Steve helped me to get a 19-year old outstanding DOB permit approved for an apartment in a landmark…read morebuilding. This wasn't a creative project for an architect. Actually I am sure it was very painful to deal with all the red tapes. During those 4 months, he even contacted me in the after hours to give me the progress. Thank you.

My answer to your response is - I guess you never worked with an expeditor. I never asked you to…read morepull permits yourself. ---------- Where do I begin? This architect is disgustingly unprofessional and more importantly, a bad person. He was 15 minutes late to our meeting, walked in while I was speaking to his co workers, Jasmine and Dong, and was completely dismissive about the entire meeting. When I started to ask him about the next steps to move forward, like how to pull permits and the pricing for the design, he completely FLIPPED out telling me why would he pull permits when that's the contractor's job? I was a bit taken aback since my previous architect pulled permits alongside my contractor. He then started to allege that I use unlicensed contractors. I started to wonder what he was getting at and why he was being such a rude jerk. He then had the nerve to pull out the BIS gov website and ask me about the contractor I used and the address. When I tried to tell him the architect firm, he got very angry and said why would I care about the architect? HELLO! You asked who pulled the permits! He found my previous project and everything was up to code. This guy is disgusting. There is NP way he's a legit architect because he doesn't have any skills on how to speak to clients. Stay away. You can find architects who pull permits alongside the contractors. This means he has very bad relationships with the DOB.

Without Tina, my dream apartment would not exist. She helped me make our space a home. I already…read morehad some ideas before we started working together and she was wonderful truly listening to the things I wanted and incorporating them into her ideas. Her eye for material and color is spot on. She pushed me to go outside my comfort zone which elevated the look and feel of the space. The flow from our entry way into a large living/dining space and our photo wall of memories makes me smile every time I come home. I appreciated her effort to stay within my budget .. finding less expensive but quality pieces in a few places so that I could get my must haves. It truly was a pleasure to work with her.

We have engaged Tina for 2 apartments a West Village Studio and a Battery Park apartment. She's…read morehighly skilled at teasing out needs and maximizing the design choices to exceed them. She transformed the Studio 300 sq ft to have distinct living, dining, sleeping, and working spaces. She tamed the chaos and created a tranquil space employing textures, artwork, storage, and layout. Our daughter and her puppy love their place. We found the perfect BPC 2 bedroom and needing it move in ready in just 4 weeks, she created a livable contemporary design with custom artwork, sourcing new furnishings, which we never would have picked ourselves, but love, and coordinated all painters and any contractors. On move in day, we filled the pantry, hung our clothes and just started living. What a treat to not have had to worry and just enjoy our new place. No matter what your space, Tina can work her design magic and make it stunningly, comfortably yours.

I am very happy with my decision to use Affordable Interior Design and with Stephanie, the designer…read moreI worked with. First, the design questionnaire was excellent - especially for someone like me who doesn't know much about interior design. It was able to identify my design preferences by showing different living rooms and asking which ones were to my liking. In addition, its questions served as a great preparation for the home visit, so Stephanie came well prepared for our meeting. Stephanie was very creative, professional, and helpful throughout the process. When she visited my place, we decided on a design together, in an efficient process, where she was able to translate my needs and preferences to interior design decisions and furniture choices. After two weeks, she assembled a furniture shopping list, within the budget I requested. I purchased all items she suggested. The furniture items were sourced from many furniture stores and I felt she did an excellent job finding items that were beautiful, fit the overall design, and reasonably priced. I get nothing but compliments about my place (even from my Architect friend who is quite stingy with design related complements...). Well done Stephanie! As to the cost-effectiveness of the service - had I done this process myself (even with friends help), I would have surely spent more time, more money, getting worse results. Finally, the service was well structured and transparent. Good stuff overall.

Paulina helped us get our dream bathroom! She has such a great eye and helped us save money on a…read morelot of materials too because she knew the right places to look. It's my favorite room in our house now, and I'm excited to work with AID on our kitchen renovation too.

