I would never use this company again. I waited over ½ a year to write this because I was so upset. I found them on HomeStars and on their website they boasted a “Condo Quickie” design service, so naturally, I thought they would know what they were doing when it came to condo design.
I wanted to buy an 1150 square foot unit at a boutique building where the builder is allowing buyers to design their own units if they wish. They assigned Laura to me, who must have been their junior designer because she did not listen to what I asked for at all, and I could have done a better job at designing myself. In fact, I did give her a design I had done on an architectural program, but wanted her to do it up professionally because I didn’t know if my proportions or spacing were right or not. I’m attaching the 3 designs she came up with. NOT ONE of them was the design I had asked her to do. There were also serious design problems.
FLOORPLAN ONE: In the space where I told her I wanted my kitchen, with the walk-out to the terrace, she put the living room, with the sofa 3’ 8.5” away from the TV !!! Who sits 4’” in front of a TV??? In the 2 hr meeting with her before plan were drawn up, I told her I want an eat-in kitchen with a small table by the window, because I like to sit and look out the window when I’m eating or having coffee. She had moved the “kitchen” to the interior and it became a “gallery” kitchen with no space for a small table. Instead it had 4 barstools.
FLOORPLAN TWO: Now the master bedroom is in the space where I told her I wanted the kitchen. She’s left a 6’ “hallway” at the end of the kitchen counter of where she relocated the kitchen to, a complete waste of space; the kitchen could be 2’ wider. (especially since I told her my daughters & I like to cook and needed as much cupboard & counter space as possible.) Again, no eat in kitchen, just bar stools. The sofa is facing the barstools. She placed the TV at a 45 degree angle from the sofa! Bathroom: She left less than 2’ to squeeze past the sink towards the toilet & shower.
FLOORPLAN THREE: Kitchen is where I said I wanted it, but it has a huge island right in the middle, and two 4’3” walkways on BOTH sides of the island, then 3’ and 3’4.5” on each end to walk around. In other words, a race track around the island. And no place for a small table to sit at. ALSO: the sofa is 3’ 9.5” from the TV!!! I asked her why she didn’t flip the sofa 180 degrees and put it against the wall, then put the TV back 3’4” (the space she left behind the sofa) against the pillar (i.e. build the wall square to accommodate). I guess she never thought of it.
She knew I was not pleased with these designs and again I told her “I’m 58 years old – I don’t want to sit on a barstool to eat my meals! I need the small kitchen table by the window – forget about the bar stools”. She said she would revise it (attached). OMG --- now she’s got the kitchen table right smack in the middle of the living room and not by any window at all! AND I still have the 3 barstools in the kitchen! And by the time this was all said and done (and they are VERY slow) – the unit had been sold, which was hugely disappointing to me – not to mention I threw away $2500.
Pricing is another issue – they are not upfront about it at all. Their “condo quicky” said $1799 if you qualify. I asked several times if I qualified – just told to contact someone else – left messages --- never did get an answer. Laura would not discuss any prices with me, just kept referring me to the manager for pricing, so this was frustrating.
I told her from the outset that this is a project I am hiring a designer for to take me from start to finish, including furniture purchases, colours, window coverings, everything. But it was obvious to me that they don’t care about small projects. So no, I definitely would not recommend them.
