When people look for an interior design consultation, they usually want one thing: an expert who'll look hard at the house and help them decide. At River Jane & Co. that happens in a set order. A short call, a consultation, and then the Design Strategy, which is where the decisions get made and put on paper.
Every project starts here, whether it's one bath or a whole new build. The five steps below cover what each one costs and what you walk away with.
Step one: a free 15 minute call
Tell us what you're planning, when you'd like to start and roughly what you want to invest. We'll tell you straight whether we're the right studio for it. No charge, no obligation. Book it with the form at the bottom of this page, or call 512-883-3767.
Step two: a consultation, in your home or virtual
After the call, Mia decides whether the consultation happens at your house or on video, based on the project and where you are. Either way, she goes through every space in the scope, looks at the light and asks the practical questions: who cooks, where the dog sleeps, where the school bags land, which rooms fill up on a Saturday. You finish with an agreed scope and a clear list of what the plan has to solve.
To get the most out of it, have these ready:
- Inspiration you love from anywhere: photos, Pinterest boards, Instagram saves, screenshots or websites.
- Floor plans or builder drawings, if you have them.
- Your builder's selections schedule, if this is a new build.
- Rough room measurements and daylight photos of each space, especially for a virtual consultation.
- A sense of the budget, even a wide range.
- Anything that's staying: furniture, art, rugs, the piece you'll never part with.
Step three: your Design Strategy, from $999 per room
The Design Strategy is the plan for your space. For each room it covers four things.
Layout. How the room works: where the furniture goes, how people move through it, and what should change in the architecture, if anything. In a kitchen or bath that includes the arrangement of cabinets, fixtures and storage.
Selections. The actual finishes and pieces: paint colors, stone, tile, wood, plumbing fixtures, lighting, hardware, fabric and furnishings, as the scope calls for.
A mood board. The whole direction on one page, so you can see every selection together and how they play off each other.
A 3D rendering. A picture of the finished room. You see what you're approving before a single thing is ordered.
Pricing starts at $999 per room. A bigger scope, like several rooms or a whole house, is quoted after the consultation, and you'll have that number in writing before any work begins.
Step four: a 30 minute review call
Mia walks you through the plan, explains the thinking behind each choice and takes your questions and changes. This is where "I love it, but" gets said. Good. It should.
Step five: a final visit with samples
The physical selections come to you: paint, stone, wood, tile and fabric. Each finish gets seen next to your floors, cabinets and windows, at the time of day you actually use the room. Colors shift in flat afternoon light off Lake Travis. A stone slab won't match its little sample chip exactly. Fabric has to be touched. Decisions made in your own light are the ones you won't second guess later.
What you have at the end
A layout and selections your contractor can price from, a mood board, a rendering, and finishes you've already seen in person. Take it to your own contractor, work through it yourself, or keep going with us.
After the plan: full design and project services
If you want River Jane & Co. to carry the plan forward, full design and project services are quoted from the approved plan. That covers sourcing and ordering what's in the plan, plus design management at key milestones. Because the quote comes after the decisions are made, the number is tied to actual selections, which keeps surprises to a minimum.
Ready to start?
Book a 15 minute callWhat does an interior design consultation cost?
Our full price list is below, so you can see the whole path before you book anything.
- First call
- Free, 15 minutes
- Consultation
- About an hour, in your home or virtual, depending on the project
- Design Strategy
- From $999 per room or space, and whole homes are quoted after your consultation: layout, selections, mood board and 3D rendering, a 30 minute review call and a final visit with samples
- Full design and project services
- Quoted from your approved Design Strategy
For how designers price their work in general and what to ask them, read how interior designers charge and what an interior designer costs around Lake Travis.
Mistakes to avoid before a Design Strategy
- Ordering cabinets or tile before the layout is settled. Layout first, finishes second.
- Picking paint before stone and tile. Paint comes in thousands of colors and your slab comes in one, so choose the fixed materials first.
- Sizing furniture in a showroom. Big showrooms make sofas look smaller than they are, so tape out large pieces on your own floor.
- Leaving lighting for last. Fixture locations shape the layout, so decide them together.
Who a Design Strategy is for
- Kitchen and bath remodels that need a layout and selections before a contractor can price the work.
- New builds with a builder waiting on selections.
- Furnishing a new home, or a house that has never quite come together.
- Whole homes, planned as one house instead of room by room.
We work within about 28 miles of our Spicewood studio, Austin included, from Lakeway and Bee Cave to Dripping Springs and West Lake Hills. Full details are on the Design Strategy page.
