Sometimes, at the beginning of the design process, a Client will ask:  “Why is my budget so important?  Let’s just get the design right, and then we’ll figure out the cost.”

The simple answer:  Without a budget number in mind, we don’t know what to include in the new design.  If we design in too much, we may very well exceed what the Client was intending to spend.  If we design in too little, we’ve let the Client down and not provided what they were after in the first place. 

In the end, a design is based on only TWO things - Client tastes and Client budget.  Here’s an illustration:

 

The house: 2500 square foot 2-story built in 1980
The yard: 1/2 acre, last landscaped when the house was built
The neighborhood: Quiet, wooded subdivision, suburban setting
The family:  Family of 5, all with active lifestyles and a large circle of family and friends
Goals for the new yard: updating design to more contemporary clean look, remove rotting deck, install approx 600 square foot patio space for entertaining, create a place to have bonfires, plants to provide screening from the street and neighbors, shade, and season long color.