Frequently Asked Questions
Everything You Need to Know About Working with STUDIO 818
Choosing the right interior architecture and design firm for a significant residential project is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. These FAQs address the questions accomplished homeowners and investors most commonly ask about our process, investment structure, and what makes STUDIO 818 uniquely qualified to protect their vision, time, and investment.
About Our Services
STUDIO 818 was founded on a decade of real estate investment discipline and hands-on development experience — having personally designed, built, and delivered more than 50 luxury custom spec homes across Southern California and South Florida with our own capital at risk on every project.
That background shapes everything we do for clients. Most interior architecture firms begin with inspiration boards. We begin with investment intelligence — evaluating every design decision through the lens of an owner-developer who understands construction realities, procurement timelines, and long-term property value simultaneously.
Three things set us apart:
Real Estate Investment Discipline. Our development background means every design decision is evaluated for aesthetic impact, construction feasibility, and long-term investment value — from the first conversation.
The Design Execution Framework™. Our proprietary four-phase process translates your vision into a fully realized home — from Project Roadmap™ through Turnkey Lifestyle™ completion — with every detail orchestrated on your behalf.
Principal-Led Engagement. Janie and John-Paul Micek are personally involved in every project from initial consultation through fully furnished move-in. Your project is never handed off to a junior team.
The result: a distinctive residence delivered with investment-grade discipline, design mastery, and concierge-level execution — without demanding your time or attention.
The Design Execution Framework™ is STUDIO 818’s proprietary four-phase process for managing complex residential projects from initial vision through fully furnished move-in. It was developed from our experience designing and building 50+ luxury custom spec homes — where every decision carried direct investment consequences.
The framework operates across four phases:
Phase 1: Project Roadmap™. Where your vision takes shape and investment is confirmed with confidence. This phase includes initial conceptual design, final conceptual design, and strategic alignment of scope, budget, and timeline — before any construction commitments are made.
Phase 2: Master Planning. Where your approved vision is translated into construction-ready documentation. Every finish is specified, every material sourced, and every drawing coordinated so your builder has everything needed to execute without interruption.
Phase 3: Construction Administration. Where design intent meets job site reality — and we ensure they remain aligned. As your Owner’s Project Manager or Owner’s Design Principal, we orchestrate the construction process on your behalf, protecting your time, investment, and vision throughout.
Phase 4: Turnkey Lifestyle™. Where your residence transforms from finished to fully realized. Furniture design, procurement, installation, and professional styling deliver a move-in ready home that reflects your lifestyle down to the last detail.
The framework eliminates the gap between design intent and construction reality — ensuring what you approve is what gets built, without demanding your time or attention throughout the process.
Our full-service interior architecture and design services — including all four phases of the Design Execution Framework™ — are focused on South Florida’s most prestigious communities, including Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Hobe Sound, East Boca Raton, and the surrounding coastal communities of Palm Beach, Broward, and Martin Counties.
We have also completed projects remotely across the U.S., including Los Angeles and Lake Tahoe. For remote engagements, we deliver all phases of the Design Execution Framework™ with the exception of direct on-site construction administration.
Our Property Acquisition and Design Strategy service is currently focused exclusively on South Florida, where John-Paul Micek holds his Florida real estate license and our established relationships with premier architects, builders, and market specialists provide the greatest value to clients.”
Our Property Acquisition and Design Strategy service is a unique offering that merges real estate investment discipline with interior architecture intelligence — giving clients a strategic advantage that no traditional real estate agent or design firm can offer independently.
Led by licensed Florida real estate agent and co-founder John-Paul Micek, this service operates across two distinct phases:
Pre-Purchase Advisory. Before you commit to a property, we apply the same investment-grade evaluation criteria used across 50+ luxury custom spec homes to assess whether a property can realistically deliver your vision, your lifestyle goals, and your financial objectives. This includes property identification and evaluation, conceptual design and architectural feasibility studies performed before purchase, all-inclusive investment projections covering acquisition, design, construction, and furnishing costs relative to after-improvement value, and comparative market analysis establishing post-improvement valuation.
