Design is personal — and so is the journey of creating a home. Here, our clients share their stories, reflections, and experiences of working with us. These are their words, their moments, and their memories — and we’re honored to have been a part of them.
“Whether you are building a new home or just remodeling an existing home, creating a joyful and comfortable living space can be very stressful. Happily, my husband and I avoided many of the most stressful hurdles with the guidance of Artala. We met Amy May, Artala’s interior designer with architectural experience, a few years ago when we were building a backyard outdoor space for our home in Sammamish. Amy was organized, thoughtful and quick to understand our goals for the area. Thanks to Amy’s keen architectural design skills, our outdoor oasis is functional and stylish. The backyard quickly became one of our most favorite home hangouts. The experience with Amy was so seamless that we did not hesitate to sign her and her new design partner, Sanja Stevens, on for a bigger project: a cottage in MT. Amy and Sanja held our hands from the ground up. Amy guided us through the architectural design: building structure, room layout, electrical plan etc. We had limited square footage to work with, but Amy’s efficient design plans provided for perfect utility of space. Amy and Sanja worked directly with our contractors which allowed me more time to devote to picking out beautiful tile surfaces and furnishings with Sanja. Sanja, like Amy, is a delight to work alongside. I provided a few inspirational images for our cottage; and Sanja immediately understood and executed on my aesthetic vision. Our cottage in the woods is a little dream getaway. It is as cozy and inviting as it is elegant and sophisticated. I could not be more satisfied with our project experience and final product. “
“Amy and Sanja worked tirelessly to assist us with updating our Edmonds home. They provided numerous architectural drawings for our contractor to follow, as well as site level views so we could visualize the end result. They interacted with structural engineers. They truly helped with everything, color palette, furniture and furniture placement, beautiful finishes, and even exquisite artwork. The result is stunning, and we are very grateful for their help.”
“Amy and Sanja were a pleasure to work with on the design of our ADU. They went above and beyond to ensure that the final plans and material selections reflected our preferences, while being mindful of the project’s budget. I was also very impressed at their ability to navigate the city’s tedious permitting process, turning the permit around in only one month when we easily anticipated that it may take three months or longer. I would not hesitate to use their services on a future project.”
“Amy provided me the expertise and skills to transform my tired 80s home into a fresh, comfortable and beautiful space. Her background in architecture and design along with her listening skills, attentiveness and availability enabled the process to be collaborative and very successful.”
Sanja is an exceptionally talented designer, gifted at collaborating with the homeowner and expertly and creatively designing spaces that are a joy to live in!”
“Amy is skilled at extracting, interpreting and developing a homeowner’s vision (emanating from head, heart and soul).”
“Amy and Sanja are gifted at making the design process a true partnership with the homeowner; a departure from the more classic relationship where the interior designer directs all design elements.”
“Amy and Sanja were wonderful! They guided us through an extensive remodel of our home of 17 years. With their talent and experience, we ended up with our dream house. They did all the design for adding dormers to our bedrooms and a full redesign of our kitchen and all bathrooms. We appreciated how they listened to us and helped us keep within our budget. We have recommended them to friends and family and would definitely use them again.”
“Amy has an innate emotional intelligence and empathy that guides and nurtures the design process.”
“Amy established a collaborative approach from the outset of the process, and her emotional intelligence, empathy, enthusiasm, warmth and energy have made our design and remodel project an enjoyable, memorable, fulfilling and life-changing experience.”
“Working with Amy and Sanja was the best choice we could have made for our kitchen renovation. They were super helpful and invested through the process, while being both attentive to our preferences and guiding us through the difficult choices. A year in we’re still in love with what they helped us build.”
