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For Exceptional Everyday Living
Common Sense Remodeling makes every home remodeling experience easy, predictable, and enjoyable.
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Common Sense Remodeling
Why Is Home Remodeling with Advance Design Studio Unique?
Imagine your home completely reinvented, remarkably remodeled, within your budget, your time frame, without hassle. Sound impossible? Advance Design Studio is dedicated to making your remodeling experience positive and enjoyable, while ensuring your results are undeniably stunning.
If the idea of home remodeling sounds stressful, our “Common Sense Remodeling” process is your solution. Since 1992, Advance Design Studio has transformed homes through our unique step-by-step design-through-construction process that averts delays, avoids costly mistakes, and prevents budget overruns, keeping your project on track and on time.
Our Project Portfolio
At Advance Design, we take on home remodeling projects big and small, all while maintaining our focus of creating exceptional spaces for everyday living. We have completed hundreds of projects over nearly three decades spanning across all areas of residential construction including kitchens, baths, basements, additions, outdoor living, and specialty spaces.
Beautiful Kitchens
Today’s kitchen is the king of multi-tasking. From creating the perfect cooking oasis or an entertainment gathering place to planning for a school area for kids or a baker’s paradise, design your new kitchen with us and make the most of this centerpiece of your home.
Spa Baths
Whether it be a master suite escape, a kid’s bath, or the powder room down the hall, all the baths in your home should be highly functional and also aesthetically pleasing. Work with our experienced team to create the perfect spa-like getaway bath you’ll never want to leave!
Finished Basements
Custom design your unique lower-level space to include an enticing game room, an entertaining bar or kitchen, the family home theater, a play area for the kids, an exciting home gym, an elegant wine cellar, perfectly organized storage, or simply a place to hang out and relax! Talk to our team about what your perfect finished basement is all about!
Home Additions
When your existing space is just not enough, talk to us about ways to gain useful square footage to enhance your lifestyle. A master suite, second story addition, or a bump-out off the back. Sometimes more is just better!
Outdoor Living
Each outdoor living space can be designed and built to fit any house. Architectural design, engineering, finish selections, and fine details are all managed by our team to create the perfect 3-season room, deck, or backyard pergola that meets with your plan.
Specialty Spaces
Sometimes a special space is exactly what is needed to enhance how you live. Talk to us about a functionally beautiful laundry or mud room, custom closet, amazing fireplace wall with built-in wet bar, dog shower — or just about anything you can dream up! Specialty spaces are always in use and can make your home more functional and enjoyable.
Why Advance Design Studio?

Our People
You Want a Cohesive Team Working Together for You
We bring together a team of talented experts and home remodeling contractors from all parts of our industry under one roof. A successful home renovation doesn’t happen by accident. It can only happen when the team that is necessary to complete the project is all on the same page with a well thought-out, well-designed, and well-executed plan.
Our Process
You Want the Best Possible Project Experience
Our rigorous design-through-build process creates clearly defined objectives within a customized, pre-developed project budget. Our flexibility allows for value-engineering and assures your project can be built within predefined parameters that alleviate the common over-budget and surprise pitfalls of traditional remodeling. We call it “Common Sense” Remodeling.
Our Experience
You Deserve Focused Attention from an Experienced Team
No one wants a bad remodeling project experience. Our team utilizes nearly 30 years of renovation experience (and 100’s of years combined experience) to make your home project dream a reality. From start to finish, you’ll receive invaluable input and experience from the same team who is hands-on with your project every day.



Remodeling Can Be Scary
But It Doesn’t Have To Be
Our proven process and people are what makes Common Sense Remodeling work for you.
When it comes to home remodeling, we understand your fears. At Advance Design, a successful home renovation is the result of single-source responsibility. That means we are there throughout every stage of your home makeover to deliver on clear expectations. Our complete in-house team works to produce your project from initial ideas until the final touch is complete, all under one roof. It’s just common sense to us, which is why we call it “Common Sense Remodeling”.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration for your upcoming renovation project or searching for just the right company to partner with, our creative team is here to make your home renovation dreams come to life.
Common Sense Remodeling Blog
This is where you really get to know the industry! Check out what we’ve been talking about.