Post-Purchase Design Transformation. Once the right property is secured, your project transitions into our Design Execution Framework™ — where your vision is translated into a fully realized home through our four-phase process from Project Roadmap™ through Turnkey Lifestyle™ completion.
This service is ideal for accomplished professionals and global entrepreneurs who have identified a lifestyle vision but not yet a property to realize it — as well as investment-minded clients seeking to maximize after-improvement value from day one.
For clients interested in ground-up speculative development or investment-grade residential projects, we also offer end-to-end design, development, and execution services. If you are an investor or developer seeking a design and development partner with a proven track record in high-end speculative residential projects, we welcome that conversation.”
Project Scope & Investment
STUDIO 818 specializes in significant residential projects throughout South Florida, including:
- Ground-up custom homes exceeding 4,000 SF
- Comprehensive estate renovations with substantial scope and investment
- Major architectural expansions exceeding 1,500 SF of new construction
- Historic property modernization requiring specialized preservation expertise
- Property acquisition and pre-purchase design strategy for clients who haven’t yet identified their property
All projects are principal-led by Janie and John-Paul Micek from initial consultation through fully furnished completion.
Investment varies by project scope, size, and selections. Our real estate investment and development background means we approach investment projections the same way we underwrote our own spec home development — comprehensively, covering pre-construction planning, design, site work, and construction as a single all-inclusive figure. Furnishings represent a separate investment.
General investment guidelines:
- Ground-Up Custom Homes: $600–$1,100+ per SF (full design and build integration)
- Estate Renovations: $225–$400+ per SF
- Architectural Expansions and Major Remodels: $300–$500+ per SF, plus new construction in the custom home range
For Property Acquisition and Design Strategy engagements, investment projections include acquisition costs, design fees, construction, and furnishings relative to projected after-improvement value — giving you a complete picture of your investment before any commitment is made.
We provide an initial investment analysis during your Complimentary Design Consultation and comprehensive projections through the full Project Roadmap™ Phase.
The Project Roadmap™ Phase is the strategic foundation of every STUDIO 818 engagement. It’s where your vision takes shape, your design direction is established, and your investment targets are confirmed — before any construction commitments are made.
The Project Roadmap™ Phase includes three components:
Initial Conceptual Design. Floor-plan-first thinking translates your lifestyle requirements into initial 2D and 3D space plans — so you can see how you’ll live before anything is built.
Final Conceptual Design. Conceptual plans are refined, finish-level direction is established through mood boards and material selections, and your vision crystallizes into a clear design trajectory.
Strategic Alignment. A comprehensive Project Roadmap™ report delivers all-inclusive investment projections, a realistic project timeline, site constraints and building limitations, and post-improvement property valuation based on recent comparable sales.
Your Complimentary Design Consultation is the first step — a focused conversation where we explore your vision and determine whether STUDIO 818 is the right fit for your project.
STUDIO 818 structures investments to align with the scope and complexity of each engagement. Our approach reflects the same investment discipline we applied to our own spec home developments — transparent, comprehensive, and aligned with your goals from day one.
Interior Architecture and Design Services (Core Architecture, Complete Interiors, Turnkey Lifestyle™):
Fixed investments are provided for full-service interior architecture and design including fully furnished completion. Construction administration phases are managed on an hourly basis with projected retainers. For interior architecture and design without furnishing services, the investment combines fixed rates based on scope with hourly retainers.*
Property Acquisition and Design Strategy:
Pre-purchase advisory services are structured on a project basis depending on scope and complexity. Post-purchase design transformation follows the standard interior architecture and design investment structure outlined above.*
All investment structures are discussed during your Complimentary Design Consultation and detailed comprehensively through the Project Roadmap™ Phase — so you have complete visibility before any construction commitments are made.
Process & timeline
Project timelines vary by scope and complexity:
- Ground-Up Custom Homes: 18–36 months from pre-construction through fully furnished move-in
- Estate Renovations: 10–14 months
- Architectural Expansions: 12–24 months
- Property Acquisition and Design Strategy: Pre-purchase advisory typically takes 4–8 weeks depending on market conditions and property availability. Post-purchase design transformation follows the renovation or custom home timeline above depending on project scope.
