Episode 13
What Can Happen When Architects, Designers, and Builders Collaborate?
This week, Casey and Rainey get into the real magic behind standout spaces: collaboration. We sit down with David Cox of Design DCA, an architectural designer who knows that great design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. From architects to builders to interior designers, David shares how syncing up across disciplines isn’t just helpful, it’s essential and illustrates the transformative power of teamwork in achieving design excellence.
Together, they unpack what it takes to create spaces that feel both beautiful and functional, and get honest about the curveballs that show up along the way.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:21 - Architectural Design with David Cox
10:18 - From Spec to Custom Design
13:05 - The Challenges of Project Completion
21:40 - Designing Unique Spaces: Client Requests and Creative Solutions
28:20 - The Rise of the Prep Kitchen
35:57 - Navigating the Transition from School to Real-World Architecture
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Transcript
Hi, I'm Casey.
Rainey:And I'm Rainey. Welcome to the Reframing Design podcast. If you're a new designer, a seasoned designer, a homeowner, or a home enthusiast, you are in the right place.
Casey:We are going to talk about all things design. Our stories, our opinions, our experiences, and we're probably going to chase a few rabbits down a few rabbit holes.
But one thing we can guarantee, we will not talk about politics. Aloha, Konichiwa.
Rainey:And why are you saying Konichiw?
Casey:Because it sounds nice to say off the tongue. Just got back from a trip to the beautiful Japan.
Rainey:So the beautiful Japan.
Casey:Japan.
Rainey:What was your favorite thing?
Casey:The hospitality. Never in my life have I experienced anything close. And we've seen and done neat stuff, and it was nothing like anything we've ever experienced.
People were lovely. Yeah, I love that.
Rainey:And what was your favorite thing you ate?
Casey:Oh, my gosh, the meat. Shocking. I know. Sushi for days. We had that and that was great. But the beef, the Kobe beef, and the wagyu for days. Mind boggling.
And they give you such a small amount. So you feel really okay about just inhaling it.
Rainey:Yeah.
Casey:And it's clean as I'll get out, like in the air. Feels like Evian water was just thrown through it or something. Like it's as clean as it's wild. Anyway, must go.
Rainey:That is so exciting. I must go. And I'll have to talk to you about all the stuff and things to do. Well, we missed you. I said, you can never go that long again.
You are far and long. And the time zones were. The time zones were tricky and.
Casey:Yeah.
Rainey:Okay, so like, how far ahead or behind were you?
Casey:It's 14 hour difference, which is a tricky one for here to there with 14.
Rainey:No one's awake at the same time.
Casey:Very little awakeness. And while we were there, I have a uncle who was sick right before we left. He got. Went in and so he passed while we were there.
And so that was just a really tricky thing to be that far from my family and not, you know.
Rainey:I'm so sorry.
Casey:Yeah. But anything. Things just happen. But it was that remind. Oh, God. If I wanted to get back right now, I.
Rainey:You couldn't. You can't. Yeah. And how long Was that flight?
Casey:13 hours. Nonstop. Yeah. To Tokyo, which was good. And then the comeback was, oh, it's always a little longer.
Rainey:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause you're chasing the earth.
Casey:You're chasing the earth.
Rainey:You're chasing it. Well, today, on today's podcast, we are so Excited? We have an amazing guest. So you have heard Casey and I talk about the importance of the trifecta.
Right. The architect, the designer and the builder on a project.
And today we're going to talk to an architectural designer that I think you guys are going to fall in love with. And I know you've worked with him.
Casey:Yes. And he, I will have to say he's probably one of the few that has really little ego in it and it's hard.
We all try and say we don't have an ego in our work, but we all do and he doesn't. He allows for us to kind of come in and comment and make changes or suggestions without it really affecting how he saw his own work.
So I think it's really special, which.
Rainey:Is a really interesting combination in an architect. A lot of times they're very into their work and change is not something that they all love. Some of them do and this is certainly one of those.
So we're excited to welcome him and we'll introduce him in just a second.
Casey:Okay. So we are so excited. We are here today with David Cox from Design dca and yeah, just tickled. Thank you so much for being here.
David:Well, thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.
Rainey:And so who are you?
David:Who am I?
Rainey:Yeah.
David:That's a good one. Well, I am an architectural designer. I've always had a passion for it.
My, my dad was a drafter when I was a child, so I was exposed to it at a young age. He was in the housing industry for a brief period of time actually, and moved on to other things. But I just kind of always loved that.
