We contacted Lauren Vaage after exploring an Ikea upgrade to our circa 1960s kitchen. We realized that trying to fit an Ikea "package" into our space was forcing mediocre materials into a less than optimal layout. We looked for help and based on the beautiful and creative work we saw on his web page we decided to contact Lauren. He helped us re-examine our goals for our home and to think more holistically about how we wanted to organize the kitchen so as to better integrate it with our outdoor space and our open plan living area. Lauren brought in experts to help us upgrade our HVAC and to plan for a future solar addition. Lauren's vision and artistic approach to the project led to what seems in retrospect to a relatively simple solution that made our kitchen remodel into so much more. Lauren re-oriented our kitchen within the same space, adding a mere 27 additional square feet, but in so doing completely transformed our home, integrating the outdoor space with the kitchen and living area and allowing natural light to connect the spaces in a way that makes our home feel entirely new. Over the course of the project, we watched Lauren invest his time and attention to every step in the journey, turning the unexpected twists and turns of a remodel into added value. The team from Davis Artisan Builders were a pleasure to work with and are indeed true artisans (and great people) with years of experience who trust Lauren's vision and take pride in the final product. It's hard to imagine not having the kitchen that we now have, even though it's completely different than our initial vision. It's incredibly functional, with more space and storage than we ever could have achieved with a package remodel. More importantly, it's transformed into a joyful space to live and cook in and we're so grateful we took the time to get Lauren's help in re-envisioning what would make our house into a better home. read more

Lauren remodeled my home converting one area into a home office. My experience with Lauren is very positive! He is detail oriented. Quality oriented. Essentially a perfectionist. I would definitely hire him again! read more

Lauren Vaage has been our "go-to" contractor for more than 10 years. He handles both large and small projects with dare and keeps his clients in-the-loop throughout the process of design and construction. He and the sub-contractors he employs (electrical, flooring, paint, plumbing, sheet rock, tile, etc.) are all craftsmen in their own right and their work is top quality. Also important is the fact that the projects are finished on time. Lauren has worked on our fencing and gates, built outside storage structures and fully remodeled our two beautiful bathrooms. We whole-heartedly recommend Vaage Design Build/Davis Artisan Builders for your residential and commercial endeavors. Joy Fergoda Kathy DeYoung read more

Remodeling a house can be a very challenging prospect, and requires finding an excellent and innovative designer, and a builder/contractor with experience, integrity, and attention to detail, who has well-established relationships with the subcontractors in the various trades. In our recent remodel project in Davis, we found just that in Lauren Vaage, a long-time Davis designer/builder. Our 50-year-old Central Davis home really needed expansion and updating, and we contacted a number of people, including a highly sought-after designer, a major Davis remodeling firm and another designer/builder. The initial ideas we got from these meetings were relatively standard and straightforward. In Vaage's case, though, we had been aware of some of his other truly unique work in Davis, and contacted him as well. From our initial meeting it became clear we had found someone truly passionate about what he does, who was excited about how he could transform our home into something we truly wanted. He asked us for lists of goals for the project, and our priorities, so that he understood how to design something that really worked for us. As a designer, Vaage is truly an artist, with a keen eye to how the ultimate form should not just be driven by functionality but by what works aesthetically as well, with the chosen materials and methods available. He also knows how to work within the state of the art in the different trades to get the most out of both the material cost and the cost of the labor to construct his vision. And Vaage's vision is unique - his passion is such that he spends great amounts of time visualizing, revising, placing himself mentally in the space which will result, imagining what it would be like to live there himself, while keeping the ideas of his clients in mind. We truly admired this aspect of Vaage's talent and devotion: he was able to create a vision of how we could remodel our home to make it not just larger, but make far better use of the space inside and out, while presenting to the outside a striking architectural expression. We needed to add onto the front of our house, adding a bedroom and bathroom, and his amazing solution was not to basically build a standard "box" on the front (creating a long, dark entryway) but to turn the entire front addition by 45 degrees, opening the front to the morning light and to the street like welcoming arms. The design was capped off with a stunning entryway which floods the house with natural light. As the design phase progressed it became clear we had found the right person. As a builder, Vaage is a true artisan, and has found an amazing group of other artisans with whom to work. He has personally worked in and mastered many of the modern building trades, including framing, roofing, siding, drywall, and so on. He has thus spent years cultivating relationships with many other artisans of the trades, whom he trusts perfectly to do the work professionally. Rest assured that if you were to launch a project with him, you'd get not just Vaage, but an amazing team of people to do the framing, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, tiling...you name it. He works some of the best - and local - people in the business. Vaage has amazing attention to the details of a remodel project, and realizes that as each stage progresses, the success of the previous stage is necessary to ensure the success of the next. This is something we had not appreciated before entering upon the project, but as the project evolved it became clear why Vaage was so keen on getting the smallest details right. Vaage shows up at the project every morning and guides the subcontractors through the next stages, pointing out the details that will make the project special. He does not just leave and do something else, he stays there alongside the workers and anticipates and solves the inevitable problems that arise. He is totally committed to the ultimate integrity of the workmanship in his projects. What he builds will last a very long time and will be done extremely well. In the end we have a striking new home, beautiful and functional, with many impressive artistic touches that you won't find elsewhere, all designed and built to Vaage's very high standards. We feel very lucky to have found him, and we made the right decision to have him design and build our home. If you want a truly unique, high quality, artistic, non-cookie-cutter upgrade to your home, whether a large or small project, we highly recommend you work with Lauren Vaage. read more

