Lorain Design Associates

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the initial renderings we received for our bathroom remodel didn't give you that "pop" factor until we saw the final product! The initial walk downs by Penny and her team transformed our 2000 era tiled bathroom into a piece of art. They included us in the initial design and listened to our input throughout the entire project. Their project manager, Matthew was tremendous and was onsite almost on a daily basis. When he was not at our location, he also responded either through phone or text. The Construction team under Nadar was both professional and courteous, with over 100 plus years of experience. Getting back to the design, the materials selected were all of high quality and the tile on the floors and bath/shower were just amazing. We highly recommend them for any remodel, you will not be disappointed.

Lorain Design conceived and executed an exceptional primary bathrooom design which is beautiful, highly functional and enhances our home enormously. We very much enjoyed working with Penny, Matthew and Aimee. The contractor, Joseph (Omega Construction), and his crew (Dimitri, Vasily, Dima, and Yuri) were a pleasure to have with us at home. The project was completed reasonably efficiently. We are very happy to have called on Penny and her company to design and oversee the project!

We just remodeled the bathroom for our kids with the help of Lorain Design Associates and we all love the final product. The new bathroom is just amazing and the kids love the new space and their shower. Penny, Matthew and the entire team were a pleasure to work with from the initial phone consultation through the design concept and the completion of the project. Penny chose the best contractor we can work with. Nader and his team were outstanding and made the process of remodeling and construction stress-free for a family like us with young kids. All the work was high quality and excellent. Penny and Matthew were always available when we had questions or concerns and they always made sure we were satisfied with the job they were doing. We are looking forward to working with Penny and her team on future remodeling projects for our beautiful house. We highly recommend them, they are just the best!

We were very pleased with the work that Lorain Design Associates did for us during the remodel/restoration of our historic home. They really listened to what we wanted to accomplish, and did not try to "railroad" us into any decisions that we weren't comfortable with. They did an amazing job of thinking of ways to improve our poorly designed kitchen layout and were able to preserve the vintage look of the kitchen, while adding modern amenities and making the space more useable and efficient. I even got a walk-in pantry out of the deal, which I never thought would have been possible. Penny's suggestions for the cabinet colors and the countertops were also spot on. She has an excellent eye, and lots of experience selecting things that go together well. They also were able to give us a gorgeous bathroom. The way it was, it was very small, poorly laid out, and had almost no storage. We were able to bump one of the walls out enough to give us plenty of space and a much better look. The tile work is stunning, and all of the chrome hardware makes it look like a very classy hotel. Penny was also able to line up a very good contractor to do the work, which was a huge help, as we're new in the area and didn't know anything about finding a contractor. The workers were very skilled and also very polite and respectful of us while working in our house. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do with the house and the look that we wanted to achieve, and Penny and her staff were able to turn our dreams into reality. We feel like it was a very successful collaboration.

I had my kitchen remodeled by Lorain Design. Penny and her team were amazing! Penny herself is hands-on. The office team is wonderful. Penny was the designer and the project manager for me, because that's what I needed. She is cognizant of aesthetic as well as function. She has a crew that she works with who are all great. The contractor, the floor specialist, the tile guys, the plumber... everyone! I threw in extra work to the job along the way and Penny and the contractor were able to fit it in. She really knows whom to call for what task. She made it clear from the beginning what a realistic price tag would look like. She found samples based on my aesthetic, and patiently put together different looks for me. And... my kitchen (and office, and living room) all look fabulous. She really listened to what I wanted, and augmented the ideas I had. A couple of months later and I still am happy just sitting in the house and looking around. The kitchen is more beautiful and MUCH easier to work in than it was prior to the remodel. I would do it again in a heartbeat. With Penny Lorain.

Penny and her team were a pleasure to work with. They designed a beautiful retail store for our group while staying within our budget. Penny’s care for her clients is evident from the beginning to the end. If you want a drama free, caring, talented designer who strives to deliver an A+ while respecting her clients budget.... you’ve found the best! Thanks Penny!

