Before I had the pleasure of working with Mark Leveno and Amy Wynne and at OFFICIAL, I thought architects were intimidating (and possibly unnecessary). I was totally wrong. Without them, my apartment would look like every other recently updated home out there. But Mark Leveno and Amy Wynne had the vision to take my simple space and create a simply stunning place to live. They crafted a complete floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall renovation of my apartment that not only kept intact everything that was good about the place, but created lovely, modern solutions to what wasn't (putting sleek storage closets in the kitchen, crafting a mind-blowing desk/vanity that ties together the layout, and making the bathroom appear twice its original size)--all while being unbelievably accessible for whatever the contractor or I needed. And, no matter how many drawings they turned out or door handles they hunted down, they remained as pleasant and good-humored as they were at the very start of project.
In addition, they're amazing at finding and divining materials and decor that no one else will have, from a backsplash that astounds everyone who sees it to a glass partition that makes me smile whenever I walk into my bedroom to radiator covers that are actually elegant. But they don't just stop at big stuff: No detail was left un-scrutinized. They made sure all of my various metal fixtures and appliances matched, verified the floor stain was the perfect color (even though that meant testing it themselves), and designed a (very cool) partition for my bathroom vanity drawer to make it more functional for me.
During the renovation process, a lot of the people I worked with gave me more headaches than help, but OFFICIAL was awesome the entire time. I'd recommend them to absolutely anyone (and can't wait to use them again myself). read more