And he, you know, I grew up with him doing side jobs with his drafting table in the, in the corner of the room and you know, drawing up house plans for friends and neighbors. And I was always fascinated with it. And after I got past the, you know, every kid wants to be a fireman or an astronaut or a cowboy.
You know, once I got into the real stuff.
Rainey:Professional cowboy.
David:Exactly. You know, that's just kind of where my passion went. I've always had a little bit of an artistic flair along with a technical side.
So the two go together. Well in architecture.
Rainey:Are you a dad? Husband. What are those things about the personal side?
David:Yeah, I am both. I'm a dad to three. I have a 20 year old daughter who is a sophomore at St.
Thomas University here in town and then twin 18 year old sons who are getting ready to graduate next month. So exciting time for my wife and I. We're soon to be empty nesters and not totally sure how we feel about that yet, but you're going to have.
Rainey:A lot of time on your hands. Yeah. You're going to have a lot of time on your hands.
David:Yeah. Sydney's right here in town, so, you know, we see her often, obviously. And the boys are going to be at Texas State, so not.
Casey:Okay. So they're both going together though. Texas. Oh, that makes it nice for you guys.
Rainey:I love that parents weekend a lot easier.
Casey:Oh, that's cool. Texas State. Isn't that's where Shannon's daughter Rosaro goes, right?
Rainey:I think so. One of our designer friends.
Casey:Yeah.
David:Nice.
Casey:Very cool.
David:It's a great campus.
Casey:Exciting time for you guys though. Kind of weird feeling though.
David:It's a busy month with graduation parties and everything else going on, so we're just kind of holding our breath to get through all that right now. But.
Rainey:Yeah, and then when it's over, it's over.
David:Yeah.
Rainey:Yeah.
Casey:You just hold on for the whole thing and then go. Yeah, most definitely. Will you guys stay where you're at? Are you guys, will you keep the family house, that kind of deal or.
David:We're not in any hurry to make a change.
I mean, it's something we've definitely been talking about and, you know, daydreaming about looking a little bit to see what's available and what we might want to do instead. We have a property over in Bastrop within the walking distance of the downtown area, the historic part of town.
Rainey:Beautiful.
David:Working on plans for a little weekend getaway, Airbnb over there so that, you know, within the next year, hopefully we'll have a little part time residence there. But no major changes. Right. Right away.
Rainey:I totally get that.
Casey:Yeah.
Rainey:So back to the business thing.
I'm curious to know, are you happier when you find out that there is an interior designer on the project or does that sometimes make things more difficult or is it both?
David:Totally happy. Honestly, I appreciate the collaboration. I enjoy the collaboration.
You know, when I go back and look at finished product, finished photography, walk completed homes, the ones where an interior designer is involved are hands down, always better, without exception. So I have the same philosophy you all do. The whole team approach, you know, sooner rather than later.
At the very beginning, you know, is ideal to have all three parts in place of builder, interior designer and architectural designer.
Just makes for an overall better project and helps the client keeps things on budget because it's not design bid where everything is getting done and then they get that sticker shock of the Price at the end, once they bid it out. The builder is a collaborator. Collaborator.
A part of the team early on and can really, you know, kind of throw up a red flag if things are getting a little too crazy.
Rainey:So that's interesting because I. When I refer clients to you and they want me to jump in from the very beginning, I'm like, david is so awesome. Let's let him do what he's awesome at.
And then when y' all think you're really close, then I come in. But I've never really talked to you about that. That is just something that I've always thought. I just. You're so good at what you do with the clients.
It's like, I don't want to muddy the waters and make that more.
David:And I appreciate that. And I think you and I have that relationship at this point where that works perfectly fine. You know, I just like to know that the.
The designer is in place, you know, whether we're. Whether we're meeting yet or not. You know, the way you and I do it is totally great.
Have wasn't funny at the time, but kind of a funny story with an interior designer whose name I won't mention, obviously that was involved early on in a project. Custom design client, not a spec home. And we were on about our fourth or fifth meeting of design development. Things were going great.
Getting really close to signing off on the floor plan and going into full on construction documents.
And the interior designer showed up at the latest meeting and unrolled a set of plans, a sketch, a complete floor plan that was not the one we had been working on. It was something she had created that she thought the clients should do instead of what we had been working on for about 60 days or so.
Casey:Had she.
Rainey:How do you.
Casey:On this journey up until then, she.
David:Had been in every meeting.
Casey:Oh, she had been at every meeting.
David:And then does this and then pulled this.
Rainey:So how did you handle that? She was removed.
David:Yeah, she was removed from the project within a couple of days after that by the clients. They were just as surprised as I was that she had done it and politely told her, you know, we're perfectly happy with where we are. We don't. There's.
