OUR SERIOUSLY COMMITTED TEAM LEADERS

From start to finish, Gillian and her team were absolutely amazing to work with during our recently completed rebuild project. After taking the time to understand the style we wished for our house, they came up with conceptual designs for the entire house that were nearly exactly what we wanted, on the first try! The drawings they provide are amazing, and allow you to really understand what the future house will look like. Throughout the project, they were incredibly organized, detail oriented, and communicated very well. They were able to work very well with our builder and architect, despite having no previous relationship with them, and they really helped to keep everyone on track and organized. Throughout the project, we had many trades in the house commenting on the amazing design Gillian and her team had come up with. As with any building project, issues arise from time to time, and whenever an issue was tied to Gillian and her team, they always took ownership and worked hard to come up with the best solution - which earned them a ton of respect from us. The level of time and attention they devoted to our project made it feel like we were their only client, despite being incredibly busy with a dozen other ongoing projects. Lastly, their pricing was very competitive and they were quite mindful of our own building budget when coming up with the design for the house. I would highly recommend using Gillian and her team for any building/reno project, small or large!

We worked with Affecting Spaces to do a full condominium renovation, in a heritage building which is unique, but comes with challenges (e.g. strange footprint). Further complicating matters, we did the planning and renovation during the Covid pandemic, which meant mainly working remotely on the design.  The Affecting Spaces team listened to our wish list and was able to reimagine the space in a way that we were not able to articulate. The design process itself was easy and incredibly professional: the overall design was comprehensive and detail oriented, options were presented clearly and the few times there was a construction challenge, the Affecting Spaces team worked with the contractor to develop viable options and recommendations.  There were no surprises in terms of design budget and the process was explained very clearly at the outset. The Affecting Spaces team helped us receive bids from reputable construction companies and also worked to help us gauge/understand where we SHOULD spend our money versus where we shouldn’t.  What I was not expecting in the process was that the Affecting Spaces worked so closely with the construction company. Each detail was meticulously overseen and the construction team knew when, exactly, they needed to get Affecting Spaces to weigh in on something (eg the height to hang a coatrack!)  We couldn’t be more pleased and would work with this company again in a heartbeat.

We are so grateful to the team at Affecting Spaces for transforming our home into our forever home. Gillian, Michelle and Bill were amazing to work with throughout our home renovation. Gillian listened to what we wanted and we were absolutely floored with her design presentation. We could not have envisioned what she did for our space and she has made our home more functional for us. We absolutely LOVE our forever home and would not hesitate to recommend the team at Affecting Spaces to our friends who need a designer. Thank you Affecting Spaces!

I loved working with Affecting Spaces.   Gillian and Michelle listened to me and provided excellent design solutions in the complete renovation of my house.  We are so happy with the results.  I highly recommend them.

Gillian and the Affecting Spaces team were amazing from beginning to end. They really "got" us and nailed the design plan. Not only does our new space solve our issues, it's also beautiful and functional and a pleasure to be in. The team was super supportive throughout the process, answering our million questions. They even supported us in finding the right pros to help with finishing touches (like blinds and cushions) when the job was complete. I would highly recommend them!

We can't say enough about Affecting Spaces! Gillian and her staff (Michelle and Bill) are very professional, knowledgeable, and skilled!! We were working on a budget and they stretched our money so far using the computer program that Gillian developed. They were very accessible and went above and beyond in helping us design a space we would love. We just moved into our house and it looks even better than we thought it would! Affecting Spaces gets our highest recommendation :)

Affecting Spaces is the best thing that could ever happen to your renovation! Gillian is very professional and resourceful. She kept our interest in mind and proposed solution that's cost efficient yet pleasing aesthetically. When there is surprise with the project (and we had tons), she proposed alternative solutions responsively and efficiently. She really takes ownership of the project and follows through until the last minute even after we have paid for her service fully. Needless to say she knows the best people in the industry and we also benefit from her designer discount. We now enjoy the renovated house so much that we don't want to step out of it. LoL

We feel very lucky to have hired Gillian and Affecting Spaces to help us redesign our kitchen, fireplace, master bedroom, and fireplace in the living room. We got her name off a neighbourhood FB group and interviewed a few people and liked Gillian's aesthetic best. Little did we know how knowledgeable, exacting, and detailed she and her team would be. Our contractor (she also put together the specs and put our job out for tender to three of her vetted contractors) said she was one of the best designers he'd ever worked with since she also really understood construction and what it took to make her vision a reality. She has totally transformed our house through good design, good paint choices, and good furniture advice. It feels so big and light and airy now, though we did nothing to the footprint or walls (in terms of moving anything). Plus we feel that although we had to pay her (reasonable) fees, it was worth every penny and saved us money in the long run. We recommend Gillian without hesitation for any project in Toronto.

