Setting a budget isn’t fun and it isn’t glamorous, but it is critical to starting your home remodel off on the right foot. If you have no idea where to start when it comes to budgeting, don’t fret. It’s not as difficult as you might think, and we've got some tips to help you get started!

When you are ready to undertake a major remodel or addition to your Portland home, you will be faced with a choice of approaches to take: hire an architect or designer to draw up the plans, and then find a builder to execute them (design-bid-build); or contract with a design-build company, such as COOPER Design Build, which will provide full-service remodeling from design to completion of the job.

These are two competing approaches in the construction industry, and it’s important to understand the difference. If you have ever wondered, “What is design-build?” or you’d simply like to know the benefits of hiring a design-build company, we have plenty of answers for you.

What Is a Full-Service Design-BUILD COMPANY?

A full-service design-build company offers you the comfort and convenience of designating one team to handle your remodeling project, from start to finish. One of the major problems with the design-bid-build process is that the architect or designer is separated from the building team. It might seem like a great idea at first, especially if you’ve got a complicated plan in mind. But once the design is complete, you have to find a remodeling team willing and able to meet the terms of the design. It is harder than you might think, which is why construction is largely abandoning the design-bid-build approach.

When you hire a full-service design firm, your designer and building team are involved from the beginning. The designers can discover everything you want about the space and build a design that solves all your problems. With a design-build contract and your final approval, the company can start the construction process with no worries about delays or communication difficulties between different professionals.

To learn more about our approach to remodeling a home, download our eBook.

What IS The Ask Cooper Anything Q&A Series?

We asked our community to anonymously send us any questions they had regarding remodeling, interior design, or general home improvement. 

If you want to live in your dream home, but don’t want to move, then a whole house remodel the perfect solution. Whole home remodels meet your present needs and desires while also increasing the value of your home, setting you up for success down the road. Although this project can pay off big time through the years, it is rather time consuming. To keep your stress levels low, it’s important to know just what to expect and how long it will likely take.

Here’s a look at how long you should expect your whole home remodel to take. 

When you start to search for extra space in your Portland home, sometimes the answer is right above your head. For many homeowners, an attic is a place that is either too hot or too cold, with bad lighting and possibly a few pests. But if you make a strategic choice, you could solve many of your space issues with attic remodeling. Not sure what you could do with it? Try these attic remodel ideas and see how they might make your home life so much easier.

If you’ve got the space, and the stuff to fill it, a walk-in pantry is a nice luxury to include in the remodel of your Portland kitchen. But there are lots of other pantry design ideas that can make your kitchen work smoothly. Here are 14 designs to consider:

Do you know that scene in Cinderella — the one where the Fairy Godmother taps her wand and turns Cindy’s dress from pink ruins to a perfect ballgown? With a capable designer and builder, that’s what a good remodel can be like: a transformation, the shedding of an old skin for something new and better suited for your life as it is now. In this case, we’re talking about a remodel designed to match your lifestyle and personal style. 

We’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the various elements that go into a kitchen remodel. Below we’ve put together a guide to kitchen remodeling in Portland.

As you design a custom home for your family or a major remodel, it’s hard not to think about how the house will sell when it’s time to move on. But we think you should keep your own needs at the front of your mind, design a knockout house that fits your needs, and trust that the quality and attractiveness of the home that you build will appeal to buyers down the road.