We have no reason to revisit this or start. So it was. That's the exception, obviously.
Casey:Sure.
Rainey:You know, all I can think of is I have this siren going off in my head going, stay in your lane, stay in your lane, stay in your lane.
David:And I do that with you all as well. You know, I mean, it goes that respect goes both ways. And that was the first and thankfully only time that's really ever happened.
Casey:That's a big. For her to have sat through all those meetings and not felt like she.
Maybe she was heard or wasn't gonna speak up or did a side message with you, like, hey, I think maybe we're hearing this different, but like, presenting that way would feel a little like a kick in the.
David:Yeah, yeah, it was a. It was a little bit of a surprise, but I felt kind of justified when they.
Casey:Clearly there was something else.
Rainey:Yeah, yeah, there's obviously something else going on there.
Casey:So you mentioned both custom and then spec, so I know, you know, we've done spec with you and you've probably done custom with him. Right.
Which to you do you have a preference or how do you kind of lead into each of them differently because they've got to be such a different beast?
David:They are, they are. And I, I like variety, which is one thing I love about Houston. Just all the different styles we can work in here.
I don't know that I really have one favorite over the other because they both have their positives. The builders that I do spec design for, that I've had long term relationships with, they put a lot of trust in me. So they give me a lot of free rein.
They just give me criteria of what the sales price is going to be, you know, the target size for the neighborhood. We always kind of have a laundry list of rooms that have to be in there to cast a broad net, to appeal to a broad audience in a spec home.
But the freedom that I have in those projects is obviously enjoyable. But the custom clients, you know, you get to branch out a bit more. It's not.
You're not pigeonholed into that spec home mold of you have to have five bedrooms, you have to have a game room, you have to have a study. All of these things you get, you know, more. More creative request depending on their lifestyle, collections, hobbies, pets.
You know, we have specialty rooms for pets sometimes, you know, just. Just anything and everything.
Casey:Yeah.
David:So I appreciate them both, honestly.
Casey:That's really cool.
Rainey:Awesome. What is your favorite project that you've.
David:Ever done that is tough because it's just ever evolving? I mean, I always.
Rainey:Your current baby is the best baby. What's your current favorite? Yeah.
David:Oh, current favorite is one that you're heavily involved in. Obviously that's getting ready to finish up soon over on Curry Lane. So that one's looking amazing. Thanks to you. And it's.
That's gonna be an exciting one to see. Finish up.
Rainey:Yeah, that's the current favorite baby. I like that. I'll take it. Until a new baby comes along and replaces that.
David:Yeah. And we have ones on the board right now, obviously, that are, you know, kind of, kind of right up there with it. But it's just always.
I love what I do and it's just always something new and exciting and, you know, it's. It's an evolution of likes and dislikes and favorites.
Casey:So do you. Because I know different architects kind of do a different. Some do the plans and kind of hand it over and then that's the end.
You don't see the architect again. Are you one. Do you like being on site? Do you like being kind of called in for meetings that are.
David:So we offer either or so our basic standard agreements. We're contractually complete when the client gets the building permit in hand. Okay.
But we offer full service where we'll do site visits at certain key points, whether the client chooses to take that route or not. We're always a phone call or an email away. And you know, I enjoy going out and walking projects just for my own personal enjoyment.
So it's not something we have to be paid to do. I just, I just do it.
Casey:It is so fun.
David:But most of our projects were contractually complete when permit is in.
Casey:Oh, okay. Okay.
Rainey:So I asked about the favorite project.
David:Right.
Rainey:What is the worst project you've ever been on? And I hate to ask that because, you know, negativity is not always the, the best way to approach things.
But sometimes we can learn things from the worst projects.
David:Exactly. We all have our horror stories. I'm sure. Kind of a funny one that comes to mind. And you know, it. It never came to fruition, so it was short lived.
But I met with a gentleman probably nearly a dozen times going through concept design, design development. I thought we were finally close. We were having a meeting to wrap things up and move into construction documents. And he brought his wife.
And I had never heard mention of her. I had never laid eyes on her. I'd never seen her. I didn't even know the gentleman was married. And she had not even seen the plans to this point.
I mean, this was probably six months worth of work.
Casey:Oh my God.
David:And she had not seen them until we sat down for the meeting in my office that day. And she. He was a very unique individual and had some very unique and specific requests that I didn't really like either personally.
But, you know, he's the client. I'm trying to make him happy. And she was totally not on the same page with him whatsoever.
So I politely told him they needed to go home and figure out their differences.
Rainey:And you never saw him again?
