Clark and Aldine

We completed a remodel/design project with Clark & Aldine that included our kitchen, family room, mudroom, living room, basement, and master bedroom. We are so happy with our finished home. The spaces are stylish and comfortable. Danielle and Michael (Sensitive Information Hidden) along with their lead designer, Leslie (Sensitive Information Hidden), are wonderful to work with. They are professional, approachable, and listened to our needs throughout the project. It was a pleasure to work with a design team that has such focus on customer service and attention to detail. We never worried that our final product would be anything less than perfect. Clark and Aldine exceeded our expectations for our renovation and we would use them again for future projects.

We hired Clark + Aldine to completely update our family room. The fireplace wall was built out with custom shelves and cabinets. We were able to use our existing furniture but added a vintage rug and many new accessories. Clark + Aldine had incredible vision as to how to make this space warm and inviting. The room was completely revamped. They were very accommodating and always answered any questions we had. All I can say is it’s our favorite room in our home. We look forward to working on other rooms in our home with this team.

I had the absolute pleasure of collaborating and working with Clark and Aldine for two different phases of a new, custom construction home. Living out of state, we were desperate for a design team to help us solidify our vision and bring it to a reality. We contracted C & A in October 2021 from living in the Chicago-area. With many constraints, limiting our capacity to drive to Michigan, Clark and Aldine was critical during the entire building process. Before hiring them, I was drowning in details and Pinterest boards. I had previously contracted a different independent designer but quickly realized I was looking for a more professional and connected approach. From the beginning, C & A engaged us in a collaborative design process to truly connect and empathize around our needs. This initial effort on our part was minimal, however, very quickly Leslie and Danielle established a clear sense of what we liked, didn’t like, and our needs as a family. The first phase of collaborating was a big lift to select major components of our 4,300 sq ft home including interior/exterior lighting, plumbing fixtures, paint plan, hardware, furniture, and coordinating a custom closet installation. Being out of state and with a newborn and other small children, I had zero capacity to visit vendors in person. Leslie & Danielle enthusiastically went on my behalf to select brick and mortar stores (they even went and sat on furniture for me) and absolutely nailed the selections to fit my aspiring style and needs. In some ways, they pushed me a little bit outside of my comfort zone, and I am grateful for them holding the vision in the air. Our house turned out absolutely beautiful and cohesive from room to room, and I truly have them to thank. After closing in August, phase two with C & A included installing all of our hardware, a massive herringbone tile installation in the kitchen and butler’s pantry and also in the laundry room. Additionally, they also selected, shopped, and installed other decor including rugs, art, and shelf styling and installed all of our hardware. The rest of the C & A team was on site for this subsequent phase, and it was overall an extremely positive experience. Michael and Matt have an eye for detail, worked extremely efficiently, and take great pride in their work. The team’s energy is fun and productive. Their laser sharp listening and ability to embrace technology to collaborate made the entire process seamless from beginning to end. As a busy millennial parent, I truly appreciated their fresh approach, organization, and beautiful presentation of every document shared. We collaborated frequently over Google Docs/Hangouts- which made it feel like building a home was easy. I believe their professionalism is what illuminates Clark & Aldine from their peers in the field- their work is beautiful and inspiring, which makes the entire process fun and engaging. Clark and Aldine is a top of the line design team and an extraordinary investment.

Unfortunately we had a very poor and dangerous experience working with Clark + Aldine in 2021. We contracted them for a number of projects on our main floor, one of which included installation of an all new fireplace. After the fireplace was installed, I raised concerns about smelling gas for about 3.5 months (verbally and in email), and was continually told that was "normal," and they had run all gas tests when the fireplace was installed to ensure there were no leaks. I finally decided to call our local gas company myself, and they confirmed that I had not only one, but two gas leaks, and proceeded to shut off the gas to the entire house because the gas shut-off valve to the fireplace was inaccessible (built into a wall by Clark + Aldine). All of this unearthed the fact that Clark + Aldine had never secured any permits for the job, including the fireplace. After learning this, we told them the only solution was for them to seek permits and get all proper inspections done... it took 2 months after this for them to even apply for the initial permit (I have dates from the city inspector records)! Once permits were secured Clark + Aldine and their crew spent another 6 weeks trying to rectify the situation, and failed two subsequent inspections, after which point we asked them to not come back. While Clark + Aldine did confirm they severed ties with the gas plumber they had hired to install the fireplace initially, their own work in roughing the fireplace in, and building the surround was not to code at ALL! Unfortunately we had to seek legal recourse. The fireplace has since had to be completely uninstalled, including demolition of the surrounding fireplace box, mantle and tile. We are now two passed inspections into what will be a 4-inspection process with the new company! Our fireplace will hopefully be completed, including a fully rebuilt surround by this spring (by a different company) - almost a full 2 years after we signed our initial contract with Clark + Aldine. Unfortunately, this is a very short version of the many issues we experienced. I implore you, for the safety of you and your family, if you work with this company be sure they have pulled permits!

When working with Clark + Aldine they let us know that they turn down most of the work that comes their way. After paying up front for initial conversation and design and agreeing to a price range for the scope discussed, our design came back at nearly 3x original price. Michael and Danielle refused to make any changes because they said inflation drove the price 300% and also refused to give us any money back. It felt like they decided not to work with us and priced us out of moving forward. I would beware of the hype of hiring C+A.

Danielle and Michael are awesome and bring such a good vibe! Super fun to work with and allowed me to have a space in my house that I enjoy and use so much more than prior to the renovation, I wish I would have acted on the renovation sooner! They came to the table with multiple layouts, design ideas, and expertise on the actual construction piece to make sure everything was executed properly. Living in an older house, this was a critical area that they mastered. Looking forward to using them for future room renovations in this house!

Clark and Aldine did a fabulous transformation to our Master Bedroom. We started with some ideas that we wanted in our space and the Clark and Aldine team made it all happen down to every detail and I mean every detail. During the total make-over some decisions were easy and other times not so for us. Clark and Aldine were great at finding options and guiding us along through the make-over, which can be overwhelming. This creative team made our Master Bedroom go beyond anything we could imagine. We have total trust in this team and they certainly didn't let us down. Our Master Bedroom is absolutely beautiful! Since our Master Bedroom looked so great, we had the team do some updates to our Master bathroom to bring in the same vibe from our Master Bedroom. Again just love the updates they suggested to refresh the bathroom.

We were extremely pleased working with Clark +Aldine on our first floor/kitchen remodel. Danielle understood our vision and brought the design to life, while Michael had the building/contracting expertise to execute our dream. Our kitchen is everything we hoped and knew it could be. Danielle and Michael were easy to work with, extremely approachable when discussing concerns and changes, and the utmost professionals. They are respectful of your budget and know how to help stretch your dollar. They have a gift and are excellent at what they do. We hope to work with them again on future projects.

We had our basement finished by Clark + Aldine who provided both the design and labor for our project. We were thrilled with the outcome! Not only is it a fun space for our son, but it is also adult friendly. We have loved spending time entertaining in the space!