What is this Design Project “Scope” Everyone’s Talking About?

It would be remiss to blog about interior design in Calgary and not talk about something as important as project scope.

Scope is what customizes your home, determines your design and renovation budget, and essentially sketches our roadmap to victory…

In other words, scope affects your whole project.

Whether you’ll be working with LBI or not, today I’m sharing everything you need to know about project scope. So find a comfy seat and let’s dive in!

WHAT IS PROJECT SCOPE?

The “scope of work” is what the professional is engaged to do on your project, i.e. the services provided and spaces addressed.

In our case, we specialize in complete room or home transformations, so scope for us typically includes construction design and specification, the space planning, and eventually the furnishings and décor. Soup to nuts.

HOW DO YOU (AND “WE”) DETERMINE YOUR PROJECT’S SCOPE?

Project scope is determined by your wants, needs, must-haves, nice-if-we-cans.

If you’re trying to determine scope on your own, start by jotting down some comprehensive bullet points each of these. The goal is to achieve a clear picture of what the design will entail. However…

Remember this blog post about the number of decisions that go into a design project?

This is where a professional comes in. Yes, the big picture is key, but there are SO many details that may not be obvious: how to tie two elements together, “if this then that” scenarios, and steps we can take early to save headaches later.

All of these details contribute to scope — and we address all of them in the action-packed initial design consultation I mentioned a couple months ago.

Determining scope appropriately at the beginning of your project is the best way to avoid saying “if only we’d known” say instead, “look what we’ve created!”

HOW DOES SCOPE AFFECT YOUR DESIGN & RENOVATION BUDGET?

Most people think budget determines scope, but it’s actually the other way around: scope determines budget.

Once your wants and requirements are all taken into account, we can then refine your project’s roadmap based on the funds you’ve allotted and are comfortable spending. This creates the budget.

Although the available funds and the project budget are often in alignment, sometimes a little compromise or accommodation is required.

This could take the shape of phasing the project, reducing scope, spending now to save later, or going all-in to love your home!

WHAT ELSE COULD AFFECT YOUR PROJECT’S SCOPE IN CALGARY?

With our cold winters and new building code regulations, keeping in step with energy savings can also affect the work on a project. Don’t worry, we’ll manage this part to your budget’s best advantage!