Susan was absolutely wonderful to work with! We had our Feng Shui consultation with Susan over Zoom…read moreand were genuinely thrilled with the experience. We learned so much about our home and how the energy and placement of things can influence different areas of our lives. What has been especially exciting is seeing some positive movement already. My husband has started seeing potential new job opportunities, and we're really feeling the benefits of the changes Susan recommended. Thank you so much Susan!

I highly recommend Susan Chan. Besides her knowledge of Feng Shui, she is honest, she invests the…read moretime to offer the best advice, she is responsive, she welcomed follow up questions, and she took the time to explain why she made her choices. My needs were not for the interior of my home. Instead, it was to seek help choosing a burial site for my wife. She was open with me about this as being something she did not specialize in, but that the main principles of Feng Shui would still apply to this discipline. I was on a tight deadline, given the burial date, and she made time in her busy schedule to meet my needs. She was able to work from videos I made of the choices the cemetery offered, and began studying them right away. She discerned much from what I sent, but if there was something she was uncertain about she asked, rather than just assuming. And then when we had the consultation over the choices she picked the best one, which was not the one I expected. I greatly appreciated that she explained the pros and cons of each one, and why she made the recommendation. I went back to visit there and it led to follow up questions, and she was very responsive at answering them fully for me. She made me feel comfortable the entire time; she's a genuinely nice and caring person. I can't recommend her more highly.

I hired Nancy Reicino of Nancy Interiors Corp. (DBA Nancy Almeida and Decora Ltd.) to do a complete…read morerenovation of my home, which included the entire first floor, basement and exterior. The entire project exceeded well over $200K, thanks to Ms. Reicino adding a huge cut for herself onto all of the pricing she gave me. The early months of the project seemed to be going well, but then I started noticing inconsistencies and questioned them. Nancy does not like to be questioned, and becomes defensive. She is unorganized and deficient in communication skills. I ordered six custom made panels, which cost me $18,000. The design itself was the one I approved, but they were not made to my specifications. She took it upon herself to change my approved specifications to the ones she wanted, without my knowledge, approval or concent. She has refused to accept responsibility, even though all is "documented in writing". They were done wrong twice. When I brought the issue to Nancy's attention the second time, via text message, I was told "they should be installed". She was not concerned that I was displeased with this custom order. My concerns were dismissed. These panels were designed to block off two rooms from my dogs. The largest open spaces in the design were not to exceed three inches. These panels had openings which were four inches, and presented a safety issue for my dogs. Her solution was to use them anyway "with retractable baby gates to add protection for the dogs". I asked her to provide me with the contact information for the person who made these panels, but she refused, thereby making my efforts to work with this supplier futile. After three months, I received an email from this designer offering to have these panels fixed. On January 6, 2017, we agreed. She sent me an email stating that the furniture maker was away for the month of January. I was told "rest assured these will be taken care of" in February. February has come and gone, and this designer has made no attempts to contact me any further. This is representative of the type of service this designer provides, and further establishes her lack of credibility. In April, a desk chair was purchased for me. On the day she delivered my furniture in November, I did not see it. I asked her about it via text message, and was told she did not remember purchasing one. Once I reminded her, I was told it was never received. When I asked what happened, I was told it was never shipped, and that she just emailed the dealer to find out why. I contacted the dealer myself. I was told that she did not pay for the shipping. The dealer informed me that she did not reply to his requests for payment, therefore, he did not ship it. I forwarded his response to Nancy, and was told "he was obnoxious" because he would not accept the payment methods she offered. I paid the dealer and the chair was shipped. He sent me an email thanking me and noted, "I work with designers all over the world and have never seen such an unprofessional attitude. Nancy seems to blame others for faults of her own". Lamps without shades were purchased in April. I asked Nancy for months to order shades for me. I never received them. She did not contact her custom lamp person until the week before Thanksgiving, even though the lamps were purchased seven months prior, this is when she found out that the lady retired. I asked what I was supposed to do for shades, and was told "I don't know, find something online". I told her that she was the designer, and that she should find someone. Her response to me via text message was "GO TO HELL TONY". NANCY NEVER RETURNED TO MY HOUSE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT SHE WAS HIRED TO DO, LEAVING ME WITH AN UNFINISHED PROJECT. I HAD TO ENGAGE SOMEONE ELSE TO FINISH THE PROJECT SHE STARTED. Nancy's unprofessionalism and ineptitude in getting a project completed are disconcerting. This so-called designer is unqualified to refer to herself as a professional, as she has repeatedly proven that she is nothing but amateurish, at best. Perhaps if she spent less time planning vacations and more time focusing on work, things may have been different. Complaints have been filed with three US Government agencies. All agencies have documented and recognized these complaints. Emails and text messages noted above are all well documented IN WRITING. "The review above is based solely on my experience with this project and designer, and therefore not influenced by the comments, observations or opinions of others".