Our Design Execution Framework™ reduces delays by aligning vision, investment targets, and construction realities before commitments are made — so your project moves forward without the restarts and redesigns that extend conventional timelines.”
The earlier, the better — and earlier than most clients expect.
For clients who haven’t yet identified a property, STUDIO 818 can be engaged before any real estate commitment is made. Our Property Acquisition and Design Strategy service evaluates properties for design potential, construction feasibility, and investment value before purchase — ensuring the right foundation is in place before design begins.
For clients who have already identified or acquired a property, the ideal time to engage STUDIO 818 is before hiring an architect or builder. Early integration ensures your interior architecture vision informs structural decisions from the outset — preventing the costly redesigns that occur when interior design is treated as a final layer rather than a foundational discipline.
For clients who already have an architect or builder in place, we integrate seamlessly with your existing team. Our developer background means we speak the language of building professionals and can contribute construction intelligence that enhances both the design and the execution from the point of engagement forward.
In every scenario, earlier engagement protects your investment, reduces surprises, and delivers a more cohesive result.”
Yes — and our development background makes that collaboration more productive for everyone involved.
With Architects. Early integration ensures interior architecture and design informs structural decisions from the first planning stages. We coordinate directly with your architect on permit plan sets, construction drawings, and design intent — so the two disciplines work in concert rather than in sequence.
With Builders. Our experience acting as developer and de facto general contractor on 50+ luxury custom spec homes means we understand construction realities at a peer level. We respond to RFIs promptly, manage all design-related procurement, and ensure design decisions are documented and approved before they reach the job site — reducing callbacks, change orders, and schedule disruptions.
If you haven’t yet selected your architect or builder, we curate trusted professionals from our established network of premier South Florida architects and builders — matched to your project scope, aesthetic direction, and investment targets.”
Working Together
STUDIO 818 offers four distinct service categories, each delivered through our Design Execution Framework™:
Property Acquisition and Design Strategy. Pre-purchase property evaluation, investment projections, architectural feasibility studies, and post-purchase design transformation.
Ground-Up Custom Homes. Pre-construction intelligence, interior architecture and space planning, master design and material specification, construction documentation, procurement management, on-site construction oversight, and fully furnished move-in.
Architectural Expansions. Everything included in custom home services, applied to significant additions of 1,500+ SF of new construction integrated with existing architecture.
Estate Renovations. Strategic renovation planning, interior architecture modifications, complete interior design transformation, procurement and construction coordination, and fully furnished move-in.
All service categories are available across three tiers — Core Architecture, Complete Interiors, and Turnkey Lifestyle™ — depending on the scope of furnishing and lifestyle integration required.
Your time is protected throughout. STUDIO 818’s Design Execution Framework™ was specifically designed to minimize the demand on your time while maximizing the quality of the outcome.
What you do:
- Establish your vision, lifestyle goals, and design aesthetic at the outset
- Review and approve key design directions at defined milestones
- Make final selections from curated options we present — never from an overwhelming array of choices
- Receive regular project updates through your dedicated client portal
What we handle:
- All design development, documentation, and technical drawings
- Architect and builder coordination throughout every phase
- Complete procurement management for all finishes, fixtures, furnishings, and appliances
- On-site design-related construction oversight and quality assurance
- RFI responses for your builder, change order review, and punch list management
- Delivery coordination, installation, and professional styling through move-in day
Based on our experience across 50+ luxury custom spec homes and complex client projects, most clients invest 40–80 hours of their time across an 18–36 month project. STUDIO 818 invests 1,850–2,300+ hours on your behalf depending on project scope.
Your role is to live your life. Our role is to deliver the home that reflects it.
Yes. For select projects, STUDIO 818 provides curated furnishings, artwork, and professional styling as a stand-alone service independent of our Design Execution Framework™.
For clients engaging our full Design Execution Framework™, furnishing services are integrated from the earliest planning stages through our Turnkey Lifestyle™ service tier. This integration ensures structure, finishes, and furnishings are designed as a cohesive whole rather than layered after the fact — resulting in a fully furnished, move-in ready residence where every element feels inherently part of the architecture.
