Why Early Involvement Changes the Outcome

Architecture and interior design are not separate disciplines on a custom home. They are continuous. The ceiling height in a great room determines whether a furniture grouping reads as intimate or lost. Window placement determines whether natural light falls on seating or on the back of a sofa. The location of a fireplace, kitchen island, or staircase determines traffic patterns that will define how the home lives for decades.When Living With Lolo joins a project before those decisions are locked, we collaborate with the architect to optimize them. When we join after framing, we work around them. The difference in outcome is substantial, and the difference in cost is not.Most homeowners hire an interior designer after the architect finishes drawings, sometimes after framing is already complete. It feels logical. But by that point, hundreds of decisions that directly affect the interior have already been made. We prefer a different sequence.

What We Do on a New Construction Project

Living With Lolo manages the complete interior on new construction projects, from first-phase design consultation through final installation day.

Phase 1: Design Development

We review architectural drawings and flag interior design considerations before they get locked in. This includes reviewing floor plans for furniture feasibility, evaluating window-to-wall ratios for art and case goods, and identifying rooms where structural elements like fireplaces, built-ins, or wet bars will drive finish coordination later. Window placement is coordinated with furniture layouts so seating faces views, not walls. Ceiling details like coffers, beams, and tray ceilings are planned in context of the room's furniture scale.

Phase 2: Construction Documents

We develop an interior specifications package that travels alongside the architectural set. This covers finish schedules for every surface, fixture specifications with rough-in requirements, custom millwork drawings, plumbing and lighting fixture selections, and hardware standards. Contractors bid this package rather than making substitutions in the field.

Phase 3: Construction Administration

We make regular site visits throughout the build to catch deviations, approve substitutions, and resolve field conditions before they become expensive change orders. New construction timelines in the Scottsdale custom home market typically run 12 to 18 months for homes in the 4,000 to 8,000 square foot range. Our involvement through this phase ensures interior specifications are executed correctly, not approximately.

Phase 4: Furnishing and Installation

Once the home is complete, we coordinate full furnishing including furniture, lighting, window treatments, art, accessories, and plants. For new construction clients, furnishing investments typically start at $150,000 for homes in this size range, depending on scope and custom specification levels.

Our Licensing

Living With Lolo holds Arizona General Contractor license ROC #347577. This allows us to act as a direct partner to the construction team, pull permits where required, coordinate finish installation with the GC, and take an active role in construction administration rather than a passive advisory one. It is one of the things that makes us meaningfully different from interior design firms that do not hold a contractor license.

What Happens When You Wait

We have also been brought in after the fact on new construction projects. The issues we find most often: the primary living area has been framed with a furniture layout that puts the sofa against the only wall without natural light. The kitchen island was placed without considering where bar stools would go relative to the traffic path. Recessed lights are in a four-foot grid regardless of what furniture sits below them. Built-in locations were not framed, so they now require bulkheads that eat into ceiling height.None of these are unfixable. But they are all expensive to address after the fact, and some are permanent trade-offs the homeowner has to live with for the life of the house.

Projects We Work On

Our new construction interior design work is concentrated in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and north Phoenix. We work primarily on:

• Owner-commissioned ground-up custom homes (typically 4,000 sq ft and above)
• Architect-designed homes where the client engages us as the interior design partner
• Custom spec homes built by high-end developers
• Partial new construction combined with additions on existing properties

Clients for new construction projects are typically working with a $1.5 million to $5 million or more total project budget. We take a limited number of new construction projects each year to maintain project quality and team bandwidth.

Working With Your Architect

If you are already working with an architect, bringing Living With Lolo in as your interior design partner is straightforward. We work with most of the established residential architects in the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley markets and have working relationships that make this coordination efficient.If you are still selecting an architect, we are happy to make introductions to firms whose design sensibilities and communication styles align with what we deliver on the interior. Learn more about our full design and construction process or view all our services.

Frequently Asked Questions