We recently completed a project on the Upper West Side for returning clients, which always feels especially meaningful to us. Our hearts get a little soft when families we’ve worked with before come back—whether they need help with new changes in their home or because their family has grown. It’s always exciting, and it reminds us that we’re doing something we’re truly meant to be doing. Over time, we develop very personal relationships with our clients, and that’s something we genuinely cherish.
When we first worked with this family, they had just purchased the apartment and were preparing to move in within a month. They reached out asking for help getting the space ready—painting several rooms, updating all of the ceiling lights, and making a few small improvements in the secondary bathroom. We completed everything on a tight timeline and wrapped up the project in about a month so they could move in comfortably.
About six months later, the client reached out again wanting to make a few additional changes. One of them was turning a smaller room into a home office, and the best solution we proposed was a custom built-in.
That room, however, came with a challenge. Several electrical boxes were not recessed into the wall—they were actually sticking out. So we had to design a solution that would hide the not-so-beautiful boxes while still keeping them fully accessible and compliant with code.
At that point we brought in our electrician (hi to One Source Electrical), who suggested that since the apartment hadn’t been renovated in quite some time, it would be smart to check the outlets throughout the apartment to make sure everything was safe. The client—pregnant and with a toddler at home—agreed, and thank goodness she did.
Once the electrical team started opening the outlets, what we found behind the walls was… concerning. Some wires weren’t up to code, some were attached directly to metal studs, and others were pushing into the sheetrock—which, as you can imagine, could potentially lead to a fire.
To add another layer to the process, the building and management company were extremely strict when it came to approving contractors, which made coordination more complicated than usual. Our client was incredibly grateful that we were there to advocate for her, navigate the approvals, and manage the entire process from start to finish.
The moral of the story: not everyone is out to upsell you or convince you to do unnecessary work. But when we act as our clients’ advocates, we’ll always recommend what’s truly worth investing in — and what isn’t. In this case, safety comes first, always.
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