About Ava Carr
Affordable Design Services
My goal is to provide affordable design services to help my clients maximize the potential of their home. I enjoy small projects and have found that sometimes small changes can transform how a house functions and feels. Some clients only need a few hours of my time, others have more complicated projects or want my input for many aspects of the project. With decades of experience as a licensed architect I can quickly evaluate the advantages and constraints of your home or site and produce practical, attractive design ideas. I work by myself and will personally handle all communication, design and drawing. As we proceed I will guide you through the process, connect you with consultants or contractors as required, and collaborate with you and your team to complete the design.
Because residential construction and renovation is a custom product and no two homes or clients are exactly the same I charge hourly for my services. In order to give an idea of the range of time required for projects I note the number of hours billed on many of the projects I share on this website.
Please look through the project examples to learn more about my process.
Current work can be seen on my Facebook, Nextdoor and LinkedIn pages listed at the bottom of the page.
About Ava Carr
I am a licensed architect and have lived and worked in the Asheville area since 1992.
I started my own firm in 2019 and plan to end my career working this way. I work by myself from home and concentrate on renovations, additions and modest sized homes.
I charge by the hour and draw as little, or as much, as each project requires or the client wants. My hourly rate is $120. Every project is different so I find it hard to estimate the total time required.
It typically takes me between 10 and 20 hours to meet with a client, measure their house, draw the existing plan on the computer, then design and draw a preliminary plan idea or ideas. This includes thoughts on the exterior elevations and structure – but these thoughts probably wouldn’t be drawn out within this time frame.
On all my plans I show furniture and appliance layout so you can think about how the space will actually function.
I can usually do this work within a week of meeting with you – the pace at which the project progresses from here varies widely but I am not usually the hold up ( getting pricing, a survey, a structural engineer if needed, or the owner taking time to make decisions are typically what set the pace).
How many hours I spend past this point also varies widely. Sometimes the builder doesn’t need much more than this, sometimes the project ends here, and sometimes the scope of work changes once pricing is estimated.
I prefer having a contractor involved early so we don’t spend time and your money, designing something that will not get built.
Most of my additions / renovations are drawn on 11 x 17 paper so I can print them from home. When we meet I can explain more about the process and will bring examples of completed projects.