Make Design Studio

My husband and I heartily recommend Nicole of MAKE Design.
Our project involved extending and reconfiguring our interior entry, the exterior approach to the house, and several decks in conjunction with regrading and landscaping our front yard and garden.
Nicole was asked to design and obtain the required permits for the entryway extension, new decks and a new walkway to our house. We appreciated being able to see proposed designs, and changes to them, in 3D in Nicole’s computer program. The 3D aspect was unique in our experience; one could feel if a corner was too tight, or if an area was too dark by seeing a cross section, or a view from inside or from a specific angle. And by using this program, Nicole was able to render both designs and changes quickly and efficiently, which reduced her time and travel charges.
Nicole closely listened to our list of goals for the renovation, asked excellent questions and observed our budgetary constraints before and while she prepared the drawings. She provided all of the services specified in our contract with her, and her charges were within the framework of the contract as well.
The city of Seattle, unbeknownst to us, had designated our area as both steep slope and slide-​prone, which had great potential to disrupt our planned remodel. Nicole proved to be very familiar with city regulations and processes and was able to obtain our permit amazingly quickly despite these complications.
Our landscaper, our deck builder and our contractor, all accustomed to working with architects and not always positive about the experience, frequently commented that Nicole was extremely competent, had great ideas and was easy to deal with, and each of them has recommended and/​or chosen her for the design and permit phases of subsequent projects which required architectural input.
After the exterior phase of the remodel was complete, Nicole proved to be of great help in providing sources and ideas for interior features and is still willing to serve as a sounding board and wise counselor with respect to some of our decorating «ideas».
In addition to providing excellent professional services, Nicole is a joy to work with – down to earth, with a wry sense of humor and a congenial personality, and our association, which quickly grew beyond architectural considerations, has proven to be a lasting one. She’s just easy to like.

We worked with Nicole on a whole-​house remodel which took over a year. We had a strict budget and timeline, and Nicole was 100% professional and upfront throughout the process. Nicole and MAKE are very easy to work with, and go out of their way to make the entire design, bid, and construction process painless and transparent. We ended up under budget and our house has all of the features we wanted. Nicole puts a cap on her contract so it is literally impossible to go over her bid for architecture services, and she has worked in construction so has a very good understanding of the build process and how to save money there without compromising quality. She was spot on for bids and helpful in negotiating the bid process. She knows quality local vendors and contractors and works well with people. She is graceful under pressure, funny, smart, and a general pleasure. I recommend MAKE without reservation!

We recently fished a two year phased full home remodel with addition. What a pleasure it was to work with Nicole. From the start, Nicole was sensitive to our needs as a family and how we would live in our home. Her design sense was spot on and she had an innate talent in visualizing space. From start to finish she took care of us. She gave us every resource from expert contractors to sources for hardware. She had contractors come in on the planning discussion long before work started. Consequently, this not only streamlined the timeline, but also in the end saved us quite a bit of money. With both phases of the remodel we actually finished the job significantly under bid. In the end, we have a beautiful home that is wonderful to live in and reflects who we are. On top of it from an architectural sense our 1941 house looks as though it was initially built that way. I would highly recommend her for your project!

MAKE worked with us to do a major remodel/​lift of a 1918 craftsman. We hired Nicole for her attention to detail, collaborative work ethic, and communication skills. Without question, she delivered on all those key characteristics and more. Like the others who have also rated MAKE with top marks, we would highly recommend her services. If we ever found ourselves in another remodel situation, she would be the one we call.

I have worked with Nicole on several jobs as a colleague. I am consistently impressed by her dedication to design, the environment, her clients, and the community at large. Her can-​do attitude and professionalism are beneficial to any project. Moreover, she brings a wonderful sense of excitement and innovation to each house she works on. In my experience, Nicole is fair and budget minded at every turn. She frequently comes up with innovative ways to save money and time, and I have found her process to be very transparent. I highly recommend Make Design Studio.

Make Design Studio offers a really high standard of professional service and is well connected with a variety of local contractors and vendors. Nicole’s commitment and approach to green building and design are bar none.

We worked with Nicole this past summer to design a 2^nd bathroom for our new home. If you have an unlimited budget, we would suggest Nicole. She has wonderful ideas, is enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Given that we were on a budget — and very straightforward about that — we did not have as positive of an experience as we would have liked. Despite our stipulations about money and cost from the beginning, Nicole designed a project that ²⁄₃ GCs bid a full 2x higher than we had initially wanted to spend. The third GC bid ~ 30−40% over our initial budget, and we ended up working with her. We had to ask Nicole multiple times throughout the process where we were in scope and cost and began cutting corners to stay on budget. In the end, we spent 50% more than we had anticipated on the project and we requested that Nicole stop working on our bid set due to her cost over-​runs. We ended up pulling permits and had to re-​design a doorway ourselves so that our room would meet code requirements. When we approached her about exceeding costs, she was not particularly flexible nor understanding and in more than one conversation, refused to accept responsibility for these issues.