"I had the opportunity to work with Steve on redesigning our 500 sq ft summer cottage into our dream retirement home. This not only involved a total revamp of the existing space, but a 800 sq ft addition. Steve and I first began the design process by having a very casual and lovely conversation over tea, where I described to Steve as best I could my vision for our retirement home and showed him one photo of a house exterior that served as my inspiration. I knew how I wanted the outside of the home to look and feel like and this was our kicking off point. After that one conversation I was absolutely shocked when Steve presented his first draft - the accuracy was impressive and I knew from that moment on that he had a very unique ability to listen and interpret ideas. Which given his previous experience designing and building made sense. During the design process Steve was very quick to respond to questions, changes and ideas. I would send dozens of marked up inspiration photos and then somehow Steve would manage to fit all of our wishlist items into what really will be a small home. I think it is particularly challenging to design small spaces and still create functional outcomes. Steve understood our requirement to stay under a set square footage as we looked forward to our future retirement and having a manageable home for us to maintain. When items came up that Steve disagreed with or had previous negative design experiences with, he would always approach the item with respect and examples as to why this may not work. He would present two or three alternate options for us to consider. I would say eight out of ten times we changed to a suggested idea that Steve brought forward, and the few times we didn't Steve was respectful in keeping true to our desires. When I think back on the design experience, as I have been involved in many commercial design and build projects as my role as Director of Event Operations at the Calgary Stampede, Steve really understood that this was different and that as homeowners we are personally invested and come to the table with so many desires and emotions high. On that note, I think it is also important to point out and recognize that Steve and I did this process from two separate provinces. Him in Nova Scotia and myself in Alberta. During the design process we had our first initial tea in person and then one other design meeting in person about 1/3 through the process. The rest of the design and bringing everything to the finish line was done via email. texting and a few conversations. From professional experience I know how difficult planning this way can be, but Steve's listening skills, and ability to review and design from inspiration photos is unmatched. A skill that will allow him to easily provide design services to anyone, near or far. Overall, Steve made this process fun and exciting, which really is what it should be. It was quick, efficient and in the end met all our goals. We now have a design plan to take those next steps in building our dream retirement home and have Steve to thank for guiding us through this first step. Once built, a cup of tea will be shared again on our new front porch!"
Amanda Whitney (Director of Event Operations, Calgary Stampede)
"Working with Steve on the design of my house has been a fluent and cohesive experience from my initial draft on paper through to the actual built. His feedback and adjustments to my design have been invaluable showing his years of experience in building and his keen eye for detail and supporting my goal for a sustainable and practical home."
R.L. - Lunenburg County
I wanted to build a building on an island property I had recently purchased, and I was having a really hard time deciding on a design. My carpenter was suggesting a traditional fish shack design but I wanted to have a lot of windows on the ocean facing side of the building to take advantage of the amazing view. Unfortunately these two design ideas didn’t really work well together. I was also struggling to decide how big I wanted it to be as I didn’t want to stand out to much on the island but wanted it to be big enough to be able to be able to be upgraded into a cabin in case I decided to sell it in the future. I was spending a lot of money looking at designs with my carpenter and feeling overwhelmed by suggestions from friends and family. I was ready to give up on the project when a friend told me about Front Porch Design. Right from the start Steve put me at ease. He patiently listened to all my conflicting ideas, asked very useful questions, and later that week he had created multiple building options for me to review. I really found it very helpful to be able to view multiple versions of my building ideas on the same computer screen so I could see how changing things like the amount of head space in the loft, using different siding materials, or changing the size of the windows would affect the overall aesthetics of the building. He was even able to add furniture to the design to help me visual what the final produce would be. Using a computer program he was able to immediately make changes to the designs to show me how different ideas would work which really helped me to better understand the pros and cons of the different designs. Steve is a skilled carpenter who is very knowledgeable about building codes and he was able to make suggestions to maximize usable space and minimize building costs. With his guidance I was able to make decisions about the build that I had been struggling with for over a year. In the end Steve designed a building that could easily be upgraded to a larger two-story building but was small, affordable, and perfect for what I was planning to use the building for now. Once we had decided on a final design Steve emailed me a detailed building plan for the permit office and a list of all the building materials I would need as well as a video walk through the completed building that I could show my friends and family. Working with Steve saved me a lot of money on carpentry time/building materials and Steve’s skill in bringing my building ideas to life transformed a very frustrating and anxiety provoking situation into something that was fun and creative. I was left feeling very confident in the decisions I made and excited to start the build.
J.W. - Lunenburg County