Beautiful interiors are only part of what we do. Just as important is the interior design process behind them: a thoughtful, organized path that carries you from the first conversation through the day you begin living in your finished home.
18+ YEARS OF PRACTICE · NCIDQ CERTIFIED · LEED AP · BETHESDA, MD
It is tempting to begin a project with the fun part — a paint color, a beautiful faucet, an inspiring photograph. But the most successful homes rarely begin with finishes. They begin with understanding: how a family lives, what the architecture wants to be, and what the project is truly meant to achieve.
A well-considered process protects everything that follows. When planning comes first, layouts are resolved before walls are framed, budgets are validated before commitments are made, and priorities are clarified before a single selection is finalized. This is where the real value of interior design lives — not in decoration alone, but in the quality of the decisions that shape the whole home. Thoughtful planning reduces costly mistakes, prevents the expensive changes that surface mid-construction, and produces results that still feel right ten and twenty years later.
A structured design process, interior design done in the right order, also changes how a project feels. Decisions arrive one considered step at a time instead of all at once. Trade-offs are explained rather than assumed. And because the reasoning behind each recommendation is clear, you can make confident choices instead of second-guessing them. Much of the anxiety homeowners feel during a renovation comes not from the decisions themselves, but from making them without guidance or context.
This is the quiet advantage of a disciplined interior designing process: it turns complexity into clarity.
It lets you enjoy building your home rather than managing it — and it protects the significant investment you are making, so that every dollar supports a home that works beautifully for the way you actually live.
Most homeowners don’t hire a designer because they want drawings and specifications. They hire one because they want the experience to feel organized, collaborative, and genuinely enjoyable. From your very first conversation, you work directly with Esther Chi — an intentionally boutique, founder-led studio, with no handoff to a junior team and no diluted vision.
Every meeting is thought through in advance. Concepts, selections, drawings, and recommendations are developed before they are presented, so your time is spent on meaningful discussion and clear decisions.
A single project can involve hundreds of decisions, long lead times, and many people. We bring structure to all of it: clear documentation, proactive communication, and a reliable sense of what comes next.
Rather than presenting endless possibilities, we narrow the field, explain the reasoning behind each option, and guide you through choices one at a time. The goal is never to decide for you.
We serve as your trusted advisor and advocate — anticipating questions before they become concerns, coordinating the many moving parts, and keeping you informed so there are as few surprises as possible.
A working relationship that feels less like a transaction and more like a partnership.
“Her professionalism, design sense, and organizational skills are top notch. She made the design process for my new build as seamless as it could be.”
Every project is different, but our approach follow the same disciplined path. Here are the six phases, and — just as importantly — why each one matters.
Our interior design process begins with understanding. Before we propose a solution, we want to know how your family actually lives—your daily routines, how you entertain, where the children do homework, what frustrates you about your current home, and what you hope the finished home will feel like.
We also study the home itself: its architecture, its light, its setting, and the opportunities and constraints that will shape what comes next. Your aesthetic preferences and the pieces you hope to keep are part of this conversation, too.
This discovery creates the foundation for every decision that follows, helping us design a home that responds to both its architecture and the people who live there.
Next, we translate understanding into direction. Together we clarify priorities, distinguish genuine needs from wishes, and establish the scope, budget framework, timeline, and any phasing that makes sense for your family. When appropriate, this is where space and/or furniture planning begins — studying how each room should function, how spaces relate to one another, and how the layout supports the way you live, all before any decorative choices are made.
Next, we turn what we have learned into a clear plan. Together, we clarify priorities and establish the scope, budget framework, anticipated timeline, and any phasing that makes sense for your family. Preliminary space planning may begin here, exploring how rooms should function, how spaces relate to one another, how furniture are laid out and where a different layout could improve daily life.
Aligning the scope and investment early helps establish realistic expectations and a thoughtful basis for moving forward.
With a sound plan in place, your home’s visual character begins to take shape. The creative stages of our interior design process move from concept development to detailed refinement, with presentations and conversations that help you understand the ideas and make informed decisions along the way.
We establish the overall design direction through refined space plans, visual references, and initial material palettes. These presentations explore the home’s mood, proportions, colors, and textures, giving you a clear sense of how the spaces will relate to one another. Your feedback helps us refine a direction that feels authentic to your home and your family.
With the direction established, we refine the design and make specific selections. Depending on your scope, this may include cabinetry and millwork, finishes and materials, lighting, plumbing fixtures, hardware, furnishings, textiles, and window treatments.
We guide you through these decisions in a series of presentations, with time for discussion and refinement along the way. The number and focus of these presentations vary by project and are outlined in your design proposal as a part of your Custom Design Planning Session deliverable, so you know what to expect.
Nothing is selected in isolation; every element is considered in relation to the whole, creating a home that feels cohesive and thoughtfully resolved.
