Design On Purpose

This letter is our personal recommendation for Jacqueline Larson owner of Design on Purpose for the period of December 2021 – July 16, 2022. After 37 years in our current house, it came time for us to renovate our kitchen. Metaphorically, my wife and I jumped into the deep side of the pool with a renovation to our kitchen. We were nervous and very stressed with the overall job at hand. Fortunately, we were recommended Design on Purpose and specifically Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Larson. We cannot recommend Jackie enough. First of all, anyone taking on a large renovation job needs to have knowledge and skills regarding design and project management. Jacquie was involved in our home renovation project ranging from early schematic development stages through to the last stage of styling/completion. Design portion: •Jackie not only listened to our requirements but added her flair, keen sense of observation and expertise to make it happen. The overall design was a collaboration between us and Jackie. Jackie made us feel at home with the design, planning and execution. All of her recommendations were spot on. Project Management (PM): • Please let me stress that Project Managers are not a “nice to have” but are a requirement and are worth the investment. Jackie’s PM skills includes having someone that can bring various trade experts together, ensure competent timelines, managing customer expectations, and especially reduce the stress involved with the day-to-day requirements of a large renovation. While we were very fortunate to have competent and honest trades people, we would not have known whom to hire, contact or purchase from. Also, as a single customer, trades people or suppliers may deal with us once. With Jackie, the trades people and suppliers are motivated to satisfy Design on Purpose to ensure possible participation in future projects. This resulted in cost savings, an adherence to the plan and to the schedule by all involved. Jackie: •Loads of patience! When you work with someone great like Jackie some last-minute items will always happen, but Jackie was great. In many cases Jackie took some accountability for items that were not her responsibility. However, trust that Jackie will ensure the job is done to your satisfaction. It is better to have the schedule be extended a few days and have a quality finish than to rush to the finish line with perhaps a few non-conformances. In summary, Jackie (Design on Purpose) cares about the customer, has great design ideas, is very organized and in the end provides Quality in all aspects of her responsibilities. It was an extreme pleasure to get to know Jackie and have her take the load of responsibilities on her shoulders. Not all Designers/Project Managers are alike, but we highly recommend Jacqueline Larson as a Designer and as a Project Manager. With great appreciation, James and Isabelle Robertson

At the beginning of the project, we talked about my ideas, my lifestyle and how the specially designed, wardrobe and fireplace, would meet my needs. We brainstormed, Jacquie asked critical questions to help identify what was important to me and she helped me to envision the end result. She communicated well and collaborated with me throughout the duration of the project. I am thrilled with the finished product and I would retain services from Design on Purpose again!

I cannot begin to fully describe just how magical a transformation my kitchen is. Everyone who has seen it says it looks like the cover of a home and garden magazine. Jacquie is everything you want in a designer - she is a genius when it comes to imagining space, but at the same time she knows it’s your home and she is very attuned to her clients’ needs and wants. She also does everything she can for her clients to stay on budget and on time. For me this included renting a truck and driving to Montreal to pick up pieces for my kitchen that weren’t available in Ottawa. I used to get so frustrated working in my kitchen because it was dark, dysfunctional and didn’t have enough storage. Now thanks to Jacquie and Design on Purpose, I love being in my kitchen. It’s bright, logical, organized and has really become the heart of my home.

Incredible service! Jacqueline was so professional and accommodating to my needs, while being timely and accurate with costs. Would highly recommend!

The design and refit were done under very tight timelines and the fit and finish were excellent. She came in well under budget and added some nice touches based on her intuition of our needs. We love our renovated kitchen. It ticks all the boxes.

Jacquie is absolutely amazing to work with! I trust her completely. She handled our project from start to finish including coming in with a budget that was less than we anticipated and getting the project turn around very quickly. She is such a pleasure to work with and would 100% recommend her services.

