How we do interior design at Moreira Builders.

From the first conversation to the day the rug rolls out, here's the process we walk every client through, why each step exists, and what you actually receive at the end.

When clients ask what interior design at Moreira actually looks like, the honest answer is that it depends on the package. A Mood Board is a focused, sourced palette for one room. A Whole-Home Design is months of work across every space in the house. But the spine of the process is the same every time.

I'm Christie. I lead the design side at Moreira. My job is to translate how a family lives into a space that actually works for them and looks like something they're proud of when they walk in. What follows is the process we walk every client through. I'm sharing it openly because the biggest barrier to hiring a designer is usually not the cost. It's not knowing what you're paying for.

A great room concept rendering for a recent client. The rendering shows the proposed stone fireplace, whitewashed beams, and furniture layout before any work begins.

Step 1. The conversation

Every project starts with a 30-minute discovery call. It's free, and it's the most important conversation we'll have.

I'm not trying to sell you a package on that call. I'm trying to understand three things: how the room or home is used today, what's not working, and what you want it to feel like. The aesthetic part comes later. The way you live in the space comes first.

Specific questions I tend to ask: Where does morning light come in? Where do you actually drop your keys? Where do the kids do homework? What furniture do you love and want to keep? What do you wish would disappear? Is this a forever home or a five-year home?

The answers shape every design decision that follows. A family with three kids under ten gets a different sofa than a couple who hosts dinner parties. A forever home gets different cabinetry than a five-year home. Skip this conversation and the design ends up looking right but living wrong.

Step 2. The mood board

After the discovery call, the first deliverable on most projects is a mood board. This is where the aesthetic conversation lives.

The mood board isn't a Pinterest collage. It's a curated digital document that captures the palette, the materials, the textures, the lighting feel, and 3-5 specific finish samples sourced from real vendors. It's enough that you can tell whether we're aligned on direction without us having to spec every fixture yet.

This is also the step where most disagreements surface, which is exactly why we do it early. If the mood board feels off, we revise. If it feels right, we go deeper with confidence.

Step 3. Concept and space planning

For Room Design and Full Room packages, this is where we draw. Floor plans, furniture layouts, lighting placement, cabinetry runs, traffic flow. Less glamorous than the mood board, but this is the step that determines whether the finished room actually functions.

I draw three versions of every layout. Not because we'll use all three, but because comparing options is how clients articulate what they actually want. The first layout is almost never the one we land on. The third one usually borrows pieces from the first two and adds something neither of us thought of.

A mudroom concept rendering. Even small spaces get the same process: layout, sourcing, and a 3D before any commitment.

Step 4. The 3D rendering

For Full Room and Whole-Home packages, this is where the project becomes real. Photorealistic 3D rendering shows the room from multiple angles, with the actual furniture, finishes, and lighting we've spec'd.

I cannot overstate how much this changes a client's confidence. Looking at a flat mood board and trying to imagine the room is hard. Looking at a 3D render of your actual room, with your actual furniture and finishes, is the difference between hoping it works and knowing it will.

It's also where we catch problems before they cost money. A render reveals when the rug is too small for the seating area. When the chandelier hangs too low for the table. When the wall color reads warmer than the cabinetry. Fixing it in a render is free. Fixing it after installation is not.

A laundry room rendering. Small room, real attention. Every detail is sourced and visualized before you commit.

Step 5. Sourcing and the shopping list

Once the design is approved, every item gets sourced. Furniture, lighting, rugs, hardware, accessories. Everything.

You receive a complete spec sheet with direct purchase links, prices, and lead times for every item. For Room Design clients, this is what you take and execute yourself. For Full Room and Whole-Home clients, we handle the procurement on your behalf at cost-plus.

This is also the step where I tell you when something is worth the splurge and when it isn't. The dining table that gets used every day is worth the premium for solid wood. The accent stool that mostly looks pretty is fine from West Elm. Knowing the difference is part of what you're paying for.

Step 6. The install

For Full Room and Whole-Home packages, install day is what we work toward for weeks. The trucks arrive, the team assembles, the room goes from empty to finished in one day.

This is the part of the process I love most. The discovery call was a year ago. The mood board was months ago. The render set expectations, but seeing it actually happen, in your actual room, with your actual sun coming through the actual windows, never gets old.

A dining room rendering. The mix of Windsor chairs and upholstered armchairs at the heads was a layout choice we landed on in the third concept revision.

Why we package the work

Most interior designers charge hourly. The problem with hourly is that you can't budget for it. You sign on hoping the hours stay reasonable and you find out at the end whether they did.

We charge by the package because we know how long each scope takes. A Mood Board takes us a defined amount of time. A Full Room with 3D rendering takes a defined amount of time. You see the price before you commit, and the price doesn't change.

The four packages we offer:

• Mood Board ($499) · One room. Curated palette, paint colors, 3-5 sourced finish samples. Delivered in 5 business days.
• Room Design ($1,499) · One room. Floor plan, full mood board, sourced shopping list, two concept layouts. Delivered in 10 business days.
• Full Room with 3D (from $2,999) · Everything in Room Design, plus photorealistic 3D renderings and three concept layouts. Delivered in three weeks.
• Whole-Home Design (custom) · Multi-room scope. Full service from discovery through install. Quoted after a longer discovery call.

If you end up doing a renovation with the build side of Moreira after a design package, we credit the package fee against the renovation. So design with us is genuinely risk-free if you're considering building with us too.

What I want every client to know

Interior design isn't a luxury and it isn't a service for people who don't have taste. It's a way to spend less, regret less, and live better in your home.

Spending less because we keep you from buying furniture three times trying to get it right. Regretting less because the render catches problems before they cost money. Living better because the room is actually designed for how you live, not how a stock layout assumes you live.

If you've been thinking about doing this and weren't sure what you were paying for, I hope this helps. And if you have a space you want to talk through, the discovery call is always free.