What is Full Service Design and Build?

Written by Autumn Krause

Photography by Lindsay Salazar

What does a full-service design and build firm do? And what does that process look like for building your dream home? Our Utah Project House gives an inside peek into the full service design and construction experience.

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White entryway as part of custom full service design build home, with herringbone flooring — Light and airy vibes permeate this foyer design by The Fox Group, while a settee creates a welcoming invitation to “come in and sit down.”

Our Utah Project House speculative build with The Fox Group is well underway, rising from the ground to take the outline of a dream home. In the meantime, mood boards and blueprints fill in the empty spaces, showing us the luxurious details and beautiful rooms yet to come. The process also gives us a peek into the full service design and construction experience.

Many homeowners tackle renovations and new builds through moxie and elbow grease, and then piecemeal professionals together for parts that require experts. The Fox Group, however, handles every aspect of the home creation process.

Dining/kitchen space with large dining table, designed with full service design build firm — The Fox Group is ingenious at coming up with creative solutions as part of their full service design and build projects. This kitchen has a dining table for 12 that also acts as an island since the space was smaller and didn’t allow for a separate island and eating table. “So, we combined them!” Cara says.

What is Full Service Design and Build?

Full service design and build is an upscale, bespoke experience that includes every aspect of designing and building a home. The firm tailors every detail of the process, from blueprints and building plans all the way down to which drawers the homeowners intuitively reach for to get forks and knives. Cara Fox, owner and designer at The Fox Group, says, “As a full-service design and construction firm, we take our clients’ vision of a dream home and bring it to life in every way for them.”

Spiral staircase with blue-gray walls and wall paneling — A floating staircase is designed to coordinate with the circular foyer shape in this custom build by The Fox Group.

What’s the Full Service Design and Build Process?

First, The Fox Group team starts with a discovery meeting with their clients. They ask questions about their ideal vision of daily life and how their environment plays into that. “We talk about how the clients use different types of rooms like a family room, a kitchen, a dining room, laundry room or even a craft room,” Cara says.

Next, The Fox Group team draws up various floor plans that allow the homeowners to actualize their home life. “As a full service design and construction firm, everything is covered,” Cara says. “Down to details on how they cook in their kitchens and where specific placements of kitchen tools and appliances that will work best for them.” This is an upscale process, but The Fox Group team is no stranger to stretching a dollar. “We work with many different budgets. In fact, I think a lot of our creativity comes when you have the boundaries of a budget,” Cara says.

Living room with white paneled walls, starburst TV cabinet and black TV — A console acts as a base for the flatscreen television in this living room by The Fox Group and grounds it in the casual family room.

Why Choose a Full Service Design and Build Firm?

A huge benefit of a full service design and construction firm is that the resulting home is more cohesive. “When someone hires a full service design and construction firm as opposed to a separate builder, architect and designer, it unifies the entire home,” Cara says. The design and style of the interiors and the exteriors are align in the details. The planning and execution are smoother because everything runs through one firm.

There’s also no blaming other professions or companies if there are hiccups. “Truly, we feel that the end product is better in every way,” Cara says. “We have expert architects, expert designers, and expert builders all under one roof. As a team, we talk and communicate all day long about the different projects to make sure no detail is left behind.”

Dream homes come to life in many ways, but there’s nothing quite like a full service design and construction firm to make your wildest home sweet home dreams a reality.

Thinking of building a home? Follow along this year with our Utah Project House to see what the process is like! Of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get your daily dose of farmhouse inspiration.