While our expertise is wide-ranging, we have an exceptionally strong background in the technical aspects of kitchen and bathroom design—arguably the two most important rooms in any home and certainly the most complex.

We’re active listeners who collaborate closely with our clients. We believe in designing specifically for each family, and each home. Your needs are unique. Your design should be, too.

We honor lifestyle, feel and functionality. This is our trifecta, and it’s a core part of our business. Your home has to work for you. And it has to look how you want it to. We achieve both.

And we’re not just designers. We’re also (maybe sit down for this one) people. With our own lives and families and homes. So we use our lived experiences, along with our decades of specialized training and design experience, to expand our clients’ thinking about what their home can become and how it will serve them now and into the future.

Getting started

First, fill out our Contact Us form to tell us about your project and what you have in mind. From there you can schedule a complimentary 20-minute informational phone call, where we tell you more about how we work and can help determine if we are a good fit for your project.

After that, we’ll schedule an in-person design Consultation meeting. Jill Warren Design will then create a detailed scope of work and a letter of agreement. Once you sign the agreement and submit the requested deposit toward design services, we can schedule your project.

How do I know if I need an architect, a designer, or both?

We can handle all of your interior plans and drawings, including moving walls and other elements, and we’ll create spatial plans to develop the space's look. If structural walls are involved, or if the work includes an addition, you will also need an architect and a structural engineer. In these cases, we work in tandem with the architect to ensure that all facets of the design and space are covered.

What makes a trained kitchen/bath designer different from an interior designer or decorator?

Kitchen and bathroom design is specialized and requires more than just an eye for aesthetics. A qualified kitchen designer also has in-depth knowledge of construction, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, in addition to passing an exam and maintaining their certification through continuing education credits each year. Beyond all of this, an experienced kitchen designer can help you with efficiency and smart storage solutions, all while creating a completely custom look for your kitchen.

How much does it cost to hire you? How do you charge for a project?

For most kitchen and bath projects, we charge a flat fee for the design portion of the project and then hourly for any project management involved once the project moves to construction. For other rooms, we typically charge hourly for both design and project management.

How long will my project take?

Sorry to answer your question with another series of questions, but there are a lot of factors to consider. How big is the project? How many rooms? Are there additional professionals involved? How decisive are you? How often are you able to meet to review designs and make decisions? How many contractor bids do you plan to get? All of these impact the timeline. Generally speaking, most design projects take anywhere from 3 to 6 months of planning before moving to construction. The construction timeline is heavily dependent on the scope of the project and which contractor you choose, since they’ll be doing the scheduling. Once these details are nailed down, we can help with an estimated completion date.

How do I know if my project will be in my budget?

If you have a set budget in mind, let us know so we can help you determine if it’s reasonable for your individual scope of work. We can also show you sample budgets from past projects of a similar size so you can work with some ballpark estimates. Budgeting is a complex process, with cost updates along the way. If we’re working within a set budget, we’ll only present items we feel will work within that budget, and we’ll communicate updates so there are no surprises.

Can you refer us to a general contractor, architect, or other tradespeople?

We sure can. We have a carefully vetted group of professionals on our preferred list.

What geographical areas do you serve?

We primarily serve the Oak Park and River Forest area with occasional projects in Chicago’s western suburbs, downtown Chicago, and elsewhere.

I don’t know what my design style is. How can we work together?

We ask a lot of questions, and we will have you complete a detailed questionnaire to better understand your preferences. We want to understand how you live. We use visual inspiration boards to help you visualize the overall look and feel of the design we’re proposing.

What style do you specialize in?

We’ve worked on many different styles of homes, including Victorians, Art Deco, Prairie style, Mid-century Modern, and so many more. We enjoy building on existing architectural elements in any home so that new spaces feel well-integrated, like they’ve always been there.