phase.
During Conceptual Design, we establish the aesthetic direction for the project and hone in on the investment level required to meet the client’s goals based on their desired level of quality and finish.
As we move into Design Development, the vision for the space really comes to life in great detail. Conceptual Design is all about the big picture, while Design Development gets deep into the nitty gritty of the space and how we will execute on the vision.
Let us take care of all the tedious ordering, delivery coordination, and details while you sit back and relax. Whether you’re a busy professional or stay-at-home mom with a hectic schedule, your time is too valuable to sit around waiting for delivery trucks that never show up. When you hire us, we take over all of the pricing, ordering, delivery, and installation, right down to the felt pads under the furniture legs and the artwork on the walls.
We are primarily a full-service interior design firm. By full-service, we mean that we take a leadership role in your design project, guiding you from initial concepts and space planning all the way through purchasing furnishings and other design elements to installing them in your home complete with all those little details and finishing touches.
We work primarily on a flat fee basis for design and charge hourly for construction oversight. After meeting with you and determining the scope of work for your project, we will prepare a proposal for design fees along with a minimum expenditure for furnishings and other items to be procured by our firm.
We also offer an hourly consulting package for smaller projects on a limited basis. Depending on your project, we can make recommendations on whether an hourly or flat fee structure would work better for you.
We recommend contacting us at least six months before you would like to start your project and up to a year before starting a new construction home. This will give us an opportunity to evaluate our schedule and give you an accurate estimate of when we can begin designing your project.
The length of the design process depends on the scope of the project. New construction home design can take up to a year to design. We prefer a 4-6 month design development phase for new builds and major renovations, so that design decisions are made thoughtfully.
The design process for smaller renovation projects, kitchens and baths, and furnishings projects averages two months. Design of larger renovation projects and additions can last three months or more.
The design process does not factor in the construction time for projects to be implemented, or for furnishings to be delivered. The construction portion of the process is often controlled by the contractor or builder’s schedule. Custom furniture lead times can vary from three-six months.
As soon as possible. Ideally, we would start design for a new construction home a minimum of six months prior to breaking ground, and sometimes up to a year depending on the complexity of the design. We take a limited number of new build and full renovation projects per year, so we often have a wait list.
We are a very collaborative firm and love partnering with our clients, their builders, and architects. We believe that interior design is a very personal process, and we spend a lot of time at the beginning of each project getting to know our clients and how they live.
We approach every project with our structured, tried and true process. But, within that structure, we allow room for flexibility to respond to a client’s individual needs. We partner with each client to establish a vision for their home and solicit feedback from them at each phase of the process.
We have established relationships with preferred vendors for everything from upholstery to lighting to linens and everything in between. Think of our procurement services like working with a retail store. We curate options for you from our partners and procure them on your behalf.
Occasionally, we may fill in with an item sourced through a retail store. However, 95% of the items we specify are from our vendors. We prefer to work with our vendors and sources because we have vetted them for quality and customer service.
We have also curated an online shop that is managed and facilitated by a third party partner called Side Door. If we decide together that you would like to implement your design on your own or over time, we can set up a custom shop collection just for you.
Yes, we have several preferred contractors and partners in Central Iowa that we love partnering with on a regular basis, and we would be happy to make a recommendation once we get to know you and your project.
If you already have a partner or builder for your project, we are open to working with them.
We love to travel to new locations and have designed projects from coast to coast. We would be happy to send you more information on the process for long distance projects including our day rate for travel.
We are not offering completely virtual services at this time though we may add this service in the future.
We can’t wait to hear from you! Start the process by filling out our new inquiry form.
Morris Lare is a Des Moines, Iowa, residential interior design firm that designs and executes turn key projects from start to finish, from space planning to construction oversight to custom furnishings and styling.
We serve the Des Moines Metro including South of Grand, Waterbury, Beaverdale, Windsor Heights, Clive, Urbandale, West Des Moines, Waukee, Grimes, Johnston, Norwalk, and Cumming.
The Morris Lare team has designed projects from coast to coast and works with clients from across the country.
501 5th Street | West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
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