Stand-alone furnishing and styling services are available on a project basis. Contact us directly to discuss whether this is the right fit for your project.”
Property Acquisition & Design Strategy
See above in the “About Our Services” section.
Yes — and this is one of the most valuable ways STUDIO 818 can be engaged. Most clients come to us after they’ve already purchased a property. Clients who engage us before purchase gain a significant strategic advantage.
Led by licensed Florida real estate agent and co-founder John-Paul Micek, our Pre-Purchase Advisory service evaluates properties through three lenses simultaneously: design potential, construction feasibility, and investment value.
We identify whether a property can realistically deliver your vision before you commit — and provide all-inclusive investment projections covering acquisition, design, construction, and furnishing costs relative to projected after-improvement value.
This service is currently available for properties throughout Palm Beach, Broward, and Martin Counties in South Florida.
Yes. STUDIO 818’s principals have personally designed, developed, and sold more than 50 luxury custom spec homes across Southern California and South Florida — with their own capital at risk on every project. That background makes us uniquely qualified to serve investment-minded clients.
For real estate investors and developers, we offer:
- Investment-grade property evaluation and acquisition advisory
- End-to-end design, development, and execution for ground-up speculative residential projects
- Design and construction administration for investment properties targeting maximum after-improvement value
- Market-positioning design strategy — ensuring every design decision supports both lifestyle appeal and resale performance
If you are an investor or developer seeking a design and development partner with a proven track record in high-end speculative residential projects in South Florida, we welcome that conversation. Reach out to John-Paul directly at [email protected].
Getting Started
STUDIO 818 is the right fit if you are:
- Planning a significant ground-up custom home, estate renovation, or major architectural expansion in South Florida
- Seeking to identify and acquire the right property before design begins
- An accomplished professional, entrepreneur, or investor who values expert execution without managing the details yourself
- Located in Palm Beach, Broward, or Martin Counties — or relocating to South Florida’s most exclusive communities
- Prepared to make the investment required for a residence that reflects your achievements and supports your lifestyle
- Interested in ground-up speculative development or investment-grade residential projects
If you’re unsure whether your project scope aligns with our approach, your Complimentary Design Consultation is the right first step. We’ll assess your project honestly and tell you directly whether STUDIO 818 is the right fit — regardless of what comes next.
Your Complimentary Design Consultation is a focused strategic conversation — not a sales call. It typically runs 45–60 minutes and covers four areas:
Your Vision and Goals. We explore your interior architecture vision, design aesthetic, lifestyle requirements, and project priorities — so we understand not just what you want to build, but how you want to live.
Project Assessment. We assess your project scope, site conditions, and timeline relative to your goals — drawing on our development background to identify opportunities and potential challenges before design begins.
Investment Alignment. We provide initial investment guidance relative to your proposed scope — so you leave with a realistic picture of what your project requires before any commitments are made.
Mutual Fit. We determine together whether STUDIO 818’s approach, expertise, and investment level align with your project. If we’re the right fit, we outline the next steps. If we’re not, we’ll tell you honestly.
You leave with clarity on your project’s direction and next steps — regardless of what comes next. The consultation is complimentary and carries no obligation.
The first step is requesting your Complimentary Design Consultation — a focused conversation where we explore your vision, assess your project, and determine whether STUDIO 818 is the right fit for what you’re building toward.
To request your consultation, complete the brief inquiry form on our contact page. We respond to all inquiries within 48 hours.
If you’d like to speak with John-Paul directly before scheduling, reach out at [email protected] or 702.497.9722.
To help us prepare a focused conversation, feel free to share any plans, inspiration images, or project priorities when you reach out. The more context you provide, the more targeted and valuable your consultation will be.”
If these answers reflect the level of design intelligence, investment discipline, and concierge-level execution your project deserves, the next step is your Complimentary Design Consultation — a focused conversation where we explore your vision, assess your project, and determine whether STUDIO 818 is the right fit for what you’re building toward.