Casey:Never saw him again. Are you serious?
David:Never saw me.
Rainey:The difference is we have such huge differences. Three years later. Exactly.
Casey:They'll knock on your door in, like, three years.
David:I actually drove by.
Rainey:With different spouses. Oh, no.
David:I drove by their lot a couple years after the fact. And there was a home there, but it looked absolutely nothing like I had worked on with them.
So I don't know if possibly they sold this to somebody else, just walked away from it.
Casey:And they're both living in different cities now, married to different people.
David:Exactly.
Rainey:I got it. I can imagine that the air was thick in that meeting.
David:Yeah, it was a funny one. It was. I mean, in hindsight, it was funny.
Rainey:Just as a side note, and I just learned this recently when you and I spoke, but what percentage of product projects that you design never come to fruition?
David:Oh. I mean, thankfully, it's not a lot, but it does happen multiple times a year for various reasons.
I would say probably any given year could be 10 to 15%.
Casey:Wow.
Rainey:Does that shock you?
Casey:That's pretty high.
David:It is. You know, and it's always a bit of a disappointment when it happens.
Casey:At different stages, too.
David:Yeah, different stages. You know, very seldom is it all the way through construction documents. That happens occasionally.
We had one last year that went all the way through construction documents. They had a builder involved early on, giving preliminary pricing, and the project kept growing and growing and growing.
And the builder was very open and honest with them about it, as was I. And I just. I think they thought there would be some magic solution at the end of the day to reduce things by 25%.
And when they finally accepted there wasn't, they just. They sold a lot and bought somewhere else.
We had one last year that we were designing for a lot by Lake Travis over in Austin, which is obviously a fun and exciting thing to do. But it was a Houston couple doing their weekend eventual retirement home over there, and they weren't quite up to speed on the cost over there.
It was a large lot digging through the rock, long driveway topography, rock, everything else.
So unfortunately, once they started getting some numbers early on, thankfully during conceptual stage from the builder, they realized it just was not going to work out. So it can be for a variety of reasons, but often cost.
Casey:Pretty comfortable telling people at the very beginning like this, do you have a builder?
I mean, because that is one of the things I think the reason a lot of the plans are left on tables is because they get in and they're like, I want the doors that open from here to this to tomorrow and da da da, da. It gets built in and then it's not budgeted or you know, priced out and then they can't build it out.
But you're a practical guy so you're not going to build out this thing that somebody could never financially or if it wasn't in the discussion. Right.
David:It's a discussion we try to have often and early. Some people are very tight lipped unfortunately.
Rainey:Or they have no budget until they have a budget. Right.
David:Until they do. Yeah. You know, it's hard to read people sometimes if, you know, we try to get them to just be upfront and frank about it.
Oftentimes we're trying to connect them to a builder as well, obviously when they don't already have one in place. And I don't know, I just speculate that there's some sort of fear that we're going to expose to the builder what they say.
So all of a sudden, even if it could have been done for 300 a foot, but they tell me they can budget for 350, it's going to be 350, you know, which really isn't the case. But I think certain people have that, that fear.
Casey:Yeah, it's like we're ethical people, we're not going to take you to this place. But we'll also be honest and say we can't do all these things within this budget. So is there wiggle room?
David:But yeah, the doors are a great example around here. You know, everyone comes to us and wants the 20 foot nanowall that fully opens like they see in the California inspiration homes.
And we, you know, I remind them this is Houston, not Santa Barbara.
Casey:Those four days of use are going to be amazing. But.
Rainey:Adds, you know, $100,000 to the budget because we have to beam all the way there. And it's, it's no joke. It's, it's a lot goes into that.
David:Exactly.
Rainey:Have you ever fired a client and just said I am not the one for you?
David:I have, I have tried a couple of times.
I've actually offered design deposits back a couple of times when, you know, I do my best to vet people and personalities but sometimes you just don't know until you really get into the thick of things. So there have been a couple of occasions where I've offered design deposits back.
Although work is even and already been done Just to kind of gracefully part ways sooner rather than later. And both times, they put their foot down and wanted to continue to work with me. So we muddled through. Everybody was happy at the end.
I want to turn that question around on you all because I'm curious.
Casey:I have a couple times. Yeah.
David:And how.
Casey:One was just to offer the woman. Just. I was like, I just think you have taken such a liking to this process. And she did.
Instead of me being upset that she was over, you know, stepping and kind of. We talk about the rogue client, but she went completely off the rails with it. And.
But then I realized this her house, and she's excited and she should be able to do. Yeah, but I. I can't, like, partner with some homeowner. Right. So that was one and then the other one. It was just a very volatile situation.
