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Masters of the Plan
From Custom Floor Plans to Furniture, This Design Firm Does It All By Suzy Feine
Homeowners from the West Coast to the far reaches of Tokyo seeking the extraordinary, unorthodox, distinguished and unquestionably the most resplendent home design, seek The Design Collaborative, Inc. in San Francisco, Calif. Winner of awards for both the 1993 Professional Builder magazine's Best in American Remodeling and 1997 Food & Wine magazine's Kitchen Design, this full-service firm is reaching new heights in custom home design.
Owned and operated since 1991 by interior designer Michele Murfin, The Design Collaborative, Inc. acts as the liaison between homeowners and architects to reconstruct simple floor plans into architectural wonders. Murfin and her team of professionally trained designers collaborate with homeowners to develop a master plan for the interior and exterior components of the home and floor plan layout, and even stay until the last brick is laid to assist with furniture and drapery selections. We interviewed Murfin to gain an understanding of why people come from all corners of the world to hire her team to fashion their dream home.
iP: Who are your clients?
MM: Most are people who are retiring to the Central Coast or those involved in high-pressure jobs. We also work with many doctors and lawyers, designing doctor's offices, law firms and even some restaurants. Most of our clients don't live in the area and are too busy working to do too much material selections on their own.
iP: Describe the services your company offers its clients.
MM: We work with the architect to come up with the entire floor plan for a home. Usually the homes are between 3,500 and 20,000 square feet. We work together to develop the best overall layout for the client's needs.
iP: Specifically, what selections are made by your team of designers?
MM: Our team will talk the client through each individual room, in detail, finding out how they will live in each room and their needs for things, such as storage. From there, we do all of the detailed drawings using CAD software for the interior: cabinetry, tile layouts, fireplaces, etc. We also select all of the materials needed to finish the job – including the exterior finishes – if the architect requests us to do so.
iP: How lengthy is the process of custom home design?
