OUR PROCESS
How a project unfolds.
Every Midtones project moves through six stages, in order. The client knows where we are, at all times. There are no surprises in the schedule — the surprises stay in the design.
What follows is the full version: what happens at each stage, what you can expect from us, and what we will ask of you.
01
Conversation
A 60-minute first meeting.
A studio visit, a phone call, or a walkthrough at your site — whichever works. The conversation is free, with no commitment. We will ask about the project, the household or business, the timeline, and what brought you to look for a designer now. We listen first. We don't pitch.
What we deliver
Our honest read on the project, and whether Midtones is the right studio for it.
What we ask of you
Approximate area, the kind of project, a rough timeline.
02
Brief & Fee
A written brief, within a week.
Within five working days of the first conversation, we send you a short written brief — what we heard, what we'd recommend, an indicative fee, and a project schedule. The brief is for you to read at your own pace, share at home, and come back to.
What we deliver
A written brief (1-2 pages), an indicative fee, a tentative schedule.
What we ask of you
A read-through and a decision: do we begin?
03
Concept
Two weeks of taste, moodboard, palette.
This is where the project's character is decided. We share a moodboard, a material palette, and a few key reference images. We present the concept once. We refine it once. By the end of two weeks, the design language for the project is locked.
What we deliver
Moodboard, palette direction, key reference frames, signed-off design language.
What we ask of you
Honest reactions. "This is not me" is the most useful thing you can say.
04
Design
Layouts, drawings, materials.
The longest stage. We produce floor plans, elevations, 3D views where useful, electrical and lighting layouts, a full material schedule, and a furniture brief. By the end, every room has been designed in detail.
What we deliver
Full design drawings, material schedule, furniture brief, lighting plan, BOQ.
What we ask of you
Approval at three checkpoints — plan, materials, furniture.
05
Build
Site coordination, procurement, weekly visits.
We work with your contractor (or one we recommend) on weekly site reviews. Material samples arrive at the studio first; finishes are approved against the drawings before they are installed. Furniture and lighting are ordered against the schedule we agreed in Stage 04.
What we deliver
Weekly site reports, sample approvals, snag lists, procurement coordination.
What we ask of you
Trust. Most decisions are already made — this stage is about executing them.
06
Handover
Styling day. Final walk-through.
The last day on site. We style the space — art on the walls, textiles in place, the books on the shelves. We walk you through every room. We hand over a binder: drawings, finishes, brand spec, warranties, maintenance notes.
What we deliver
A finished, styled space. A handover document.
What we ask of you
A 30-day check-in once you've lived in it. We will follow up; we are not done at handover.
A typical residential project of around 2,000 sq ft moves through these six stages in 18–22 weeks, from first conversation to handover. Larger or hospitality projects scale accordingly. We share a project-specific schedule in the written brief at Stage 02.
If this is the kind of process you're looking for, we'd be happy to begin a conversation.