comparisons

our system vs. excel

Excel Alternative for Architects & Interior Designers: Your Spec Schedule Deserves Better Than "FINAL_v7.xlsx"

Every design studio has them: FFE_Schedule_FINAL_v7_rev_USE-THIS-ONE.xlsx. The fee tracker only one person understands. The finishes schedule that was accurate in DD and completely wrong by CA. Excel is where studio operations begin — and where they slowly fall apart.

This isn't an Excel skills problem but a structural one. Spreadsheets store copies of information, and design projects run on relationships.

Why spreadsheets break under design work

The same product lives in five files. A pendant light appears in the lighting schedule, the FF&E budget, the procurement tracker, and two client PDFs. Change the model number once, and four documents are now wrong.
Files fork. Emailed attachments create parallel versions. Nobody knows which is current — including, eventually, the contractor.
Rows can't hold a project. Cut sheets, finishes images, approvals, supplier contacts, and lead times don't fit in cells; they scatter across email and file servers.
Nothing happens automatically. Schedules are retyped, statuses updated by hand, and clients emailed manually — admin time that scales with every project you win.
One formula, one person. When the spreadsheet's author is on vacation, the system is on vacation.

This isn't an Excel skills problem but a structural one. Spreadsheets store copies of information, and design projects run on relationships.

Why spreadsheets break under design work

The same product lives in five files. A pendant light appears in the lighting schedule, the FF&E budget, the procurement tracker, and two client PDFs. Change the model number once, and four documents are now wrong.
Files fork. Emailed attachments create parallel versions. Nobody knows which is current — including, eventually, the contractor.
Rows can't hold a project. Cut sheets, finishes images, approvals, supplier contacts, and lead times don't fit in cells; they scatter across email and file servers.
Nothing happens automatically. Schedules are retyped, statuses updated by hand, and clients emailed manually — admin time that scales with every project you win.
One formula, one person. When the spreadsheet's author is on vacation, the system is on vacation.

Core Philosophy

Custom Client Portals

Presentation Capabilities

Custom Domains

Workflow Flexibility

Miro / External Tool Integration

PDF Generation

Approval Systems

RFI Tracking

FOR / Issue Tracking

Proposal Tracking

Time Tracking

Invoicing

Material Tracking

Procurement Management

Automations

Studio Adaptability

Visual Workflow

Design Firm Focus

Scalability

Unique Advantage

Our System

Relational database as foundation + other integrated and customizable tools.

Custom operational system designed by architects for design studios

Included — branded, on your own domain

Interactive presentations built from live project data

Standard

Modeled on your studio's actual process

Miro, email, calendar, and file-storage integration included

Automated branded schedules, transmittals, and proposals

Client approvals tied to specs and selections

Native CA logs linked to project records

Built-in issue and FOR logs

Pipeline and proposals linked to fees and history

Phase-linked time entries

Generated from phases, fees, and time data

Relational material and product library

Spec → order → delivery tracking tied to FF&E

Unlimited custom automations, custom scripting

Evolves with the studio. New workflows can be built anytime

Highly visual interfaces with embedded images, boards, schedules

Built for all architecture + interiors workflows

Can expand infinitely with custom databases and operational layers

PM, CRM, procurement, approvals, presentations, and operations in one unified system

Excel

Legacy spreadsheets

Universal spreadsheet — flat files, copied data

None

Paste into decks manually

N/A

Infinite cells, zero structure

Manual copy-paste

Print to PDF, formatted by hand each issue

Email threads

Manual logs, one per file

Manual logs

Separate files

Manual timesheets

Manual templates

Rows copied across files

More tabs

None (macros, if someone dares)

Every file is a one-off

Grid only

None

Breaks as team and versions grow

Everyone already has it

What replacing Excel actually looks like

Househouse Systems, founded by architects, replaces spreadsheet sprawl with a relational system built for design practice: a materials and product library feeding room-by-room FF&E schedules and budgets; project and phase tracking tied to fees; automated task and meeting-note workflows; branded client portals and interactive presentations; automated PDF generation for issued schedules; and connections to Revit so your data and your drawings stop drifting apart.

Your team keeps the flexibility they love about spreadsheets — grids, filters, quick edits — on top of a structure that can't silently fork into seven conflicting versions.

FAQ

Our whole team knows Excel. Will they adapt? Modern database interfaces feel like smarter spreadsheets. Most teams are comfortable within a day (and grateful within weeks).

Can we import years of existing spreadsheets? Yes. Migrating and de-duplicating legacy schedules and product lists is a standard first step in our engagements.

We still need Excel exports for consultants. Possible? Always. Any view exports cleanly — the difference is the export is generated from live data.

Is this only for big firms? No — small studios feel spreadsheet pain hardest, because the same person doing admin is also doing the design work.

.why it's worth it

Most firms can save an entire FTE’s worth of time with these systems at 25% of the cost. Offload your admin to us for more efficiency and better organization. That means less admin, and more time designing and winning better projects.

