DesignWorks NW

It went great! At the end of our project we were on time, on budget, happy and are now shopping for builders.

Char has exceeding our expectations. She is very technically skilled, great at listening to our goals and translating those to a design we love, and has so much experience navigating the bureaucratic permitting process. Char is also really enthusiastic about her work, which just makes her a lovely person to work with.

The process working with Char to develop a set of design plans for my master suite addition has been fantastic. She has worked with me step by step, explaining the process at each point and what I can expect. She also listened to what I was looking for, drew up various designs, and then worked with me on modifications. She was a partner in the process the entire time, not only treating me with respect and professionalism, but talking through options and pros and cons with me so I ended up with the design I really wanted. Throughout the entire process I felt like I was in good and trustworthy hands. So much so that I will continue to use Char's assistance as I move forward on next steps with this project.

We needed some room additions to our small house in Burien. After speaking with several other architects and seeing how flaky they were right off the bat, we were dreading the whole process. After speaking with Char once we knew we were in good hands. Her communication was perfect. We would have weekly updates to go over the process and discuss any changes or recommendations. We were on a tight budget for the building costs, so when we found a contractor that we enjoyed, they were able to understand and calculate an accurate estimate from her drawings that were within our budget. She was able to get all the permitting for the additions from the City of Burien within 3 weeks with no redactions. We would hire her again, as matter of a fact, we did hire her for another build/design, Immediately after designing the house additions, but we just ran out of money for that build. I even recommended her to several other friends with their builds.

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We hired Char to help us design an addition to our home in Burien, WA. Our addition adds a 300 sq. ft master suite to our 1100 sq. ft house. Char built our trust quickly. She listened carefully to our concerns, and used her own creativity to make huge improvements to our original plans. Our project wouldn’t have looked the same without her input. Char incorporated very specific requests from us concerning noise reduction, and went above and beyond to research many solutions for us to choose from. Char communicated her schedule clearly, we always knew exactly what she was working on, her deliverables, and what we would discuss in our next meeting. We never had a meeting that wasn’t useful. Char helped us navigate the Burien permit process, making sure the drawing package was complete enough to pass the first time. She reached out to specific city officials ahead of time to anticipate any issues before permit submittal. Char created very detailed drawings and has exceptional drafting skills. She added more detail than required at every stage of the design to help us make critical decisions earlier in the process. Our hired GC complimented Char’s drawing package when we put it out for bid, saying it was better than many that he’s seen. We also hired Char to meet with contractors and review estimates. She was able to help us navigate what was a reasonable price and weed out any weird or misleading estimates. In summary, Char has been a fantastic resource for us and has helped make our first major home improvement project much less daunting.

She's been very professional and knowledgeable. So far everything has been great!

Char at DesignWorks NW has been fantastic to work with! She gave me several options in her proposal, including breaking the project into manageable chunks so I could choose the options that fit my budget and allowing me to do some of the design work. Her guidance, insights, experience and professionalism have kept me calm and well-informed throughout the process. I've turned to her again & again for advice and plan on continuing to work with her as I submit my plans for bids and then work with contractors/subs during construction. She made this process FUN. Char gets an A+ from me. I can't say enough good things about her!

This review is long overdue. We can?t really express how happy we are with our new house that Char designed. We hired Char to design our remodel in 2013/2014. When I say remodel, that is a bit of an understatement, as we took a 700 square foot house to approximately 1,900 square feet, which included adding a basement. It is essentially a new home, and we couldn?t be more happy with it. We did the majority of the work ourselves, which is one reason it?s taken us this long to sit down and write a review. Although having a baby 1 month before the excavators came added a bit to the complexity of things... The project pushed us to our limits, and a little beyond at times, but it has all been worth it. Our 2 year old son absolutely loves to run around and scoot across our big long hardwood floors on his little scooter. There is quite a runway now, and he definitely takes advantage of it. But back to the review. We knew the basic idea of what we wanted, but we needed an architect to draw up the plans. We wanted to hire someone local, and Char was great. Char really knows the code requirements which helped a lot getting the plans through the permitting process. We drafted up a general floor plan before hiring Char, and she provided a lot of good ideas and helped us refine the design to work more efficiently in the given space. This turned out to be a lot more important than I thought because it?s hard to visualize how a space will flow and function from a simple floor plan. Char also knows a lot of professionals in the industry, which is great when it comes to engineering calculations, truss design, etc. We really like the neighborhood we?re in, and it was important for us that our new space match the character of the original house. You see a lot of remodeled houses that are cute in front, with a big ugly 2-story box sticking up in the back. We wanted to avoid this and worked hard to make the addition look like it was always a part of the house. We also wanted the house to retain its ?small? appearance from the front, and we didn?t want to use up all of our backyard either. We ended up with a perfect house. Our neighbor across the street who was born there in the late 1940?s told us he can?t even remember what the house used to look like - he said it really just looks like it?s always been there (and it?s only been 2 years). I would definitely recommend hiring Char if you need an architect or design help. Beyond her architectural skills, she is very personable and easy to work with. She came out to our house many times to review drawings with us, go over edits, and discuss various ideas. She was very accommodating, and even helped us get the plans through the permitting process. Thank you so much Char, we really love our new house, and couldn?t have done it without your help. Katie and Nathan Moxley West Seattle

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We started in January with an idea. Charlene helped us understand what we could do, and what was not possible. She met with me regularly through the design process to get my input. Charlene developed a design that works very well for our family. The permit process was so smooth, because Charlene did ALL her homework. She researched the specs for all the parts to the project, including all the existing appliances we kept. The city said we would here back from them in 14 business days, we got our building permit in 12. Once we had our permit, Charlene attended the meetings to interview all the builders; (most were found on Angie's List). She was a big help, because she was able to answer all the technical questions from the builders. After a builder was selected, Charlene attended weekly meetings with the builder, where questions were answered, updated given, and schedules discussed. I believe these weekly meetings helped to stay on schedule. At the end of the remodel, Charlene went through the whole house with her check list to make sure everything was done to the plans. We passed every inspection. Her designs and work was superb. I will hire her again if I do any other remodeling.

I think she is fabulous. I really like her ability to listen and accommodate our ideas. She is punctual, professional, and keeps you informed throughout the project. Compared to what I have seen in other Angie's List architects, she has very reasonable rates.