Stacy Paulson Design + Build

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Stacy Paulson Design + Build Austin, TX based
Design firm by Stacy Paulson
A creative visonary with an eclectic eye for design & a viligant, methodical drive.

Stacy Paulson Design + Build is an Austin based company. Stacy has an eclectic eye for design accompanied by a viligant, methodical drive that she and her team bring to all her projects. While always attentive and understanding of her client's needs, she is also a creative visionary blending new ideas with existing elements. She is adept tackling an entire home design and remodel, setting realistic expectations for costs and timelines, while maintaining as little impact to her client's home lives as possible. Always apporachable with any thought or idea, Stacy consistantly communicates with clients regarding the status of their individual projects, and handles unplanned interruptions with the utmost professionalism. All of this while having F U N! Stacy has a great rapport with numerous vendors and subcontractors, who offer unparalleled professionalism and quality. She is responsive to sudden, inevitable changes, communicates clear expectations concerning cost and scheduling, and will bring any project to completion - design vision, execution, and lastly fruition. An organized project manager, the SPD team delivers quality and completed work on time and on budget.

The range you found online isn't your number. It's everybody's number.That's what Budget Month was really about. Real nu...
09/30/2026

The range you found online isn't your number. It's everybody's number.

That's what Budget Month was really about. Real numbers from real projects here in Austin. What a primary bath actually costs. What countertops, plumbing, and tile labor really run. Why flat fee beats hourly. Why a contingency isn't optional.

But every one of those posts was about someone else's house. Yours has its own walls, its own plumbing, and its own surprises. No range is going to account for that.

That's why I do a flat fee working meeting, the one I mentioned earlier this month. We sit down with your project and build your real number together. You leave with a number you can actually plan around, not another guess.

Quick calendar update, because I'd rather you hear it from me: 2026 is a wrap! I'm designing several projects right now for Q1, Q2, and Q3 2027 starts. If you're thinking about a project next year, this is the time to get on my calendar. I have a few openings for working meetings this fall.

Book your working meeting. Email me at [email protected]. Let's talk about your real number.

Almost every first call gets to the same question. "So what's this going to cost?"And I won't give you a number for your...
09/29/2026

Almost every first call gets to the same question. "So what's this going to cost?"

And I won't give you a number for your project. Not yet.

Here's why. I do the design and the estimate together. When I give you a number, I'm estimating for what we actually designed. That removes most of the guesswork, especially those pesky materials allowances that blow up budgets halfway through a job.

A number before the design is done is just a guess. And a guess is how you end up finding out the real number after demo has started, when you're emotionally invested and have way less room to walk away.

What I will talk about early is materials. Price per square foot for different countertop materials. Cost per linear foot for custom cabinetry. The range for hardwood floors. That's real information you can use while you're still deciding.

I've definitely had people walk away at that point. That's okay. I'd rather have fewer clients who trust the first number I give them than a full calendar of people who feel ambushed halfway through.

Your real number comes out of the design. That's where it starts.

Follow along. When I give you a number, it's the real one.

Same window. Same stained glass. A kitchen twice the size.This Hyde Park kitchen needed more than a refresh. We added on...
09/28/2026

Same window. Same stained glass. A kitchen twice the size.

This Hyde Park kitchen needed more than a refresh. We added on to the house and doubled the size of the kitchen, brought the laundry room along with it, and replaced the front door while we were at it.

The final number: $228,000.

The biggest single line item was cabinets at $41,000. Right behind it, three items tied at $16,000 each: framing, plumbing, and countertops.

That's the part people don't expect. When you add square footage, you're not just paying for pretty finishes. You're paying for the framing and plumbing it takes to build a room that didn't exist before.

Why share the number? Because most people walk into a kitchen project with a figure from a TV show in their head, and it's not close to what this kind of work costs in Austin right now. Real numbers help you plan. Guessing gets you a demo you can't finish.

My favorite part? We kept the stained glass. In an older Austin home, some things have earned their spot.

Want to see more finished projects with the real totals attached? Link in bio. That's exactly what the portfolio is for.

Fixed bid or cost plus. One line in your contract decides who pays when something unexpected turns up behind a wall.Most...
09/26/2026

Fixed bid or cost plus. One line in your contract decides who pays when something unexpected turns up behind a wall.

Most homeowners sign without anyone explaining it. So here's the plain-English version.

Fixed bid is one number for the whole project, set upfront. It feels safe. But older Austin homes keep secrets, and when one turns up, one of two things happens. The contractor eats the cost, or you end up fighting over a change order.

Cost plus means you pay the real cost of labor and materials, plus an agreed fee. You see the actual numbers as you go. It's the more transparent model, but it only works if you trust who's holding the pen.

Here's how I build mine. Your design is a flat fee, locked in before construction starts. Construction is cost plus, so you see every number. Predictability and transparency where it matters.

And I put the surprises in the budget before they can surprise you.

Betterment Fund. Usually 5 to 10% of the project total, for unforeseen conditions and the occasional client add.

Freight. Its own estimated line, because it can run as high as 20% of an item's cost.

Site costs. Dumpsters, portable toilets, and housekeeping for the life of the job. On a project that runs 90+ days, those add up fast.