As the design is finalized, we document the approved decisions so the people bringing your home to life have a clear reference. This stage of the interior design process connects the creative vision with the practical information needed for pricing, purchasing, and construction.
For renovation and construction projects, documentation may include interior design drawings, finish schedules, and specifications. For furnishing projects, it may include furniture placement plans and a detailed selection or purchasing list. Your proposal identifies the documentation appropriate to your scope.
When needed, we also assist with bidding and the selection of builders, contractors, and fabricators. We help clarify the scope for pricing, review proposals for alignment with the design, and identify differences or omissions so you can make informed comparisons and select the right team for your project.
We coordinate with your architect, builder, contractors, and vendors to communicate design intent and clarify responsibilities before implementation begins. Thorough preparation supports accurate pricing, reduces misunderstandings, and helps the team move forward with a shared understanding of the work.
Our drawings communicate interior design intent and complement any architectural or engineering documents required for the work.
With decisions documented and the project team in place, the design begins to take physical form. For full-service furnishing projects, we manage the many details of procurement: confirming specifications, placing and tracking orders, coordinating vendors and deliveries, and working through backorders or damaged items.
As orders are placed and construction proceeds, we stay involved in the details that shape the finished result. Depending on our role, this includes reviewing relevant shop drawings, purchase orders, samples, and proposed substitutions for alignment with the approved design.
We provide the site visits and design support outlined in your scope, answer questions from your builder and trades, and review progress against the design intent. When site conditions or availability require adjustments, we help develop solutions that preserve the overall vision.
Toward the end of construction, we help prepare a design punch list, identifying incomplete items and details that need attention, and coordinate with your builder and trades on follow-up. We also plan furniture deliveries and installationaround construction progress, helping ensure the home is ready to receive its furnishings.
Throughout this stage of the interior design process, we keep you informed and help manage the details so you can enjoy seeing your home come together.
Finally, furniture is installed, the home is styled, and the last details are resolved. We review everything against the original vision to ensure the finished home delivers what we set out to create.
For many clients, completion marks the beginning of a longer relationship rather than the end of one — as families grow and homes evolve, they return for the next room, the next project, or simply for advice. We measure success not only by the finished home, but by the trust built along the way.
The final stage of our interior design process brings the finishing details together. Depending on your project, this includes furniture installation, styling, and a final walkthrough to identify items that need follow-up. We review the completed spaces against the approved design, with attention to both how they look and how they support everyday life.
For many clients, completion is the beginning of a lasting relationship. As families grow and homes evolve, they return for the next room, the next project, or simply for advice. We measure success by the home we help create and the trust built along the way.
Our interior design process moves from understanding how you live to establishing a cohesive direction, developing the details, and guiding the design through implementation. Each stage builds on the last, giving you clarity and confidence along the way—and bringing us closer to a home that feels personal, thoughtfully resolved, and suited to your family’s everyday life.
Your project begins with a conversation. Get in touch to share what you have in mind and learn how our Custom Design Planning Session can help clarify the path ahead.
“Building a custom home involved hundreds of decisions, and we quickly realized how valuable it was to have Esther guiding us through the process. She brought structure and organization to every phase, making even the most overwhelming decisions feel manageable.”
Every home and family brings a different starting point to the interior design process. You may have a clear vision or simply know that your home could work better. Whether you are planning new construction, a renovation, a kitchen or bathroom redesign, or a comprehensive furnishing project, we help you clarify what comes next.
Tell us about your home, the changes you are considering, and any goals, timing, or budget you have in mind. It is perfectly fine if some of these are still taking shape. This first exchange helps us understand the support you need and gives you an opportunity to begin getting to know us before making a larger commitment.
We meet virtually to learn more about your project, answer questions about our interior design process, and explore whether our approach feels right for you. During this conversation, we help you identify the best next step. For a few specific design questions, a Design Consultation provides focused professional guidance. For a more involved project, we recommend a Custom Design Planning Session to clarify the scope, priorities, and anticipated investment.
For a broader project with multiple decisions and interdependent elements, our Custom Design Planning Session helps establish the scope, priorities, and anticipated investment before detailed design begins. Learn more about the session below.
Following the session, we prepare a proposal based on your home, priorities, and project requirements. It outlines the interior design process steps appropriate to your project, including the recommended scope, anticipated number of presentations and vendor showroom visits if applicable, deliverables, expected timeline, and design fee assessment. You can see how the work would unfold and make an informed decision about moving forward.
After you have had time to review your proposal, we schedule a 15-minute phone call to walk through it together, answer your questions, and clarify the next steps. The planning session does not obligate you to enter a full design agreement. If you choose to proceed, we finalize the agreement and move forward with the defined scope, building on the understanding established together.
