My hubby and I are the contractors, but we hired a designer at a local remodeling company to do the drawings and advise on the physics, sequence, techniques, etc.

The designer thought up some good ideas and was patient with me when I blew off a drawing he had made (and we paid for) but I now have a little list to send to him once our project is done. He needs to improve communication by...

1) asking both husband and wife to sign off on designs and changes--this prevents the casual "oh, by the way, how's this" changes that show up when guys get together.

2) asking clients to show him houses and photos they like and dislike. In our case, he couldn't get "craftsman bungalow" out of his mind--this is the fashion right now, even for new construction. But ours is a 1950s tract house with one major addition in a very modern style. He carefully drew siding shingle variations, belly board-style trim, etc. We don't have the budget to re-do everything, so he was making a bad style marriage. He was sure we would buy a new garage door with molded panel decorations even if the old one was absolutely plain. When we told him we were going to reuse it, he was shocked. Stuff like this was a waste of time and all it did was make me mad at him.

3) using a feedback sheet at various times in the process...."How's it going? Anything bugging you?"

4) outlining the procedures to follow if you're dissatisfied--give them out right from the get-go. For example, we bought windows through him, then had to mess around phoning the manufacturer and then his company when one was flawed and the flaw wasn't caught until after installation. Who to call and when should not be a mystery.

5) Have the contractor sign something that says that he will admit when he is not an expert on something. In our case, we planned the whole kitchen in such a way as to follow his goal of having the vent from the range hood exit on a wall with no gable. This became the tail that wagged the dog, since the stove is in the middle of the addition. All other ideas had to flow from it. Irony is that when the city inspector came, he made us reroute the vent straight up into the roof--a thing the designer tried to avoid--because local code won't allow venting to happen in vicinity of a door. If he had never done this kind of vent before, why didn't he tell us? AARGH!

6) ask for suggestions to help with future clients. In our case, we found that he did not allow enough space for door swings, etc. We almost bought custom bi-folds for a new entry closet before we realized that they would get banged up each time the front door opened. (We've redone closet, will have sliding doors.) He did not anticipate the impact of casement windows entering into a close-by parking area. At short notice we ended up putting in awning windows without much view, but at least no delivery driver would have trouble exiting his vehicle. If the designer learns that there were four door or window swing errors in our plans, it would help him prevent future mistakes.

His company is a competent one and is well-thought of in our community. This is not to say that they couldn't improve, though.