Core Philosophy

Custom Client Portals

Presentation Capabilities

Custom Doamins

Workflow Flexibility

Miro / External Tool Integration

PDF Generation

Approval Systems

RFI Tracking

FOR / Issue Tracking

Proposal Tracking

Time Tracking

Invoicing

Material Tracking

Procurement Management

Automations

Studio Adaptability

Visual Workflow

Design Firm Focus

Scalability

Unique Advantage

Our System

Fully customized architecture operations ecosystem tailored to your studio

Fully custom branded portals with custom domains and studio-specific UX

Build fully designed presentation-style portals

Yes — white-label client-facing systems under your own domain

Completely customizable databases, dashboards, automations

Deep integration with Miro, Google Drive, Figma, and other tools

One-click automated spec books, finish schedules, proposal PDFs, anything!

Fully custom approval forms using Tally, Airtable Forms

Dedicated customizable RFI management system

Fully customizable field observation reports, deficiency tracking, etc

Fully customized proposal pipelines with formulas, probability scoring

Customizable time tracking application

Flexible invoicing systems

Advanced material + procurement tracking

Custom procurement workflows tailored to high end architecture and interiors

Unlimited custom automations, custom scripting

Evolves with the studio. New workflows can be built anytime

Highly visual interfaces with embedded images, boards, schedules

Built for all architecture + interiors workflows

Can expand infinitely with custom databases and operational layers

PM, CRM, procurement, approvals, presentations, and operations in one unified system

Core Philosophy

Custom Client Portals

Presentation Capabilities

Custom Doamins

Workflow Flexibility

Miro / External Tool Integration

PDF Generation

Approval Systems

RFI Tracking

FOR / Issue Tracking

Proposal Tracking

Time Tracking

Invoicing

Material Tracking

Procurement Management

Automations

Studio Adaptability

Visual Workflow

Design Firm Focus

Scalability

Unique Advantage

Programa

Fully customized architecture operations ecosystem tailored to your studio

Fully custom branded portals with custom domains and studio-specific UX

Build fully designed presentation-style portals

Yes — white-label client-facing systems under your own domain

Completely customizable databases, dashboards, automations

Deep integration with Miro, Google Drive, Figma, and other tools

One-click automated spec books, finish schedules, proposal PDFs, anything!

Fully custom approval forms using Tally, Airtable Forms

Dedicated customizable RFI management system

Fully customizable field observation reports, deficiency tracking, etc

Fully customized proposal pipelines with formulas, probability scoring

Customizable time tracking application

Flexible invoicing systems

Advanced material + procurement tracking

Custom procurement workflows tailored to high end architecture and interiors

Unlimited custom automations, custom scripting

Evolves with the studio. New workflows can be built anytime

Highly visual interfaces with embedded images, boards, schedules

Built for all architecture + interiors workflows

Can expand infinitely with custom databases and operational layers

PM, CRM, procurement, approvals, presentations, and operations in one unified system

Core Philosophy

Custom Client Portals

Presentation Capabilities

Custom Doamins

Workflow Flexibility

Miro / External Tool Integration

PDF Generation

Approval Systems

RFI Tracking

FOR / Issue Tracking

Proposal Tracking

Time Tracking

Invoicing

Material Tracking

Procurement Management

Automations

Studio Adaptability

Visual Workflow

Design Firm Focus

Scalability

Unique Advantage

Monograph

Fully customized architecture operations ecosystem tailored to your studio

Fully custom branded portals with custom domains and studio-specific UX

Build fully designed presentation-style portals

Yes — white-label client-facing systems under your own domain

Completely customizable databases, dashboards, automations

Deep integration with Miro, Google Drive, Figma, and other tools

One-click automated spec books, finish schedules, proposal PDFs, anything!

Fully custom approval forms using Tally, Airtable Forms

Dedicated customizable RFI management system

Fully customizable field observation reports, deficiency tracking, etc

Fully customized proposal pipelines with formulas, probability scoring

Customizable time tracking application

Flexible invoicing systems

Advanced material + procurement tracking

Custom procurement workflows tailored to high end architecture and interiors

Unlimited custom automations, custom scripting

Evolves with the studio. New workflows can be built anytime

Highly visual interfaces with embedded images, boards, schedules

Built for all architecture + interiors workflows

Can expand infinitely with custom databases and operational layers

PM, CRM, procurement, approvals, presentations, and operations in one unified system

househouse systems

a devision of househouse

househouse systems

a devision of househouse

menu

our system vs. excel

Excel Alternative for Architects & Interior Designers: Your Spec Schedule Deserves Better Than "FINAL_v7.xlsx"

Our System

Excel

What replacing Excel actually looks like

FAQ

Most firms can save an entire FTE’s worth of time with these systems at 25% of the cost. Offload your admin to us for more efficiency and better organization. That means less admin, and more time designing and winning better projects.

Our System

Programa

Monograph