So I did give them their money back, which now still grinds me because I did so much of the work. I'm like, why did I do that? But I wanted out and I wanted it clean and not to.
Rainey:Your mental health is so much better today because you did that for sure.
Casey:And worth the money. Yeah, but that's.
David:Yeah, we definitely end up in situations where we almost end up becoming more of a drafting service at times to certain clients, you know, which is always a bit frustrating. But again, like you say, it is their house at the end of the day. So we try.
I try to balance the, you know, giving my input, my technique, my knowledge, but yet it is their home that they're spending sometimes millions of dollars to build. You know, so.
Casey:So how do you kind of talk to them about that when they say, we'd really like this to be an 8 by 12 room instead of, you.
David:Know, whatever, you know, sometimes I do my best to just put my foot down and say, you know, no. When you have to go through multiple steps to explain why sometimes.
Other times, if it works, maybe it doesn't work as well as what my solution would, in my opinion. But if it works and it.
It is their home, we just kind of acknowledge and say, you know, it's not exactly what I would do, but, you know, we can do it.
Rainey:I love it when you.
When we're in a meeting and, you know it's not gonna work, but the client's insistent that it's gonna work, and you pull out your vellum and you start drawing on top, and then they see the domino effect of what's gonna happen, and you're like, well, it would work if we added five feet and they're like, oh no, we're trying to reduce the size of this. And then they go, okay, we can let go of that. I've seen you do that more than a few times.
And because you already know, but instead of telling them no, you gracefully show them and let them come to the conclusion themselves. And I love it when you do.
David:Well, thank you.
Casey:I mean, that's huge because we, because people can't look at plans and see like.
David:We see. Exactly.
Casey:And so they're like, well, couldn't that be, you know, X, Y or Z?
Rainey:And you're like, right, I wish it could be.
Casey:Yeah, we wish. I wish we had a budget and we could in the space we could do that.
Rainey:But if we add, yeah, five feet on this whole side of the house, we can. What's the oddest request you've ever had? Like somebody said, I want you to include a. What's that?
David:Well, I mentioned pet rooms earlier. We had one over in the Heights where it was a late in life couple.
They had both been single for years, met, got married and they were both cat people. But he had stray cats, alley cats and she had show cats so they couldn't co mate.
Rainey:Never the two shall meet.
David:Right. So the third floor of the home was two cat rooms with a wall between, with a huge pane of glass so the cats could see each other.
Casey:Oh my God.
David:Have to interact.
Casey:They're like, I see you, I see you so pretty, so pretty.
Rainey:I see you so straightly.
David:Yeah, that was, that was right up there with one of the strangest, I would say, oh my God.
Casey:They're like, the other one's like, oh no. Oh my God. I want to go to that house. How fun.
David:It turned out great. It's a beautiful house.
Casey:I bet it's beautiful.
David:It's one that we have in our portrait portfolio and are very proud of. I'm a car guy. So this one was actually a very fun one for me to do. We have a client in Bel Air whose very modern home is just now finishing up.
he has a, I believe it was a:But we designed it with a high ceiling and a lift.
And as Porsche sets up on the lift and as you walk into the whole foyer, we put a transom window up so he can see you can walk through his foyer's Porsche. It is exactly. It's a piece of sculpture that he gets to view from, you know, the foyer of the home every time he walks through.
Casey:So I love that.
David:It was fun.
Casey:How fun.
Rainey:I love that. What a great.
David:The angles and everything work out that you know, once the car is actually.
Rainey:He has the vantage point that he was hoping.
Casey:But that is so cool. So speaking to that technology stuff, I mean you're integrating. There's so much now there is mind blowing.
How much do you like to put in kind of baseline. Do you put in baseline kind of electronic stuff or how. What is yours on that?
David:We used to. We've kind of morphed on that over the years. Just because there are so many different things now and it's such a specialty industry.
So most of our homes we show some basic technology. Camera pre wires, speaker locations, et cetera, WI fi extenders. On our higher end stuff, we really don't get into that at all.
We recommend that they work with their builder and especially AV company because the sky's the limit. I mean you can control your drapes from your phone, anything and everything you want. We'll often provide low voltage wiring at windows for.
For drapery at a future date if they decide not to do it now, things like that. But we try to let the experts kind of take the lead in that.
Casey:Side of things and then yeah, building because having just been on a trip and they just absolutely killed it. And Dyken had their upper resort that they created, but it was just every single detail.
And I'm reminded just because I love what Randy did with her drop ceiling right there.