Whatever model your contractor uses, ask them to explain it in one sentence. If they can't, that's your answer.

Save this before you sign anything.

09/25/2026

I don't watch HGTV. Here's why.

Half the time the labor is donated. The trades work for the TV exposure, and a lot of the materials are donated for the same reason.

So the budget you see on screen isn't a real budget. You don't see the permits. You don't see the inspections. And the timelines are just not how construction works.

Real renovations don't run on a TV schedule, and they definitely don't run on a TV budget.
I'm not knocking the shows. They're entertainment. But when someone sits down with me and says "I saw them do it on HGTV," I know we have some unpacking to do.

What's the most unrealistic HGTV number you've ever seen? Tell me below, I need a laugh.

09/22/2026

A good contractor doesn't hide behind allowances or skip the paperwork. Here's what I mean.

If there's no contract or no permit process, that's not a shortcut, that's a warning sign. It might feel like it's saving you money right now. It won't in the long run.

Same goes for a scope that's mostly allowances instead of actual materials. A few is normal. A ton of them, especially unrealistic ones, means nobody's done the real math yet. That math needs to happen before construction starts, not during it.

Because here's the truth about remodels: they rarely go according to plan. Something shifts. A wall opens up and there's a surprise behind it. The difference is whether your contractor is there, in person, walking it through with the trades, or whether you find out after the fact.

That's why I'm on site every single day.

Want a second opinion on your project or your contract? Email me at [email protected].

When we opened up this garage wall on a recent second-story addition, we found something that could have cut power to th...
09/18/2026

When we opened up this garage wall on a recent second-story addition, we found something that could have cut power to this family's entire house for four to six weeks.

The wall was completely rotten. And it wasn't just holding up framing, it was holding the breaker box on one side and the point where power came into the house on the other. My clients were living in this home the entire time we were building. Rebuilding the wall the normal way meant no electricity for over a month. That was never going to happen.

So we stopped. We brought in the engineer to re-work the LVL beams. We built a new wall just inside the rotten one. Then we had to figure out how to run wiring from that electrical box up to the second floor and across the house to the new laundry room and office, all while the framing we'd just moved was now blocking the path we'd planned to use.

That meant meeting after meeting with framers, electricians, carpenters, even our landscaper and stucco guys, all to solve one problem: keep the power on the entire time we fixed this. We also had to figure out what caused the rot in the first place, so it doesn't happen again to the new wall.

All in, this single discovery cost almost $47,000 and added about two weeks to the schedule.

This is exactly why every project I build includes a contingency from day one. Not because I expect the worst. Twenty five years in, I've learned walls hold secrets.

Save this. If your contractor hasn't mentioned a contingency yet, ask them why.

Caught Ivan mid-install on our Redbud project, and this is exactly what good tile work looks like before anyone sees the...
09/16/2026

Caught Ivan mid-install on our Redbud project, and this is exactly what good tile work looks like before anyone sees the finished room.

The difference between a good tile job and a rushed one is in the details: thoughtful layout, balanced cuts, consistent grout lines, and the time it takes to get all of that right before the first tile is ever set.

Here's what you're actually paying for when it's done right. Planning the layout so the cuts land where they should. Patience with waste that a rushed job skips. A floor that still looks right ten years from now, not just on install day.

The cheap bid usually skips the planning step. It looks the same on paper. It does not look the same in five years.

Good trade partners are not a line item you cut to save money. They're the reason your space still looks right long after the invoice is paid.

Save this before you get three tile bids that all look the same on paper.

Here's something most people don't think about until they see the invoice: hourly billing means every call, every email,...
09/14/2026

Here's something most people don't think about until they see the invoice: hourly billing means every call, every email, and every quick tweak adds to your number. You don't find out what it actually costs until it's already on the bill.

Flat fee works differently. We agree on your number before a single hour is billed, and that's what it stays. No surprises. No wondering why a phone call showed up as a line item.

That's the whole point of a flat fee: predictability. You should be able to call your designer without doing math in your head first.

Curious how it would work for your project?
Email me at [email protected] and I'll walk you through exactly how the number gets built, before anything starts.

You ask me all the time what a bathroom actually costs. So here's one. The whole invoice, one finished bathroom, nothing...
09/09/2026

You ask me all the time what a bathroom actually costs. So here's one. The whole invoice, one finished bathroom, nothing rounded and nothing hidden.

This one is a new build here in Austin, and it came in at $84,656.

Here's where it went. Tile and installation was the giant at $36,500, about 43% of the entire budget. After that: plumbing and fixtures, cabinetry and hardware, the quartz counters, the shower glass, the rug and towels, and the GC and project management fee. Every dollar accounted for.

One honest note. This bath was new construction. If it were a remodel, you'd add roughly $25,000 for demo, prep, and moving plumbing, and land closer to $110,000.

Nothing here is a marketing number. I show you the real total because guessing is how people get blindsided halfway through a project. You deserve to walk in with your eyes open.

Save this one. When you start pricing your own bathroom, come back to it. It's your reality check.

Ready to build your real number? Email me directly, [email protected].

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Austin, TX
78757

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+15124310401

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