On time and on budget. Exceptional attention to detail. Listened closely and delivered on our needs and wants. You can't ask for more than that. We met Lauren after we watched his work on a neighbor's roof. We'd met with several other designer / contractors around town and while all seemed competent, something just seemed missing; like we were just a job. When we met Lauren, he asked thoughtful, detailed questions about what we needed and wanted. He focused on helping us create a vision and how he could fulfill our vision, not just on how to solve a construction puzzle. He seemed most focused on getting us to visualize what a future home could be. We lived in a little, flat roof Streng house in East Davis. We came away from our meeting with gut-level confidence that this was the contractor and designer we needed. We added a second floor with a new master bedroom and bath. We gutted much of the first floor, rebuilt the downstairs bathroom, built a new laundry area, rebuilt the kitchen, and modified the living room. We replaced all the windows in the house and installed HVAC. One of our key criteria was that we didn't want our house to look like a remodel. We wanted cohesion inside and out so that you could walk up to, and in the house and take it as a complete, beautiful package rather than discover the parts that were new and notice the parts that were old. Lauren created a design that is functional and fulfilled all our practical needs while also providing the aesthetics that make it beautiful and seamless. It does not feel like old and new. He also provided details that really shine such as a wonderful wood beam ceiling on the second floor, an exceptional vanity and soffit design in the master bathroom, a wonderful flow of space in the public kitchen / living room area, and the beautiful gabling in the front and rear roof lines. We were adamant with Lauren that due to financial constraints and school schedules, we absolutely needed the project to be on time and on budget and that we needed a sincere, honest assessment and commitment. Lauren strongly advised that we move of the house out given the size of the project, our budget, and time constraints. We did so and are glad we did. He delivered as promised. We periodically came by to check the status. Lauren was on site everyday throughout the day and even when the project neared the end and was on interior finishes, he still came by several times a day. He cleaned the job site everyday, making sure it was a clean, safe, and efficient work environment for the next day. We never saw the job site left a mess. Even his debris piles were orderly. Lauren has a crew of guys that he's worked with a long time. His team of carpenters and subcontractors were excellent. They were fast, detailed, conscientious, funny, and friendly. We could tell that they cared about their craft and the outcome at all times. Lauren has a dry sense of humor and a no nonsense way about him. We came to appreciate both his humor and straightforwardness. In closing, we absolutely recommend Lauren to anyone. We encourage anyone to contact us at dceppos@ccp.csus.edu to ask more questions or to drive by our home at 1102 Snyder Drive in Davis to see our home and compare it to some neighboring houses that remain the old footprint. read more

Lauren is an honest, trustworthy and common-sense contractor. He has a great eye for design but understands the reality of a budget. I was so happy with the job he did pitching the roof , adding central heat and air, and redoing the floors and a lot of electric work that a year later I had him back to gut and redo the old kitchen. The kitchen is really a testament to what can be done on a tight budget if the contractor listens, communicates, takes pride in his work and has great people working under him. I love my kitchen. read more

I first met Lauren in the late 90's when he did some office re-modeling where I worked. The owner of the business and the "plant manager" commented that his work was excellent (and both of them are pretty demanding). Based on that experience I hired Lauren to build a shade structure at my house. He came up with a nice design that fit the space well. Meticulous selection of materials! Excellent construction! On-time and a very fair price. That was probably 12 years ago; we re-painted the structure last summer and it looks brand new. He just finished repairing a section of the siding on our house (the original contractor blew it and is long gone). Once again, proper selection of materials, excellent construction, good sub-contractors, on-time and a fair price. When you find a good contractor, you stay with him (same with a mechanic or dentist). Lauren's the best. read more