But you know, where the moldings built out and everything's behind just those moments that you realize that had to be done in architecture stage because if you try and do it later, you're really screwing up the ceiling somewhere and stuff.
David:So we often specify drapery pockets where it's a channel built directly into the floor truss. You know, on the first floor, the ceiling above has a little channel so that that can easily be added and hidden.
You know, sometimes we design it with millwork. Several ways to approach it. But yeah, it's always best if it's integrated in or sooner.
Casey:Yeah.
David:In the planning process.
Rainey:So staying on that track, have you seen AI yet influence your field and if so, how or what do you see coming?
David:I see a lot of AI generated renderings. There's a ton of capability for that. I personally have played with it a little bit, but not enough to really have an opinion, good or bad.
One of my drafters experimented with at some Last month on a project we have with some, some pretty good results. We, I'm kind of a control freak on certain things and we do our own presentation renderings in house. So I'm not ready to turn it over to AI yet.
But it's nice to know that that component is there. We can just kind of visualize something quickly without putting a lot of time into it.
You know, I've certainly relied on chat GPT more than once for product descriptions, multiple things, reference letters. So it's all great stuff and it's going to become more and more prevalent. I have no doubt.
You know, day to day we're not using it a ton, but I can see it coming.
Casey:So, you know, people think that we're all going to be kind of kicked to the curve because of it. And do you even see any of that being something that's thankfully not yet?
David:You know, some AI generated floor plans I've seen are not anything you would want to start with. You know, who knows, we should do.
Rainey:A podcast on AI.
Casey:Actually I think that's a good idea because it really is creeping into everything. Right? Yeah. And we use it. I mean it's wonderful. It's a wonderful tool. Not in business side so much, but writing letters or comments.
David:Exactly. Saves a lot of time.
Casey:But you do your, you do in house renderings yourselves. Do you, do you have a hand renderer? Do they do it all?
David:No, we do Sketchup Pro and Lumion to do our, our modeling. We, we like to present the client the full exterior of the home.
You know, in office I'll start with rough sketches, but it quickly gets turned into a. You know, what starts as a fairly rudimentary 3D model of the exterior.
As the design development stages go where we're getting feedback clients likes and dislikes.
Rainey:Because the clients don't know what it's doing to the exterior, they have no idea what it's doing to roof pitches and Exactly.
David:You know, early on in my career I made the mistake a few times of just focusing, focusing solely on floor plan until the client approved it and then jumping to exterior. And that's just. You open yourself up to issues, you know.
Now I constantly have a kind of a running visual in my head of what this form is going to look like and we, we jump into 3D modeling sooner rather than later just to make sure that everything is heading in the right direction and that the client's going to like it.
And by the end of the design development phase, before we go to construction documents, the client Sees a Full photorealistic exterior 3D rendering of the home. That's huge.
Casey:Oh my gosh.
David:Some 3D interiors as well. It's more time consuming. So that kind of is a project by project basis, but we certainly can.
Casey:That's awesome.
Rainey:What are some trends that you've seen in like the last three to five years? And then what is something that you're seeing like right now, sort of new on the scene?
David: t time we did one was back in:You know, they tend to cook with a lot of heat, a lot of oil, a lot of spice.
Rainey:Did you think they were crazy at the time?
David:No, I thought it was pretty cool actually, because I like to cook.
And you know, if you entertain a lot and you cook and the kitchen is always the center of the entertainment hub if it's an informal gathering especially. So it's great to have that area where you can put the dirty dishes, keep the mess kind of contained a little more.
We've seen it evolve where, you know, that was about a 7,000 square foot Tanglewood home, but now, you know, we're doing some capacity of Prep kitchen and 3,500 4,000 square foot homes. It's working its way into kind of the more average sizes. And sometimes they are as simple as a walk in pantry with a, a prep sink and a dishwasher.
And sometimes they are literally second full gourmet kitchens with range, refrigeration, etc. It's a fun thing to play around with.
It has kind of, in my mind at least created a complication of, you know, usually the pantry is very accessible and front and center in the kitchen. And all of a sudden when you're combining it with this big prep space, sometimes the distance between the two tends to grow.
Rainey:So I put day pantries in the kitchen.
David:That's a term I learned from you that I've kind of stolen and use some as the day pantry. Yeah, that's the day to day, right? Exactly. Keep your, your children's cereal, etc. Right there. Close and handy.
And bulk goods are kind of more back in the, in the prep kitchen pantry area. But that's a fun trend. Anything new beyond that? I don't know. Nothing has really caught my eye.