Penny was a pleasure to work with and very responsive. She kept to a schedule and had our plans completed very quickly. We had been in contract with a number of other local designers but they did not deliver as promised and we were lucky to have found Penny who helped us get on track.

Penny Lorain was a pleasure to work with. She was always on time. She always had pictures, or books, or samples to show based on our discussions. Most importantly she was always willing to hear our thoughts, and preferences and our ideas. She made suggestions based on our style, and was able to make great recommendations that please both my wife and I (we have very different styles). She warmed our space with her selection of earthy and vibrant colors. We were able to choose the wood type and colors to match our existing furniture. She has transformed a couple of rooms that were little used into warm and inviting spaces. The biggest part of the job was new flooring and the demo and removal of a large brick hearth and stove in the family room. The contractors she worked with did exemplary job. The general contractor had to demo the hearth and remove the stove with a flue that penetrated my beloved wood ceiling. He did a great job matching and staggering the 30 year old wood planks on the ceiling. Her flooring specialist carved the wood floors around irregular areas on a stone wall and circular metal support base for my stairs. Overall a great outcome, within budget and on time. We now have wonderful new living spaces in our home. Definitely plan to hire her again when we do our bedroom suite.

My project was to use a corner cabinet that I already owned that needed modification to hold a vessel sink for a redesign of my powder room. I also wanted to use a grass cloth wallpaper for the walls. Penny Lorain provided creative and expert advice to use faux paint on the walls instead of wallpaper and to modify the corner cabinet removing the middle shelf to accommodate the vessel sink. I’ve worked with Penny before on a living room project and appreciate her professionalism, ability to collaborate and dedication to ensuring client satisfaction. I highly recommend her because she is able to enhance my general design ideas and provide the specifics to implement in a timely and cost effective manner. Penny is cheerful and easy to work with to achieve the goals of the project.

We started with Penny Lorain over a year ago to redesign our kitchen. She has been extremely helpful with all phases of the project. She helped with design, material selection, contractor choice, expedite of shipments and constant follow up during construction. Her design sense was very helpful because we were neophytes with a project of this size.

My wife and I engaged Penny Lorain (Lorain and May Design Associates) to help us remodel our kitchen. The house is a contemporary modern style home custom built by my parents in 1954. This project had been difficult for us both to envision due to the complicated layout of the space and we were not making much progress on our own, so decided that we needed help from a professional. From the beginning, Penny was very patient in listening to our needs and sensitive to our desire to keep the kitchen improvements true to the architectural style of the home that would both serve our needs and be within budget. Penny coordinated several meetings with the general contractor and their sub-contractors in order to prepare bids and then prepared layout drawings with price estimates from the contractors. She also took the time to meet with us at various kitchen suppliers to help us select appliances and kitchen cabinets, and brought us various tile, flooring and countertop samples for consideration. She also met with us to look at kitchen cabinets at a supplier to compare the cabinet choices, interior options and costs for each. All in all, we couldn't have gotten this project off the ground without her dedicated efforts to coordinate all of the numerous decisions and steps that were needed to get us through the process. Penny is an enthusiastic and energetic professional and a patient problem-solver, who enjoys working with clients. Over time we have come to appreciate her valuable input and ideas which have given us the confidence to proceed when we were in doubt. We recommend her highly. Ed and Rhonda O'Brien

We have worked with Lorain & May on various home design projects for over 20 years. We started with furnishing for our empty new house back in 1996. Penny helped us furnish our living and dining rooms, including window coverings, our kitchen and our family room. When we did a major remodel of our house in 2010, Penny served as our design consultant and was instrumental in the project being completed on time and on budget. Every facet of the project reflects her design skills: granite, tile and fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms, hardwood floor in the family room and kitchen, carpet colors in the bedrooms, cabinetry design for both form and function throughout the house, lighting, wood stain colors, concrete flooring colors, paint colors both interior and exterior. We would never have gotten through the remodel without her amazing assistance. One of the many things we appreciate about Penny is her ability to work within our budget on our various projects. We are currently working with her on a redesign of our master bedroom and look forward to the finished project!