Licensed Design-Build
Most luxury interior design firms hand off to a contractor at the build phase. Amor Design doesn't. Our licensed design-build model means the same studio that draws the kitchen elevation also coordinates the trades, the materials, and the punch list at handover. The design intent holds because it never gets translated across a contract boundary.
Why design-build
On a design-only project, the studio hands off detailed drawings to a contractor who wasn't in the room when the decisions were made. The cabinet hardware spacing, the way the tile pattern wraps a corner, the exact alignment of the door frame to the kitchen island — these are decisions that re-litigate at the build phase, often badly. In a design-build engagement, the studio that drew the elevation also coordinates the build. The decisions hold.
Separate design and build firms have separate incentives. The designer wants the project to look right; the contractor wants the project to ship on time. When those goals collide on the calendar — which they always do — the homeowner is the referee. Under one roof, schedule, budget, and design quality are tracked against the same plan, and trade-offs surface earlier with fewer surprises.
When something needs to be fixed at the end of a project, you're talking to one studio — not arbitrating between a designer and a contractor pointing at each other. Punch lists close out faster. Warranty work is direct. The studio that designed your kitchen is also the studio that will pick up the phone six months later when a cabinet door isn't sitting right.
Licensing & accountability
New Jersey requires home improvement contractors to register with the state and carry liability insurance to perform the kind of work design-build projects involve. Most interior design studios do not hold this license; they design and hand off, which means their accountability ends when the contractor takes the drawings. Amor Design holds the license, carries the insurance, and signs the contract that covers both the design and the build.
Process
Every project moves through these phases. The duration of each shifts with scope — a single bathroom remodel runs through them in weeks; a whole-home gut runs through them in many months. The structure stays the same.
A short conversation about scope, location, timeline, and investment range. Both sides confirm the project fits before discovery work begins.
Working session on-site to assess the space, scope, and design opportunities. Structural conditions and lived conditions get equal weight.
The new floor plan, mood, materials, and design direction develop against the discovery findings. This phase locks the project's character.
Materials, finishes, fixtures, lighting, furniture, cabinetry — everything specified to the SKU and approved before demo. Long-lead items order while the build sequence is planned.
Demo through trim. The studio coordinates the carpenter, tile installer, electrician, plumber, and painter. Field decisions happen in the same room as the trades.
Styling, art placement, punch list. The thousand small finishing decisions that, taken together, are how a project earns its modern-luxury claim.
Want the process applied to a real project? Read the New Providence whole-home gut renovation case study →
Design-Build Projects
Gut renovation, interior design, remodel planning, space planning, material selections, and licensed design-build execution.
New bathroom addition, existing bathroom remodel, roof addition for curb appeal, fireplace demolition and redesign, custom carpentry across multiple phases.