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Design to FI, Portland, OR (2026)

01/09/2023

170 sqft garage conversion.

Client wanted the income from having a roommate without actually having a roommate. I suggested this junior ADU with kitchenette. Budget is $25k, so certain aspects may get phased in, like laundry. My goal was to make the best use of a very small space, without it feeling too small. Storage loft over bath.

Kitchenette features a 10 cubic foot fridge, 2-burner induction cooktop, 24” microwave, and 22” wide porcelain sink that doubles as a lavatory.

In San Diego county, CA.

05/29/2022

It’s always fun to work on remote projects; adds a bit of a challenge since I can’t see the space in person, but also creates some opportunities (like the surprise blue in the bathroom, since I couldn’t physically match the existing white tile).

This was a small job selecting both exterior and interior paint colors for an investor client in Tampa Florida. The house is a craftsman bungalow that’ll be going on the market soon.

The client is a friend I’ve worked with before. He’s a brilliant entrepreneur, but color isn’t his area of expertise. He was smart to delegate this task because choosing house colors isn’t as simple as most people think.

Factors I considered were:

- What style of house is it? How can I stay historically accurate while still appealing to today’s buyers?

- What’s the climate? The light in Florida is very different from where I live in the Pacific Northwest, and colors look different there. Plus, what might feel warm and welcoming in Portland might become cloying in Tampa. How can I work with, rather than against the climate?

- What is happening on the street already? For a flip, I don’t want my choices to stand out too much, but standing out a little (in a good way), can be helpful.

- Who is the end user/target demographic? My choices might have been different if this were slated to be a rental where the landlord already owns other local properties (because it’s nice to have some consistency when needing to repaint between tenants). My selections would also be different for an owner-occupant client, because personal preferences are more important than what appeals to the masses for resale.

- How can I keep this project cost-effective? One way was to limit the exterior and interior palettes to minimize labor and material costs. For example, the exterior and interior trim are the same color. So are some of the cabinets.

Stay tuned for before/after pics in a future post!

03/06/2022

A client in Bellingham Washington asked for help with a basement ADU conversion. The space will be used as a short term furnished rental, and construction was to start in only 10 days!

The client asked for a one bedroom unit. The mechanical room, chimney, and overhead beam dividing the space in half couldn’t move and were the main constraints.

I provided my client with expedited floor plans so the builder could start framing in just a week. In addition to the one-bedroom option he asked for, I designed this 2 bedroom version. For a short term rental, 2 bedrooms translates to more options for guests and more income. The client loved the design.

My services will pay for themself in about a week of renting the space, and will continue to return on investment as long as the house is standing.

The third image is what my client’s draftsperson drew before I was hired.

All of this was done remotely; I’m in Portland Oregon and never stepped foot in the house. The client gave me a drawing with dimensions and I went from there.

Design costs: around $1000

Increased monthly revenue as a result of hiring a designer: almost $2000 (assuming an additional $80/night from the extra bedroom)

Annual ROI as a percentage yield on design services (not even accounting for repeat bookings and referrals from good design alone): 2400%

My client chose wisely. 😁

01/15/2022

A long-distance client already had plans drawn up by a drafter for a house plus detached ADU. He wanted feedback from an actual designer [me] about how the space might be improved, but his budget only allowed for a couple hours of my time to give feedback on both the main house and the ADU. I recorded several videos like this for him, where I made design suggestions on-the-fly. Here's a sample of my thought process in action. (Of course, if he ended up hiring me to redesign this space, I'd spend a lot more time and many more iterations on it than I have here; design is iterative, but these comments provided him with a great jumping off point for further discussions with his drafter.)

I do a similar clarity consult with locals (in the Portland Oregon metro) where I walk through their actual space and provide verbal feedback for 90 minutes. This consult does double duty--helping clients to imagine the possibilities while also allowing me to see the space to provide a detailed proposal for full design services.

In this particular case with the long-distance client, he didn't have the budget for full design services, but my video feedback on his plan allowed him to go back to his drafter to make changes that would ultimately help my client achieve his goals faster--through good design.

01/15/2022

A long-distance client already had plans drawn up by a drafter for a house plus detached ADU. He wanted feedback from an actual designer [me] about how the space might be improved, but his budget only allowed for a couple hours of my time to give feedback on both the main house and the ADU. I recorded several videos like this for him, where I made design suggestions on-the-fly. Here's a sample of my thought process in action. (Of course, if he ended up hiring me to redesign this space, I'd spend a lot more time and many more iterations on it than I have here; design is iterative, but these comments provided him with a great jumping off point for further discussions with his drafter.)

