Wascha Studios

We now have a home that we wanted but didn't know how to even imagine let alone how to get there from where we started. She was able to take our ideas and dreams and create a great plan and she is a good listener which was important. I appreciate professionalism, her experience, excellent sense of what will work and what won't, being a problem solverwhen we needed one. She was the calm person on the job when I needed one and if you have every lived through a remodel you will know how
important that is for the home owner. This spring we will start on the second half of our project, the wonderful deck that we will enjoy this summer.

We were looking for a new home in the summer of 2011. Unexpectedly, we ended up finding something that fit many of our requirements but needed a lot of remodeling work. Before completing the offer, we decided to look for an architect that might be able to help us assess whether this home would fit our overall needs.  We found Wascha Studios on Angies list.  This type of help with real estate transactions was something that she did so she came out to look at the house with us (which I think was complimentary).  She gave us some feedback and then we decided to sign a small contract with her in order to do a better assessment of the home while we were in the midst of the real estate transaction.  We had a 10 day waiting period during which we could back out of the sale.  During that period Stephanie and Jenny worked amazingly fast.  They came out and did measurements of the entire house.  Then took a handful of days to do some sketches/drawings to which we also had time to respond to.  She also left enough time for one of her contacts in contracting to do a general bid.  Keep in mind all of this was done in 10 days!  incredible.  We did buy the house and were so impressed with her work during that period that we hired her for the whole job.  We did not interview anyone else. 
Once we got into the "real" part of the project, Stephanie was great to work with.  She was timely, responsive, and most importantly, really great at her work.  We have a small footprint home and she really helped us to figure out how to use all of the space effectively.  She was very open to ideas from us and wasn't offended when we didn't like ideas she presented.  She gave us a lot of green ideas to consider but wasn't offended if we went another direction.  She is knowledgable enough about construction to know what types of things make construction costs go way up.  Our project had a lot of structural  needs since we moved many load bearing walls and installed several beams and posts.  She recommended a structural engineer for this work.  She is willing to do a lot of work with design and helping manage the day to day construction work if you want (we did not do this).  We did call her in during the construction period 2 times for items that we felt she were important to include her in. 
I mentioned above that we had to split the construction into 2 phases.  The first phase which we have completed was the first floor and basement.  The second phase will be the 2nd floor plus a small addition on the 1st floor.   Stephanie has done the design work for both phases at once.  It was quite a bit of work for Stephanie to re-work the drawings  which she did without complaint.  She also gave considerable thought to how this would work and be cost effective for us so we wouldn't have to redo a bunch of work in phase 2.  We are very appreciative. 
I would strongly recommend Wascha Studios.   In fact I already have to another friend in NE Seattle who is using her for a home addition.    Both Stephanie and Jenny were fabulous to work with.  We are looking forward to working with them again to finish up our 2nd phase.

Stephanie was a pleasure to work with, attentive to requirements, and provided just what my general contractor needed to execute the job smoothly and on schedule. I couldn't be happier with the end result, and am glad I had Stephanie there to help me think through possible problems, alternative approaches, and the best solutions.

We installed an RV storage shed on our retail property under the assumption that it didn't need permits.   We quickly found out that we did, indeed, need permits.  I spoke with three different people at the DPD and was still confused about what exactly we had to do in order to get the permits.  It became apparent that we needed help from an architect.  Stephanie was referred to us by a member of our staff who had worked with her on past projects.

From the moment I first spoke with Stephanie, my stress level went way down. I knew that we were in good hands.  She was responsive, clear in her communication, extremely professional and a pleasure to work with.  She also has a great sense of humor, which I really appreciate. 

Stephanie quickly got to work. After checking in to gather information and determine our needs, she visited the site to measure the property and the dimensions of the structure.

 The city wanted the original plans for the structure to determine it's integrity and to make sure it had been installed correctly.  The structure had been salvaged and moved from two separate owners previously.  It also had no visible logo or name on it, which made it impossible to determine the maker.  No problem!  Stephanie worked with an engineer she knows to calculate all the necessary information for the city.