Rainey:Are you seeing anything in the realm of health? That's something that we really are starting to see. Requests for cold plunges, saunas, those sorts of things.
David:We've done a couple of saunas. We've had one request for a cold plunge. That's a good point. I mean, I'm not seeing a lot of it, but it is something that's kind of.
Casey:I think it's something that's gonna really evolve, I think big time. Yeah.
And I love that you said a 7,000 square foot house and then down to 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, which is, you know, here in Texas, those are what we're used to hearing. But you know, being from California.
Rainey:Yeah.
Casey:In other states it's like 7,000 square feet. What are you going to do with that? But it's so, it's.
I love that you kind of gave both those numbers because a lot of people are living in 2,000 square feet and it's beautiful, which is perfectly great. Yeah, yeah. But we're so. You were kind of on these other.
David:Bigger is better mentality of Texas, for good or for bad. Yeah, exactly.
Casey:I love that. So. Yeah. Well, what is. Okay, what. What would you like people to know about you and how kind of working with you? What's different about.
David:So, you know, I think one of my biggest selling points for our firm is that we're intentionally small. I mentioned before, I'm kind of a control freak. So we don't have layers that people go through during the course of the project.
I'm their first point of contact. I'm their last point of contact to contact.
We have a project manager in office and then two full time outsourced drafters, but that's it, you know, and it's just I, I like to be hands on in every aspect. I like to know that the client's being taken care of. And you know, I know that by doing it myself.
So just, just the, the personal boutique style approach is, is kind of what we pride ourselves in and really enjoy.
Rainey:And I think Casey spoke to this when introducing you. But. And I say this to clients when I refer them to you, and that is you're so damn good at what you do. Like so good at what you do.
Your studio is cool, it's well located. But the ego, it's like your ego is tied to the client having what they want.
And I guess there is a point where we all will remove ourselves and say, this isn't my work. I can't have hands on this. But to the N degree you will go for a client to be happy with.
David:Certainly true.
Rainey:They have. And you never. Well, I don't. There isn't this Battle. And I have worked with architects where that is a very difficult thing.
And it's like, I will not do that. And unless it's like, wrong for some reason, like unsafe, I just don't really understand that.
David:Yeah.
I don't want it to come across that we don't advise what is what we think is right and what we think is better or best, you know, but I'm willing to bend, you know, when it suits the client.
Casey:You're collaborating and it's not a. This is how it's going to go. Yeah. You're not changing my design. Fix the inside. Yeah.
David:I mean, it is a collaboration with you all, with the builder, and including the client. You know, they're the ones that have to not only pay for it, but live in it. Yeah.
Casey:That's what they pay for it too.
David:Pay for it as well. Yeah.
Rainey:So have you ever wanted to quit? Have you ever said, I quit?
David:I've never wanted to fully quit. I did take a break at one point.
Rainey:What did that look like?
David:It was fun. It was a very practical experience.
So I was in Austin, Texas in the late 90s, primarily working for myself with a small firm in Austin and then doing some contract work for a designer in Florida, where my wife and I at the time had just left. And I just got tired of sitting at a desk all day. You know, I wanted to be more hands on.
So I took a break from design and actually went to work as a construction superintendent for a home builder and, you know, experience that real world aspect of getting out in the Austin heat every day in the summer and walking houses and putting a broom in my hand and sweeping floors of a house was messy. And I knew a homeowner was. Was coming by. It was a great experience.
And I did that for about three years until I was like, okay, you know, I'm ready to go back.
Casey:I love that though, because you probably got a really good taste of what it's like then to be on that end. Right. So when you make your designs or your, you know, now you really have a different idea.
You can just draw for days, but if you're not right implementing it or seeing how it's all coming together, that's really cool.
David:Unless someone has an unlimited budget, there has to be some degree of practicality in everything, you know.
Casey:So have you met that client yet? Unlimited budget?
Rainey:No.
David:Unfortunately, no.
Casey:Just checking.
Rainey:We keep.
Casey:We're all way, way back. I know.
Rainey:I was just gonna do that. I was just gonna do like, wow.
Casey:We'Re all here for you definitely. And if you've got unlimited budget, you need all of us together.
Rainey:That's it. We will kill it. I love that. Do you have anything else?
Casey:I don't know. Just. Yeah, just architectural design. Right. So what's different about that than architecture? Because I think there is no.
David:I'm glad you asked. I did not come through the industry in the normal way. I guess I was the smart board student in school.
I just wanted to be done with school and work and make money. And I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do high end house.
And the reality is that you don't have to be a licensed architect to do residential.