I do a similar clarity consult with locals (in the Portland Oregon metro) where I walk through their actual space and provide verbal feedback for 90 minutes. This consult does double duty--helping clients to imagine the possibilities while also allowing me to see the space to provide a detailed proposal for full design services.

In this particular case with the long-distance client, he didn't have the budget for full design services, but my video feedback on his plan allowed him to go back to his drafter to make changes that would ultimately help my client achieve his goals faster--through good design.

10/29/2021

A quick little in-between project for a sweet couple of investor clients. Their 1960s 3 bedroom 1.5 bath had the [very common back in the day] half bath attached to the primary bedroom.

They asked for my help to convert the house into a 3/2 so the primary bedroom could have a full bath. We were restricted by the boundaries of the hallway and, without moving some structural walls, couldn’t expand the bathroom area unless into the already small (by today’s standards) bedroom.

My clients plan to furnish and short-term rent the house in however, so the primary bedroom could stand to lose about 6” (since people need a lot less stuff when they travel, and mostly need a private room to sleep with a space for their clothes). It was much more important to have a second shower for the 3 bedrooms (potentially 8 guests at a time) than to have a large bedroom.

So within the existing space of 1.5 bathrooms (plus another 6 inches), I designed 2 full baths. (Technically 1.75 because there’s a shower rather than a tub/shower, but it serves its purpose.)

To do this, I moved the wall separating each bathroom slightly towards the original full bath. That bathroom had an awkward small space in front of the toilet that’s not to code. (Code requires 21” of clear space in front of the whole toilet.) It also had a wide vanity that could stand to get slightly smaller (32” in the new design).

I cheated the bath tub and replaced a standard 5’ size with a 4 1/2’ tub; nobody will notice the difference irl.

Jogging that wall between the tub and toilet allowed me to get more than enough clear space in front of the toilet off the primary.

Rather than keep the existing small 24” wide door to that bathroom, I replaced the swing door with a 28” pocket door to save floor space and make it easier to maneuver when people walk into that bathroom.

Lastly, I reduced the window size so that a standard shower surround and glass doors can be used, but kept the new window within the existing rough opening to save on labor. (Because this is a rental rather than a flip, tile would be overkill/expensive and wouldn’t ROI from rents.) Because goals and context matter.

10/22/2021

Update on my client’s “classic box” four square ADU plus house updates project.

The client wants to appeal to families and didn’t want the ADU to feel cramped. This led to what I think is a better design, with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths still within about a 750 sqft footprint.

There is a wall that was once an exterior structural wall that I couldn’t move, so that defines the private space (bedrooms) separate from the common space.

Further, the existing bath near what’s now the entry was in pretty good shape, so I kept that and designed around it.

This ADU is just a part of the entire building. I’ll post floor plans both before and after for the primary dwelling unit on another day. (Spoiler alert: I added value to that rental unit too, to attract high quality tenants and maximize income.)

08/19/2021

An investor client hired me to reconfigure a house he just bought into a main unit plus Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). The 1909 “Classic Box” foursquare house had been added onto over the years, and the later additions weren’t as functional as they could have been. In Portland, ADUs must be under 800 sqft. Since my client will be renting out both units, cash flow is important.

My client thought only 2 bedrooms would fit, but I found a way to get 3 in, which would result in about $800 more per month in gross rent.

The second pic is the current floor plan.

06/23/2021

It’s happened. After [only a couple] sleepless nights, I finished the neighbor house and it’s listed for sale.

The stager with .co did an amazing job, and the photos by are top notch. (It’s pretty cute IRL too.)

Listed expertly by

See comments for more info.

06/16/2021

Staging is tomorrow! The neighbor house is in process. I’m in full deadline mode right now but after this proverbial and actual dust settles, I’ll tell you what this flip is all about and how it relates to Design To FI.

06/10/2021

Oh and by the way, see that cute teal tiny house on wheels in my back yard? So excited for my new tenant Lauren and her adorable tiny house to share my space and live in community! She rents space for $475/month plus utilities. We have a barter for yard work. Because I really don’t enjoy mowing.

This vid shows where I’m at in this project just 6 (six!) short days before the stager works her magic. Gulp.

06/04/2021

Working on big projects can sometimes feel overwhelming, like you’ve got to do everything alone. But these two have graciously stepped up way over and above, painting, sanding, priming, and being overall badasses. Thank you 🙏

Design to FI

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