Just wanted to send a special thank you to Nancy Reicino of Nancy Interiors for all the amazing…read morework done in my home!....You took care of everything like you promised! The décor was something I couldn't wait to see and it looks absolutely beautiful. From the outset, you were cordial, personable, experienced and knowledgeable in your profession. Helping me select colors, materials and design was not an easy task to say the least, but you made it happen! Now, whenever I have visitors their immediate reaction is so complimentary and I am so glad I picked your business. I will be calling in the near future to complete my remaining window treatments and bed ensembles and am so happy to share your business with my family and friends!!

Claudine is amazing! She designed both my Brooklyn townhouse and my Victorian house in the…read moreCatskills, and somehow captured the personality of each space perfectly. In Brooklyn, she created a refined, cozy atmosphere that still feels modern and livable. In the Catskills, she leaned into the character of the old home but made it fresh and inviting. Every color, fabric, and detail was so well thought out. Claudine has an incredible eye for balance and texture and she's also just a joy to work with. If you want someone who truly cares about the space you live in, she's the one.

From the owner: Transform your space into something beautiful, functional, and uniquely yours…read more At Artara Atelier, I bring your vision to life through thoughtful interior styling that balances elegance and comfort. Whether you’re dreaming of a cozy room refresh or a full home transformation, I will work with you every step of the way — and within your budget — to create a space that feels truly like you. Reach out today, let’s start designing your dream space together!

Jim consulted with me several times on my gut renovation project and provided expert advice. He…read morebrings expertise from two decades of experience to the table, and also his work is of impeccable quality. I saw a passive house he was gut renovating in Park Slope, and it was absolutely stunning! Jim knows how to preserve historic details while bringing the design into the modern era in a tasteful, classic way. He exudes calmness and wisdom and is a pleasure to be around. Full disclosure in that I ultimately had to choose a less experienced architect because Jim's fee, although completely reasonable given his level of skill and expertise, was a bit out of our price range.

Jim was great to work with. We did a semi-gut renovation in 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apt. The quality…read moreof his work and suggestions were exactly what we wanted based on my husband and my feedback. Jim is very detailed and each week during renovation, we had him manage the project with the contractor to ensure the final output was done properly. Most Manhattan apartments are not symmetrical, so the early stage on doing things a certain way goes a long way on the final look. He understands plumbing, and electrical well to communicate to our contractors. He referred us to a HVAC engineer. When it came to interior design, we had Sarah who provided feedback and suppliers information. She was also very helpful. Jim knows the DOB process well and helped us resolved many issues even during covid and DOB rule changed in 2020 and 2021. We also had him manage the project with the contractors. The contractors don't have the same design eyes and were a bit sloppy and forgetful so it was imperative to have Jim help us. Urban charges by the hour and provided an accurate estimate of the cost. Make sure what projects he's working on so he can allocate time properly. In the beginning with the design drawing schematic, it took a while cause he was on a couple of brownstone projects but overall still have a very positive experience with Jim. He was responsive.