We would highly recommend Affecting Spaces - we are incredibly pleased with the work Gillian and her team did for us! Gillian's process ensured that her designs met our needs, tastes, and budget perfectly. She is very knowledgeable about all aspects of the construction process too. Gillian has very high standards, and her attention to detail ensured that the finished product was everything we had hoped for. She helped us find a great contractor, and shepherded the whole project from start to finish (we actually left the country during most of the work, with no worries thanks to great communication and Gillian's tendency to solve problems before we even heard about them). If you want a more detailed review, just ask Gillian for our contact information - we would be happy to talk.

It's impossible to put into words the incredible amount of expertise, creativity, and support that Gillian brought to our home renovation project.  I'll try to do her work justice by describing our project, and the role Affecting Spaces played in its design and execution.    We purchased our midcentury home and hired Gillian for a first floor gut prior to moving in.  The scope of our project involved a completely new open floor design (including new electrical layout and HVAC), new millwork design, design for a new mudroom, new fireplace, new stairwell, and full selection of finishings throughout (hardwood floors, tile, paint colours, lighting fixtures, millwork materials, etc).  We also used Gillian to assist us through the contractor tendering process, and Gillian served as a project manager and liaison with our contractor throughout the construction process.  We interviewed multiple different designers, design-build firms, and contractors before we met Gillian.  During our interview, she showed an amazing empathy and ability to understand our goals for the project.  Combined with her beautiful portfolio of previous work, as well as her expert ability to provide services for every scope of our project, we knew immediately we had found the right firm for our reno.  Gillian was extremely responsive to our ideas throughout the design process, and helped to create a cohesive vision for our project that suited our both our budget and taste.  We communicated constantly by phone, email, and by using ideabooks to help crystallize our final design.  Not only did she take our ideas and turn them into reality, she carefully guided us through the design process to help us fill in the gaps in our own ideas, and showed us how to describe using words and pictures the final product we were looking for.    Gillian completed the entire design phase, including the preliminary concept, selection of finishes, and final construction drawings and spec books exactly within our agreed-upon timeframe.  There was no delay, and we never had to chase her down at any time throughout our agreement.  Although I'm aware the firm was handling multiple projects at once, some much larger than ours, it always felt as though we were her only clients, due to her responsiveness and attention to detail.  The construction drawings and spec book she provided were nearly flawless.  This allowed us to get 'apples-to-apples' quotes from multiple contractors in order to secure the best deal and pricing.  It also ensured that we didn't face any issues or unexpected hiccups during the construction phase, since Gillian had planned for every last detail in her drawings.  Thanks to her meticulous work, our construction team completed our project exactly on time and exactly on budget due to the lack of unforeseen circumstances.    And although there were no major issues during our renovation, if a tiny or minor detail arose during construction, Gillian tended to each one as though it was a major issue, giving it her full attention and ensuring it was completely resolved to our satisfaction.  Whether it was with our architect, contractor, or sub-trades, Gillian was able to speak everyone's language and never seemed to be out of her element regardless of the issue at hand.  Her calm demeanor as project lead saved us countless headaches and hassles we could have never managed as well by ourselves.  She really held our hand from start to finish.  To summarize, she did everything she said she would, and she did it on time, and for exactly the amount we agreed upon in our contract, despite putting in hours and hours of extra work by the time our project was complete.  All in all, we cannot recommend Affecting Spaces enough.  We receive so many compliments on our new space, but more importantly, each day we enjoy being in a home that so perfectly matches what we originally dreamed of.  We can't thank Gillian enough, and look forward to working with her again when we decide to tackle our next project.  No matter when or what that is, we know we'll have the right person for the job.