Every state's qualifications vary a little bit, but most, if not all states allow an individual such as myself to do architecture in the residential realm without the license. So I learned through drafting courses, you know, autocad classes, on the job training.
When I initially left college, I had intentions to go back to continue my education. But life happens. That's not always as easy as you think it's going to be.
But I was fortunate to be able to get a job right off the bat with a local home builder that I worked with and just kind of grew from there through the ranks and was purely a drafter at the beginning, which I was fine with. That's what I expected to be for.
Rainey:But you were too talented. Yeah.
David:Eventually, you know, the talents developed and opportunities were granted.
Rainey:But all of your plans, when they go to construction drawings, they're all fully stamped, fully vetted. So you end up with the exact same thing that you would end up with from somebody who had that.
David:Exactly.
Rainey:Every project hanging on the wall.
Casey:Right.
David:We work with Texas licensed structural engineers on every single project they do the foundation, the framing, the windstorm requirements for hurricane, et cetera. And you know, I'm adept in the life safety codes, et cetera that come into place with residential. So yeah, we're. Our work is.
It's the same end result.
Casey:Absolutely.
David:It's just a different approach. And if I could go back in time and do things differently, I would do things differently.
Rainey:But you might have that ego we're talking about.
Casey:Exactly. And I feel like from the way you went, because I love that organic you see too from the inside out, where a lot of times it's from the outside.
And then we have to figure out there's a gigantic window in my closet that now we're going to. So you have a different experience because you're not just this like from the outside. I love that about what you do. So anyways, that's what.
David:And this isn't a knock on architecture school by any stretch of the imagination, but so many times we get resumes and portfolios from recent graduates or soon to be graduates, and you look at their portfolios and it, it's beautiful forms, beautiful renderings, but it has little to no real world.
You know, I can't, I can't look at that and know and understand how this person could benefit my firm in designing a custom home because it's such theoretical stuff that they're, I'm sure, having a great time doing.
Casey:But, you know, the practicality of that.
Rainey:Actually in every industry, though, kids go to school and they learn all these things, but they don't really learn about what they're really going to be doing until they do it. And so that's. That's the truth.
Casey:Yeah, no, that's cool. I love that.
Rainey:Thank you so much for being here today. You know, we are huge fans of yours.
David:As am I of yours.
Rainey:And you guys, you just do. You and your studio do such amazing things for our industry here in Houston and beyond.
And so thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us.
David:That was great, David.
Casey:I love it.
David:I was very excited.
Rainey:And if you want to get in touch with David, it's David at Design dca and he is located in Houston, Texas, but again does projects beyond. So thank you again, thank you all very much. Thank you for joining us as we talked to another team member that's.
That we work with personally that's involved in architectural design. Hope you loved him as much as we do. He is amazing.
Casey:Go check out his work for sure. And hopefully you got some great info from what he had to say, because I did always learn something.
Rainey:Me too. I love the story. So. And if you would like to reach out to us, you can email us at.
Hello, reframingdesign.com you can follow me on Instagram at rainierichardsoninteriors.
Casey:You can follow me at CassandraBrandInteriors and.
Rainey:Follow us wherever you get your podcast.
Casey:Wherever you get your podcast. Spotify, YouTube is fun. Then you can see the flowers and the art.
And this one is a beautiful French watercolor from a really great local artist that I picked up at an auction. So. Really? Yeah.
Rainey:Fantastic.
Casey:Fantastic. And if you have any questions, please reach out to us.
Rainey:Yes. Or a topic that you would like to talk to us about or like to have us talk about on a podcast. We would love that. Oh, my gosh, I love you.
Casey:I love you. And I and we're both scarfing and I forgot to take mine off. But now I'm kind of glad because.
Rainey:It'S like a thing we co scarfed.
Casey:Instead of a coast guard, we're a coast scarf. Okay, until then.
Rainey:Until next time. Until next time. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Outro:That's a wrap for this episode of the Art of Interior Design. We hope you had a blast and found some inspiration to bring your dream space to life. Feeling inspired to start your own home transformation?
Contact us@helloeframingdesign.com we want to help you make it happen. Don't forget to to subscribe, share and leave a review this show was edited and produced by Truth Work Media. Until next time.
Remember your space is your story. Make it beautiful.
David:Is there a certain magic to this?
Rainey:There's ones you talk. It just has closer than what you think.
Casey:So they said like a fist between it.
Rainey:Yeah. Then they stopped talking to us about that. That was the day they're like, you have to stop doing that. We were like, okay, we'll mature at some point.
Casey:We promise. We'll grow up.
Rainey:That was a great laugh, though, you have to admit.
