The four ordinals ofThe Room Compass^TMare L.I.F.E., representing your Lifestyle Factors, the Interior Flow -- how "paths, openings and positions" affect the way spaces interrelate, the Feelings Created by these relationships, and your home's Exterior Connections (how it communicates with the outside world through its windows and doors). 

When your project is Designed by L.I.F.E.^TM, the upgrades you choose will fit you, for a cost you can justify. While "Your choices drive design," Landon understands this is balanced by "Design drives costs." Please click on the chart below to see how Aiming is the first step in the five-step Designed by L.I.F.E.^TM process. To "stay in the Process" is to be assured you will get the results you want. This is one of the Guiding Principles for the Process.

As a husband and father put it, in an e-mail to Landon, "Thanks for worrying about the details. In our world of instant gratification, most professionals are on to the next thing. We will live with this kitchen for a long time, and I will smile every time I think about the little things that were done right."

Let's face it. There can often be tension between those who want to "get to the bottom line" and those who are fearful they will overlook something if they "rush" the process. In response, Landon offers a 2 to 2-1/2 hour "Aiming" consultation, on site, as described below, often sketching ideas as you talk. Towards the conclusion of your session, some form of summation will be determined and either done on site or soon after by e-mail.  This summation is essential because more information comes out during the "walk through" than typically can be retained. Clients use the summary to sort out what really matters to them and can then decide what direction to take.

During the "Aiming" consultation, you will rapidly do a mixture of the following activities:

a)  Evaluate how your home feels, from a fresh point of view, using the four ordinals of The Room Compass^TM, with attention to "paths, openings and positions." In particular, we will look at which of the Five Pathways affect your home and how.
b)  Identify what's working and not working for you, things to which you have adapted and accommodated.
c)  Clarify how you would prefer your home to feel. (Gather your pictures!)
d)  Explore how you might reshape and re-zone your home, sorting out what kinds of activities would occur and where.
e)  Elect to view a brief presentation entitled "Remodel or Remuddle" which explains how three kinds of "imbalances" or "misfits" will create a remuddled effect, instead of a home that "looks great, works well and, most important, feels right."
f)  Discuss your Preliminary Budget and how the "baseline" effect of five hard costs is predictive of your overall project costs.

Effective June 1, 2009, the fee for an "Aiming" consultation, with respect to remodels, is $350. (For some sites, an additional trip charge may apply.) You may also elect to schedule one post-consultation teleconference call (typically, 1/2 to 1 hour) to review what was surfaced during the consultation. It is important to realize that "All reactions are information" and, as such, are invaluable. They actually are key to developing designs that are inspiring, not merely showplaces without a soul!

(An "Aiming"consultation for new home plans will take a full 4+ hours, in most every case, and is usually best done during the day or on a Saturday, taking a break at some point. We cover all rooms of the home because all connect to and affect each other. This consultation is $535.)

As one client said, "I don't think I'm making mistakes that I've lived with before, but I'm certain I'm making ones I haven't lived with yet!" While these "mistakes" may be caught during construction, they too often result in costly change orders. If discovered after completion, they may result in regrets. Either is much more expensive than an "Aiming" consultation!

When you,  the client, decide to go ahead with the Designed by L.I.F.E.^TM planning process and an agreement has been reached about how to proceed, the project will officially move into the "Zoning" phase. For a remodel, the next event is creating an "As Built" plan. Depending on the size of the project, Landon will either do this himself or recommend an associate to retain for this purpose. You will also do the "handshake" activity--the Visual Language Survey--developed by Landon for identifying aesthetic preferences and reconciling differences between the participants in the design process. After that, Landon begins developing ideas to which you will respond.

Why remodel when you can new-model?

Designed by L.I.F.E.^TM processes can be used to conceptualize and plan any size residential project -- from a small bathroom to an entire home. They can also be used to evaluate and "de-bug" new home plans -- before they are built!  Landon has developed thorough checklists, shaped by his previous clients' experiences, so there is little opportunity for the kind of problems that might evoke the comment, "If I had to do this over again, I would do it differently." The best part about it is that, in the end, your home will not only "feel right" to you, it will also feel right to those who visit you!