Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Metric Design is a residential and commercial interior design studio at 213 Wall Street in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. We design whole-home renovations, custom builds, acreage and farm homes, and commercial interiors, and we manage the builders and trades who deliver them.

Our work runs from the early planning of a space through construction drawings, finish and fixture selection, procurement, site coordination and final styling. Some clients want us leading every decision from concept through to the last cushion, and others want a documented design package they can hand to their own builder, so we scale our involvement to the level of leadership you actually want.

Metric Design is a Saskatoon interior design studio that handles both the interior design and the coordination of the build. We are your single point of contact from the first conversation through to the last delivery, and we bring in and coordinate the builders, architects, engineers, trades and suppliers your project needs.

On most projects we act as the designer and the project manager, which means we engage the general contractor and the trades on your behalf and manage them through construction. If you already have a contractor you trust, we step in as the design liaison instead and stay involved through the build so the design intent survives contact with the site. Either way, you get one team holding the design from the first drawing to the final install.

Metric Design is an interior design studio in Saskatoon, not a construction company. We are not a home builder, and we do not perform the construction work ourselves.

What we do is design the space and manage the people who build it. On most projects we act as the designer and the project manager, which means we engage and coordinate the general contractor and the trades on your behalf. Where you already have your own contractor, we act as the design liaison through construction instead. The building is always done by contractors and trades, and our job is to make sure what gets built is what was designed.

Interior design covers layout, flow, function and technical planning as well as how a space looks. Decorating, or styling, addresses furnishings and finishes once the underlying structure and layout are settled.

Metric Design does both, and they are separate engagements for a reason. If your walls are staying where they are and the house simply does not feel finished, styling is likely what you want. If you are moving walls, changing plumbing, or building new, that is design, and it needs to happen before anything gets ordered.

Yes. Metric Design is a Saskatoon renovation design studio working on whole-home renovations, kitchens, ensuites, primary suites, bonus rooms, basements and full interior remodels across the city and the surrounding area.

We design the renovation, produce the drawings and specifications it needs, select every finish and fixture, and coordinate the trades through construction. On most renovations we are involved from before the first wall comes down until the last piece of furniture is placed.

Yes. Metric Design produces complete construction drawing packages and specifications for custom homes in Saskatoon, including floor plans, elevations, interior details, millwork drawings, finish schedules, lighting plans and fixture specifications.

The package is prepared so your builder can price it accurately, take it through permit, and build from it without a stream of questions. Where a project needs structural or building envelope work, we bring in the engineer or architect it calls for rather than working outside our own scope.

Yes. Metric Design designs commercial interiors in Saskatoon including dental, medical and veterinary clinics, professional and legal offices, retail spaces, restaurants and hospitality, and long term care environments.

Commercial work runs from tenant improvements and leasehold fit-outs through to full relocations. A business is usually working to a lease date, so we plan the design around when your doors need to open, and we will tell you early if the date and the scope do not agree.

Yes. Metric Design works on acreage properties and farm homes outside Saskatoon, both new builds and renovations of existing houses.

Rural projects carry constraints a city house does not: water and septic, longer trade travel, weather windows that decide the schedule, and material deliveries that need planning weeks ahead. We plan around those from the start rather than discovering them partway through.

Metric Design works throughout Saskatoon and the surrounding region, including Warman, Martensville, Osler, Dalmeny, Clavet and the acreage and farm properties around the city.

City neighbourhoods we work in regularly include Nutana, City Park, Varsity View, Briarwood, Willowgrove, Stonebridge, Evergreen, Grasswood and Greenbriar Estates.

Yes. Metric Design works alongside your own builder, architect, engineer and trades on many projects, and we are comfortable joining at any stage, including partway through when something has changed.

If you do not already have a builder, we will introduce you to contractors and trades we have worked with before, or engage them on your behalf as project manager. Where you already have a team you trust, we coordinate with those professionals rather than replacing them.

The best time to bring Metric Design into a Saskatoon project is before the major decisions are made. Early involvement lets us clarify scope, guide priorities, and reduce the downstream changes that get expensive once construction has started.

That said, we join projects partway through all the time, and it is rarely too late to bring some order to a decision that has stalled. If you are not sure whether it is the right moment, a Project Inquiry Call is fifteen minutes and it is complimentary.

Metric Design reduces surprises through early planning, clear documentation and honest communication. Decisions are resolved and drawn before they reach the site, which is where most of the expensive surprises in a renovation come from.

Renovations do uncover unknowns, and we would rather tell you that plainly than promise you a project with none in it. What we can promise is a process built to surface risk early and to adapt thoughtfully when the house tells us something we did not know.

Metric Design carries a project from the first planning conversation through to the final install, coordinating the builders and trades along the way, rather than handing the design off once the drawings are finished.

We design from the finished space backwards. The early decisions about layout, function, materials and sequence are what everything downstream gets built on, and holding that perspective the whole way through is what produces a home that still works in twenty years. It is also why we would rather have the hard conversation about budget or scope in week one than in month four.

Design fees in Saskatoon vary with the size and complexity of a project and with how much of the delivery the studio carries. Metric Design quotes a fee for each project once we understand its scope, rather than working from a rate card, and that figure is our design fee, separate from what the construction and the furnishings themselves cost.

Most of our work is a whole home, a new build or a full commercial space, and those projects begin at a five-figure design investment and scale from there. Smaller, clearly defined engagements are available as well, including a Focused Design Consult for a single decision point and a Decor and Styling Intensive for furnishings, so there is a way in that does not require a full project. We would rather tell you plainly than have it land as a surprise three weeks into a conversation.

The figures below are project investment ranges for full-service design and build at Metric Design, meaning the whole cost of the finished work, not the design fee on its own. They are planning ranges to help you budget, not quotes.

• Bathroom: from $35,000

• Ensuite: from $60,000

• Basement: from $80,000

• Kitchen: from $90,000

• Whole-home or large scale renovation: from $250,000

Where your project lands inside those ranges depends on the size of the space, the condition of what is already there, and the level of finish you are after. Smaller single-space projects such as a mudroom, a custom closet or a laundry room start below these figures, and we will give you a realistic number for those once we understand the space. We will confirm a range with you before you commit to anything.

Start with a Project Inquiry Call with Metric Design, fifteen minutes and complimentary, either by calling 306-974-0190, emailing service@metricdesign.ca, or sending an inquiry through metricdesign.ca. It is a short conversation to confirm fit, scope and the right next step for you.

If your project is a renovation, a custom home or something larger, the next step is a Project Discovery Session. For residential projects that is $395, and it is applied toward your full-service design fee when you go ahead, so it is not a cost on top. For qualified builder, developer and realtor-led projects it is complimentary.

The session is held at your property with two of us, one reading the space and one listening to how you use it, and it ends in a written Site Visit Recap with a clear direction and a recommended path. That recap is yours to keep and act on whether or not you carry on with us. You are also welcome to come by the studio at 213 Wall Street, see the space and our work, and meet some of the team.

Metric Design has operated in Saskatoon since 2011, with twenty-six years of design experience behind the work. Tamara Bowman began her design career in 2000 and opened Metric Design in 2011.

The studio is at 213 Wall Street with a small in-house team, along with a network of trades, suppliers and professionals we work with regularly.

Metric Design is located at 213 Wall Street, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 1N5. You can reach the studio at 306-974-0190 or service@metricdesign.ca, and the studio is open Monday to Friday by appointment.