I've known Buddy since his Cranberry Hole Road days (early '90s, I stumbled in there by accident,…read moreand...). He has guided me through two apartment restylings (not renovations) 30 years apart in two NYC boroughs. As others have said, he is a different kind of designer--and so full of ideas that at first it's overwheming, and you might wish you had 10 other homes to fill with his concepts. He sees possibilities that aren't immediately evident, and is a genius at furntiure and picture placement. I had a genuine midcentury table (not a West Elm copy) that I'd had for decades and it was just sitting forlornly in a corner in the new place because I didn't know what to do with it (It didn't seem to fit anywhere). I was also grousing about needing a coffee table and in less than a second Buddy picks up the table with one hand and plops it down in front of my couch (purchased with his guidance), saying, "Here's your coffee table." The table, although not ostensibly a coffee table, works perfectly there, even though I never saw that possibility and was getting ready to dump it on one of those marketplaces. It's a small example, but I think it capsulizes Buddy's approach. He was also spot on when it came to selecting lighting fixtures, and saved me from choosing rugs that would have made my place look like a Miami hotel lobby (I think that's what he said--I know his scathing critique of my choices referenced Florida or the Bahamas), steering me to much more stylish picks. Buddy's also an artist (he constructed and painted a screen for me decades ago--in the Cranberry Hole Road days--that I still use and that visitors still comment on) and a cognitive psychologist, which can come in handy when you're in the emotional throes of a move, a renovation or restyling. Give him a try, even if your place just needs a refresh, a new look. He'll help you choose what you need. Now I'm thinking of seeking his help for a closet renovation.

Everytime I walk into my newly renovated apartment, which was so perfectly executed, I feel like…read moreI'm the main character in a home makeover show. The 'before' shots would feature a cute home, but with signs of aging. Fraying wooden cabinets, and little to no natural light in my bedroom. Now this is all modernized, updated, and thoughtfully designed. Connecting with Buddy via Yelp's Request a Quote feature was lucky, because I got no replies from other businesses I contacted first or was told they couldn't take on my project. I'm thankful because Buddy was actually the right person with the right vision for my space. I had been living with a not optimized closet space and the aforementioned fraying wooden cabinets, as well as my bedroom lacking natural light for years. I had heard one too many contractor nightmare stories that caused me to be ultra cautious so I hesitated to contact anyone. I once hired a virtual interior designer which was a total waste of time/money. Enter Buddy, who is not only a creative visionary with a solid contractor team he's worked with for over a decade, but he's also a licensed therapist, and says that contributes to how he handles spaces, which totally makes sense. In the first consultation with Buddy, he paced around my space and rattled off so many wild ideas, some of which sounded fantastical and unrealistic but he made into reality. The initial consultation fee initially made me wince but now sounds like such a deal when in hindsight I realize he gave me the blueprint to my beautiful new reality. I would not have thought to float my couch in the middle of the living room instead of against the wall, facing the best feature of my apartment-- the view. When I was concerned about where to put the TV, he came up with a customized solution. A mechanized wooden box where the TV rises and falls with the push of a button. It sounds so futuristic but now it's part of my life. His contractor team is so awesome too. They handled all my things with care, and not only did they not disturb my plants, which we kept in the apartment during the renovation, they took care of them too! So sweet. It's been several months now and living in my transformed space has really changed my relationship with my home. My living situation used to feel compromised, but now it really feels like a thoughtful expression of who I am. I've already hosted several parties and get togethers in my home, because the new space is way more amenable to hosting, something Buddy picked up about me after meeting. Buddy's organization (we worked out of a spreadsheet which was a dream for my Type A self), and responsiveness throughout the process really eased my nerves about the project. He and his team took genuine care of my possessions and space that it made the renovation process almost enjoyable. Thank you Buddy, for transforming the daily experience of being in my space. You really delivered something exceptional.