Our custom residential posts.

Puget Sound Bluff Home – Cape Cod Style Remodel of a Historic Home with Water Views
Custom Residential

Five Design Priorities for Your Home

Any design project is going to be filled with more decisions than you can anticipate. There’s a balance between understanding how to compromise on things that aren’t as important and prioritize the things that really matter. Here’s what we recommend to help our clients make good choices for their projects without giving up what they love.

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Looking into the dining area of The Urban Sanctuary. There's a small cat cut out in the bench seating at the table and a brick wall in the background.
Ask a Designer, Commercial, Custom Residential, Multifamily Residential

Storytelling in Design

What inspires designers to create beautiful projects? Just like making a fantastic dish to eat, it’s about more than the individual ingredients — it’s about how they all work together! In design, it’s so much more than meeting the basic programmatic needs of our clients. It’s about telling a story.

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Looking into a bright, clean kitchen. The lower cabinets are slate blue and the uppers are light wood. The walls are clad in white subway tile and there are orange pots on the shelves.
Custom Residential

Five Ways to Make Your Kitchen Feel Larger

If you’re like us, you probably wish your kitchen had just a little bit more space – it’s one of those places where things just seem to pile up with nowhere to go. It may not be an option to actually increase the size of your kitchen, but here are five smaller projects you can invest in to make your kitchen live larger.

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A close-up of Jeff reviewing a construction estimate on a white table.
Ask a Designer, Custom Residential

Dos and Don’ts of the Pricing Process

We see all the time how a good and thorough Schematic Pricing set helps us avoid the pitfalls of waiting too long to get an official pricing estimate. Still, we understand how the process can be overwhelming and confusing for clients. We’ve got your back with a list of our dos and don’ts for sailing through pricing like a pro.

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Looking into a kitchen and the great room beyond. A kitchen island is the the foreground. There are abundant windows and the room is bright.
Custom Residential, Interior Design

2021 Trendy and Timeless Design

Each year, materials and design styles come in and out of vogue. Sometimes, it feels like a game of chance, and other times we can see the changes coming from a mile away. As 2021 dawns, we’re reflecting on what design elements are here for the moment and what’s here to stay.

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A close up of a whiteboard with a sketched floor plan stuck to it with a magnet. A few figures are blurring in the background.
Ask a Designer, Custom Residential

Hiring an Architect vs. a Design-Build Firm

It’s a question that comes up fairly often: “Should I hire an architect and a separate general contractor, or hire a design-build firm as a one-stop-shop to both design and build my space?” There are pros and cons to each; but, before we jump in, let’s pause for a moment and take this conversation more slowly.

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Would you like to learn a little more about us?

We’re pleased you’re interested. Explore more about us and our work via the pages below.

About Seattle architecture firm Board & Vellum – Board & Vellum's portfolio includes architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture projects.

Our Story

Client-centered authenticity is our north star, and we continue to prove that great design doesn’t require great ego.

Learn more about Board & Vellum.

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