Stephanie determined that the structure itself was fine, but that we had installed it too close to the property lines.  She gave us a few suggestions as to how we could bring it up to code in it's existing location or configure the structure on our property legally while still meeting our goals.  We opted to reconfigure the structure.

Along the way, DPD threw some curveballs our way, but Stephanie deftly guided us through the entire process and obtained the permit.  We now have, in my opinion, a better layout for the structure than the original position!
Thanks so much for all your help!!!

Stephanie first came over to look at the space and ask questions about what we were hoping to accomplish.  She then met with us and the contractor to come up with the design.  She and Jenny - her assistant - took it from there through the permit process with the City of Issaquah, all the while keeping in contact with me on a regular basis.  My questions were always answered promptly and clearly.  I would retain Wascha again without hesitation, and I will recommend Stephanie's services to anyone who asks.

It was easy.

We are very happy with the results so far. Stephanie is easy to work with, provides excellent ideas, and is willing to work with us on a do-it-your-self project. She is punctual and professional. We look forward to her ideas and expertise as the project continues.

Our kitchen redesign and house remodel is exactly what we hoped for ? we are very pleased with the outcome of our remodel project. Stephanie?s prior experience and great design ideas instilled a high level of confidence, right from the start. We spoke with several architects and we selected Stephanie based on her strong ability to visualize and communicate design concepts. She listened to our preferences and ideas and came up with a vision that we could never have concepted on our own. Listening and designing to our preferences was a huge strength. Stephanie?s ability to help us sort through options was very helpful and her ability to bring our individual ideas together into a decision was key. She has great interpersonal skills and worked well with each of us. Stephanie was also flexible and worked with our non-traditional approach to managing our project. Because we were our own general contractor, she interacted with us more directly and she interjected where we needed her design assistance with a few key contractors. She was very resourceful. We especially appreciated her contractor referral and help with designing the metal stair railing, which is a significant design feature in our new space. Stephanie facilitated the permitting process for the plans and all subsequent permitting has gone smoothly. She provided a budget range at the beginning of the project and kept to the budget. Our new space is really wonderful ? it flows well and is very comfortable. Our friends who were familiar with our old kitchen space are in awe, contractors and guests who have never been in our home, are all impressed, and most important, we love it.

I can't recommend Stephanie highly enough. I'm a fairly detail oriented person by nature, and I have high expectations for professional service providers. Stephanie was prompt, professional and extremely detailed in working with us. Her designs were thorough, well thought out and maximized the usable space in our basement. She was very willing to (quickly) turn around re-designs after my wife and I reviewed. We also highly appreciated her going down to the city planners on our behalf to apply for the building permit. We appreciated the fact that Stephanie happily came to our house to do a walk-through and provide a high level cost estimate for free. Several other architects refused to talk to us until we signed over a retainer fee. We've not yet gotten to the point where we're ready to make final decisions on hardware (fixtures, doors, etc) or on finishing touches and design elements, but we look forward to getting Stephanie's expert opinion when we're ready.

Stephanie was great. We were not in a hurry and she did not pressure us to get this done. She presented us with some great sketches, took our ideas and incorporated them to come up with the final plan. She really took the time to understand us and what we wanted and the overall plan reflects our style. We are remodeling a basement, expanding a kitchen by taking over a bedroom, and adding a story onto the house for a master bedroom suite. The plans are great, Stephanie's expertise was wonderful, and she even took care of submitting the permitting application to the city. Stephanie really made the process easy and enjoyable and I can't wait to get the remodel done thanks to Stephanie's hard work.

This project is still currently being completed.

From the first meeting, we felt Stephanie listened to us carefully and offered a variety of design options. We changed our initial design several times and she was extremely patient throughout the process. Stephanie continually came up with new and innovative ideas that brought us to the design we have today which we love! She frequently gave us 'green' ideas but didn't push her suggestions on us. We always felt comfortable disagreeing with her or asking for a different recommendation. Stephanie has the ability to step back and look at things from a different perspective which is invaluable. We couldn't be happier with the finished product and wouldn't have gotten there without her guidance.