I was pretty nervous to start but Jacquie was brilliant! Kind, listened to my concerns and really took the time to understand what I wanted and offered cost effective alternatives. The workmanship was amazing. Absolutely recommend - hardworking, friendly and dedicated to their craft and so knowledgeable about current trends and very experienced.

From beginning to end Jacquie was a pleasure to work with. She worked well within my budget and met all the estimated deadlines and timeframes. She was always easy to reach and punctual for our planned meetings. I have a few more projects around the house I want done, and will definitely be hiring Jacquie for my future design needs.

By far, I had the best experience with Jacqueline coordinating, designing and managing the transformation of my indoor pool into an incredible event’s room which I use as my Yoga Spiritual room! She took a very stressful complicated project and turned it into a delightful creative journey! Huge Gratitude Jacky for making this such a wonderful experience!!! George Sabbagh

Thank you for providing a beautiful renovation of our 1000ft square studio space to accommodate the social distancing we were required to follow. It was a huge challenge to meet our studio needs and Design On Purpose surpassed our expectations and created a warm welcoming space while working during covid times. When we get to the other side of Covid, we hope to get you back to continue with other renovations we would like done.

Great work by design on purpose. Highly recommend. The team was always extremely nice and on time . Extremely happy with how everything turned out.

DOP is the best. Jacquie has a way of just knowing how to turn our vision into a reality. She is a genius with design challenges and helped us make our tiny house into a functional space for a busy 5 person family. She can improvise really well and adapt to any situation. Her creativity and attention to detail blow my mind. We are going to use DOP to remodel every room of our house. Pics are on the way...

Jacquie transformed our home by designing a gorgeous, efficient kitchen that is almost 3 times it's original size with the same footprint! She was a pleasure to work with and rolled with all the obstacles that came our way, including frequent disruptions due to lockdowns and major supply chain shortages. Due to the aforementioned issues, Jacquie would frequently need to adjust designs to keep it all on track. Pictures to come soon, just waiting for a couple custom pieces to arrive for the last finishing touches. I highly recommend her and plan to work with her again in the future!

Jacquie was a pleasure to work with. Having a hectic schedule and traveling for work during COVID was stressful enough that I really wanted to have this office redesign done hassle-free. She had great ideas from the get-go and made my life so much easier knowing the project was in great hands. Thanks again!

Working with Design on Purpose was easy. Jacquie helped guide me through the redesign of my kitchen from A to Z. The journey to a new kitchen was a breeze. I couldn't be happier about the end result!

I'm not sure where to start with this review. There were multiple projects over the course of COVID (a year and bit?). Friends and family (when COVID rules allowed it) made so many positive comments about the changes when they saw them. I kept coming back to Jacquie for additional work as every project kept on surpassing my expectations. - Front closet / mud room redesign. What started off as a simple question "How can I make this space more functional for two growing kids that like throwing their stuff around" transformed into something I hadn't contemplated. She designed a beautiful connected passage way between an enclosed mudroom (originally blocked off from the main entrance) and the front closet. Leveraging the space with custom shelving and a large in-set mirror really made the functionality of the space meet a modern design. She also added a matching custom laundry folding area as an added bonus! - Fixture revamp, custom shelving Felt like the main living room area needed a refresh. She designed some shelving space around the large fireplace, selected some gorgeous fixtures to turn the overall space into a cohesive country living' look which matched with the open concept kitchen. I don't think there's any better validation than when the ex-wife came to visit and commented on how great the house looks! - Central vac storage Having central vac is great, except for when it comes time to stuffing the hose out of sight (typically in that aforementioned closet from the previous project). Jacquie designed custom sliding barn doors to hide a newly created cavity in one of the walls in the hallway. Basically it looks like a double barn door enclosed space for the central vac. - Bedroom wall accent decor Custom designed and built an entire accent wall which really made the master bedroom pop. Looking forward to the second phase of the project which includes new crown, LED lighting to create a halo effect, custom storage areas in the closet area with a custom rolling ladder! I would definitely recommend this pro for any work.