Your Spring Home Checklist
Even as winter lingers in the Midwest, now is a great time to start planning to prepare your home for spring and warmer weather. From seasonal maintenance to simple décor refreshes, here are ten checklist items to help prepare your home for spring. 1. Door & Window Maintenance You'll likely start cracking your windows and doors open more often as temperatures rise, and it's important to keep moisture and pests out of your home. Re-install screens and replace any tears or holes in them. Be sure to apply new caulk to peeling areas around weather stripping or existing caulk, and lubricate door and window hinges/tracks if needed. Arlington Heights Exterior Remodel 2. Clean & Declutter Your Home & Garage After spending the majority of our time inside for months, it's important to give your home and garage a deep clean and declutter to minimize allergens, bacteria, and disorganization as spring weather approaches. Not to mention there are many mental health benefits to having a clean, organized home! For more ideas on how to successfully declutter, check out this article from House Beautiful. 3. Check Your HVAC & Dryer Filters Before you turn to your AC for relief from warm, humid weather, make sure it's ready for…
Elevate Your Outdoor Living Space
With spring right around the corner, now is the time to evaluate your current outdoor living setup and decide how you are going to elevate it this year. Your outdoor living space should be a seamless extension of your home that enhances the time you spend outside. Here are a few of the most popular ways to create impactful outdoor moments to help you enjoy the seasons even more while adding value to your home. Lake in the Hills Seasons Room Multi-Seasonal Rooms An enclosed three or four seasons room addition allows you to enjoy the fresh air for the majority of the year. Three seasons rooms utilize adjustable windows and screens to transition from spring, summer, and late fall. Four seasons rooms are typically enclosed and conditioned to be used year-round. A huge benefit to multi-seasonal rooms is the full-time protection from pesky bugs or bad weather. Buffalo Grove Seasons Room From a design standpoint, both three and four seasons rooms are highly customizable depending on how you wish to use the space. Including overhead fans, heaters, fireplaces, heated floors, or ambient lighting in your seasons room will keep your space comfortable for family, friends, and even pets to enjoy for longer throughout the year. Buffalo Grove Seasons…
2023 Design Trends Breakdown
A new year brings new trends to keep an eye out for, and our designers have expert insight into past, present, and future trends. From storage solutions and layout tips to color pairings and textures, we are excited to share our 2023 design trends list to keep an eye out for this year and beyond. Colorful Accents We've seen bright whites and light grays dominate the trend list for years now, but we're starting to move away from them in 2023 in exchange for colorful accents, moody hues, and warm whites. Homeowners aren't afraid of color, and our designers are excited to continue playing with color in their material mixes. "Color is definitely making its way back into our homes, whether it be through tile, wallpaper, decor, or cabinetry. Feature walls are an effective way to invite texture, color, or pattern into your home. This isn't to say that neutrals are going away, we're just seeing more contrast and variety added to material mixes compared to a monochromatic look," says ADS Lead Designer Chris. We saw our first glimpse of warmer neutrals with the Sherwin Williams 2023 Color of the Year, Redend Point. Benjamin Moore's 2023 Color, Raspberry Blush, encourages bold applications of…
Sun-Soaked Tower Lakes Bathroom Tour
It is so important to have a space in your home where you can take a moment to relax and unwind. Whether you need time to collect yourself before your day begins or you prefer to end your day with a few moments of tranquility, that opportunity to recharge is invaluable. Long-time ADS clients Karen and Chad were ready to transform their existing master bathroom into a custom home spa. ADS Lead Designer Claudia collaborated with them to redesign three bathrooms: their master bath, guest bath, and hall bath. Our team has had the pleasure of working with Karen and Chad several times over the past few years to renovate their whole home in Tower Lakes. This week, let's take a closer look at their stunning master bath! From Dark to Dreamy Their existing bathroom felt heavy and outdated. Although the footprint was spacious, the dark tiles and vanity made the space feel colder and uninviting. They needed more storage but weren't sure how to add it to their existing layout. Like many homeowners we partner with, they were ready to replace their chunky deck mount tub with something more chic and updated. Karen shared her ideas and Pinterest board with Claudia, and together…
2022 National Chrysalis Award Winner
We are excited to share that our Kildeer Master Bath Remodel has won a 2022 National Chrysalis Award! The Chrysalis Awards program annually recognizes the nation's best design and remodeling work, and awards winners on both regional and national levels. Winners are selected based on creative use of space and materials, overall design, and overall transformation of the original space. We are so thankful for this honor. Let's take a closer look at this master bathroom transformation! An Award-Winning Master Bath Andrew and Heather were looking to transform their existing master bath into a spa-like haven. Their existing bath was cramped and lacked the relaxing atmosphere they were dreaming of. They wanted their new bath to feel like a glamorous space to relax and get away from it all without leaving home. A freestanding tub was at the top of Heather’s wishlist, so ADS Lead Designer Claudia utilized about five feet of unused closet space in the redesign to push the shower back and make room for a freestanding tub. Glamorous Details The stunning new bathroom features many spa-like details. Heated hexagon tile floors invite you to unwind as you enter the space. The spacious shower features a rain shower,…
Benefits of a Design-Build Remodeling Partnership
If you are planning a home remodel and thinking it would be best to partner with a single-source responsibility to design, manage, and construct your project, you may be on to something! Most homeowners are unaware of how complicated, time-consuming, and budget-breaking remodeling can be if handled on their own. Here’s why choosing a “design then build” team for your home renovation may yield a more successful and enjoyable remodeling experience overall. Accurate Design & Investment Expectations In our experience, how deeply a team values the design and investment goals you've set can make or break your remodeling experience. “A standalone designer or architect can put together beautiful designs/renders, but likely will be unable to determine the actual cost to produce the complete renovation. As a design-build team, we work in tandem with the actual field crew that will be producing the projects we design," says ADS Lead Designer Anna. Designers in our studio are also well positioned to stay ahead of the time-sensitive nature of industry pricing. Anna states, "Material pricing fluctuates often, so we are pricing the materials for our projects daily to keep clients informed of current pricing, promotions, or upcoming increases." Working with a design-build firm…
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