$575 | Includes a 1.5-hour on-site meeting, a tailored design proposal and design investment fee assessment, and typically a 15-minute follow-up call to review the design proposal
A substantial home project often begins with a collection of ideas, concerns, and questions. You may know that your home needs to work differently without knowing which changes to prioritize, how much work is involved, or where professional design support will make the greatest difference.
The Custom Design Planning Session helps bring clarity to those questions. It establishes the foundation for projects such as whole-home renovations, new construction, comprehensive furnishing engagements, and kitchen or bathroom projects that require coordinated design work.
When you are ready to move forward, we will send an invoice for the Custom Design Planning Session. Once payment is received, we will arrange a mutually convenient time to meet in your home. We understand that schedules can change. If you need to reschedule, please let us know as soon as possible, and we will work with you to find another mutually convenient time.
After your appointment is confirmed, we will send a design questionnaire for you to complete at least 24 hours prior to our session. You are welcome to share available floor plans, photos of your home and relevant site conditions, and a small collection of inspiration images showing spaces that appeal to you. There is no need to put together a polished presentation—whatever you have available will help us make the most of our time together.
We spend 1.5 hours reviewing your spaces and discussing how you want them to look, feel, and function. Together, we explore:
This meeting lays the groundwork for design. Detailed layouts, sourcing, and final selections follow once the project’s requirements and direction have been established.
Our work continues beyond the on-site meeting. We translate what we have learned into a tailored design proposal and design fee assessment.
The proposal explains how the relevant stages of our interior design process apply to your home, from discovery and planning through design, coordination, implementation, and completion. The scope determines the number and focus of presentations, the documentation required, and the anticipated timing.
A brief follow-up call, typically 15 minutes, gives you an opportunity to ask questions after reviewing the proposal.
The $575 fee covers both our time together and the professional work required afterward to assess your project and prepare a meaningful proposal.
You gain a clearer understanding of your priorities, the recommended scope, the anticipated design investment, and what working together would involve. It also gives you firsthand experience of our approach before deciding whether to commit to a larger engagement.
There is no obligation to proceed with a full design agreement after the Custom Design Planning Session.
Trust is earned through consistency, not claims. We are a boutique, founder-led practice, which means you collaborate directly with Esther Chi from concept through completion — an NCIDQ-certified and Maryland-licensed interior designer, LEED Accredited Professional, and Pratt Institute graduate, with experience that includes Champalimaud Design and more than eighteen years of residential practice.
Complex projects inevitably encounter the unexpected. What our clients trust is that when those moments arrive, they are met with composure and a clear path forward rather than confusion. We work with homeowners throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
“We never felt pressured but rather supported by her professionalism. She would relate to us the pros and cons of any key decisions we had to make.”
Still deciding? These are the questions homeowners ask us most often before we begin.
As early as possible — ideally before construction drawings are finalized. Involving a designer during the planning phase, rather than after walls are up, is when we can most improve layouts, lighting, storage, and cabinetry, and prevent the costly changes that come from decisions made too late. Even for furnishing-only projects, earlier involvement means a more cohesive result.
As involved as you’d like to be. Some clients enjoy participating in every decision; others prefer to rely on our guidance and stay focused on the choices that matter most to them. We adapt to your preferences while keeping the same level of organization and communication either way. What we ask of every client is timely feedback at key moments, since many decisions depend on earlier ones.
Absolutely. We collaborate regularly with architects, builders, and contractors — including professionals our clients have already chosen — and we’re comfortable joining a team that’s already in place. Clear, respectful collaboration is one of the ways we protect both the design and the schedule.
It depends entirely on scope. A focused furnishing project unfolds over a few months; a custom home or whole-home renovation can span a year or more, much of it running alongside construction. During the planning stage we establish a realistic timeline so you know what to expect before committing.
Yes. When it supports your budget, timeline, or long-term goals, we often recommend thoughtful phasing — completing the project in stages while keeping the overall vision intact, so each phase contributes to a coherent whole rather than a series of disconnected updates.
Change is a normal part of every project — budgets shift, products become unavailable, site conditions surprise everyone. When it happens, we evaluate each decision within the context of the whole design rather than reacting in isolation, and we present clear options so you can decide with full understanding of the trade-offs. Staying calm and organized through change is a large part of our value on a major renovation.
For full-service projects, yes. We coordinate purchasing, order tracking, vendor communication, quality review, delivery, installation, and final styling — the extensive behind-the-scenes work that turns approved selections into a finished home — so you’re relieved of managing dozens of orders and deadlines yourself.
Completion is the beginning of a long-term relationship, not the end of our work. Many clients return as their families and homes evolve — for another room, a future project, or simply advice. You’re welcome to stay in touch long after the last piece is in place.
If you’re planning a custom home, a renovation, a kitchen or bath, or a fully furnished home, the best first step is simply a conversation.
The most rewarding projects begin with understanding on both sides. When you’re ready, we’d be glad to start that conversation and help you take the next step with confidence.
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