Claire, Ben, we're glad to be starting
This is how the next 30 weeks run. One thing from you first: the builder's latest electrical drawings, by Friday March 12.
Your lead
June Dupree
Kickoff
March 8, 2027
Move-in
October 8, 2027
Three people, and you'll know all of them
We keep every project this small on purpose. Call whichever of us fits the question, or call June and she'll pass it on.
June Dupree
Founder and your design lead. June draws the scheme, runs every review and signs off anything that leaves the studio.
Marcus Ayers
Founder, specification and joinery. Marcus deals with Harlan Creek Builders on site, so you don't have to translate between us.
Noor Haddad
Project manager. Noor runs the live FF&E tracker, chases lead times and books every delivery. Invoices and dates go to her.
The first six weeks
Nothing gets ordered in this stretch. It's where we learn how you actually live, so that later decisions are quick ones.
Kickoff at the house, March 8
Two hours walking the framed rooms with you and Harlan Creek. We'd bring the kids if you can. They notice things.
Site measure, March 10
Marcus laser-scans every room. The scan becomes the 3D model we use for all visuals, so nobody is guessing at ceiling heights.
Living questionnaire, by March 19
Twenty minutes each, separately. Couples answer differently about mornings and storage, and we want both versions.
Concept review, April 16
A VR walkthrough of the main rooms, finishes on screen and a sample box you can keep on the kitchen counter for a week.
Thirty weeks, and lead times set the pace
Upholstery takes 14 weeks and the joinery shop 11, so your June sign-off is the date everything hangs from. A week late there is a week late in October.
Kickoff, site scan, questionnaire
Concept and VR walkthrough
Your review of the concept
Joinery, lighting and electrical plans
FF&E schedule and finish schedule
Your order sign-off
Upholstery lead time, 14 weeks
Joinery shop, 11 weeks
Install week
Styling and snag list
How we'll work together
The small print you signed, in plain words, plus the habits that aren't in any contract.
Feedback and how long you get
Every review has a date and a single link. You comment on the page, not over email, and we ask for one combined response from the two of you within five working days. If you disagree with each other, tell us. We'd rather help with that than get two sets of notes.
Meetings and updates
A 30 minute call every second Thursday at 8:30am until sign-off, then weekly once orders are moving. Noor sends a short written note after each one. The FF&E tracker is live, so you can see every item's status at any hour without asking.
Files, samples and where things live
Everything sits in your project link: drawings, 3D visuals, the finish schedule, the tracker. Physical samples come to you in one box and we collect it after concept sign-off.
Invoices and the two separate budgets
The design fee is $46,850, invoiced in three parts: $14,055 at kickoff, $18,740 at concept approval and $14,055 at order sign-off. Furniture and finishes are a separate budget of $186,000 to $214,000, including 10% contingency. Our procurement fee on that is 15%, and you'll see the net price of every line.
If you change your mind after ordering
Deposits on made-to-order pieces are usually 50% and rarely refundable. Before you sign off, we mark each line that can't be returned. After that, a change costs the deposit and restarts that item's lead time.
Photographs of the finished house
We keep the right to photograph the house when it's finished, and we'll agree the day with you. No street address and no family photos, ever, unless you ask.
What we need from you, and by when
Three things in March. None takes longer than an evening, and the electrical drawings hold up everything else.
Electrical drawings, March 12
Harlan Creek closes the walls in April. Send the current set so June can move outlets and lighting while it still costs nothing.
What's staying, March 19
Photos and sizes of what's coming with you: the piano, the long table, any art. We plan around those first.
Appliance choices, March 26
Your kitchen supplier needs model numbers before Marcus can draw the joinery around them. A shortlist of two is fine.
One small sign-off to get going
This isn't a new contract. It tells us you've seen the dates and the working terms, so we can book the site scan with Harlan Creek. Please confirm by Thursday March 4.
Prepared by
June Dupree Founder, Dupree Ayers
18 Tattnall Row, Savannah, GA 31401 june@dupreeayers.com
For acknowledgement by
Claire and Ben Aldana 41 Cordgrass Lane, Skidaway Island
If you'd rather talk first, June has held Friday March 5 at 4pm for a call.
We've read this and we're in
By confirming, you acknowledge the working terms above and the March 8 kickoff at 41 Cordgrass Lane. Noor will issue the first invoice for $14,055 and send your project link. It changes nothing in the contract you signed.