Most of the disappointments we hear about from people who worked with another studio come from a question nobody asked at the start. These are the five we would ask ourselves, and they work just as well for any studio you are talking to.

1. How is the fee structured?

Studios charge a flat fee per phase, an hourly rate, a percentage of what is purchased, or a mix of the three. Each one rewards different behavior. A percentage of purchases, for example, quietly favors buying more. Ask for the structure in writing, and ask what would trigger a fee that is not on that page.

2. Who orders the furniture?

Some studios order everything on your behalf and pass on trade pricing. Others hand you a list with links and step back. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you are paying for, and who handles the return when a chair turns out to be the wrong height. On our whole home projects we order and track everything. On a single room plan you order from our list yourself.

3. What happens when something arrives damaged?

Something always does. Ask who inspects deliveries, who files the claim, who pays for the second delivery, and where large pieces wait when the house is not ready. A studio that has done this for a while will answer without hesitating, and the answer tells you a lot about how the rest of the project will go.

4. Who is on site, and how often?

Drawings answer most questions, but not all of them. Ask how often someone from the studio visits during construction, who the contractor calls when something does not fit, and how quickly that person answers. We answer inside one business day, and we tell the contractor so on the first visit.

5. What do the drawings include?

This is the question that matters most and gets asked least. Ask to see a sample drawing set from a finished project. Look for dimensions, a finish schedule with sources, and elevations of anything built in. If the set would leave a contractor guessing, the guessing will happen on your budget.

A sixth, if you have time

Ask what the studio will not do. A clear answer, such as no permit filing or no structural work, is a good sign. It means the studio knows where its work ends and will tell you early who else you need.

We answer all five in the first consultation, and we put the answers in writing in the summary you get three days later, whether you hire us or not.