JIM COPELAND DESIGNING is a residential design firm serving Pierce County and portions of Mason, Kitsap and Thurston Counties in Washington State.  It is our guiding principal to listen carefully to our clients' wishes and to create a project that is satisfying to your own tastes and wishes. JIM COPELAND DESIGNING is accustomed to providing the level of service expected by people from all walks of life including professionals and corporate executives. We are well equipped to handle large complex residential projects.  Give us a call! 

 Let me encourage you! If your income is stable and not in jeopardy from the economy, and you have a project you have put on hold because of the financial uncertainty prevalent in todays world, then you could be in a position to save by moving ahead now.  If that description fits you, then give me a call.  Home designers, such as I am,  charge in the neighborhood of 3% to 5% of construction costs as determined by square foot or hourly rates.   I am a seasoned professional who will put his full attention on your project.  Lets get started!

 We will guide you through the process and provide you with a design that is pleasing to your tastes and ready for permitting.  Our permit specialists, PERMIT GRANTED (a separate company) has provided and continues to provide exceptional service for even the most difficult sites.  Discussion of your situation is at no charge if you are considering a project.  Give us a call.

A well defined Design Process including visiting the site, information collection, pre-design questionnaire, and personalized and online design meetings will help turn your dream into reality. 

Design styles vary widely according to our clients' tastes. They range from Northwest Contemporary to Craftsman and Traditional to English and Country French. We also maintain a substantial Design Library through which our clients may browse.

PERSONAL HISTORY:

Jim has lived in the Tacoma area since 1957. He attended local schools, including Wilson High School, Central Washington State University, and the University of Washington. After finishing college Jim worked in the institutional casework industry spending several years in both sales and in manufacturing. The college years taught Jim that he could learn anything he wanted to know by reading books and asking questions so in 1973 he purchased a carpentry book , studied it and began construction of his first home in Graham, Washington. 18 months later the home was completed and Jim moved his family in. At that point he decided this would be a great way to make a living so he obtained a contractor's license and COPELAND CONSTRUCTION was born. The contracting business continued through the late 1980's with design being an integral part of the business building mainly custom homes and light commercial buildings.

In the summer of 1990 Jim opened JIM COPELAND DESIGNING. He works diligently to produce artistic, understandable and structurally sound Designs. Each client receives his personal attention. Today, with over thirty years of experience, Jim has opened a new office in downtown Gig Harbor, WA.  We look forward to talking with you about your project.

 THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM OUR DESIGN PROCESS:

 Initial Meeting - A key element, this meeting defines overall goals and scope of work which will eventually determine the cost to build your project. You will be given the opportunity to get on our schedule by signing one of our straight forward design contracts.

 Measure and Photograph - The site visit varies in scope depending on whether the project is a new home or a remodel. In either case, substantial time is spent collecting site data and evaluating all of the important aspects such as siting To Take Advantage of Views, Trees, Sunlight, Etc.

 Preliminary Design - From the site information and from our conversations and meeting notes we will begin to prepare an initial design. This design will not have every detail covered. However, it will be our first attempt to bring substance to your project. Changes are the norm so don't be afraid to comment.

 Completed Working Drawings - Once the preliminary design is ready for working drawings we begin the detailed process of converting it into construction drawings. These are the final drawings which in days gone by would have come to you in the form of Blue Prints. Today, however, we are using original plots from a large format plotter onto 24" x 36" sheets. They print in color and last longer than blue prints. Projects range in size from one or two sheets up to around 30 sheets for large detailed custom homes.