Mod Surrounds

My husband and I can not say enough about working with Melanie at Mod Surrounds. When we started thinking about our kitchen remodel we had a few ideas, but beyond that no idea where to start. From the first consultation with Melanie we felt confident in her ability to understand our needs and guide us through the process. She came back to us with a beautiful and functional design that exceeded our expectations. She worked closely with us and our contractor throughout the project. From cabinets, to countertops, to tiles she offered plenty of choices based on our style and budget. She was always available to answer questions or concerns and offer solutions when problems occurred. Now that our remodel is finished, we see how Melanie’s vision made our dream kitchen a reality. Melanie did an amazing job and is an incredibly talented designer, we would definitely recommend her.

Melanie is a gift. I am currently in the process of significant up-grades: new kitchen, three new bathrooms, refinishing the basement and up-dating the master bedroom. Although modest improvements have been made over the 40 years in which I have lived in my townhouse, no significant remodeling has been done during that time. Melanie was brought in to coordinate the finishing phase of my new kitchen. I had attempted to manage the process from demolition through to completion, and the project was close to one year in progress when Melanie came on board. Her attention to detail, project management acumen and negotiation (aka cajoling) skills were a godsend, and she brought the project to fruition in short order. The kitchen, although closet-size, is of such quality that it could be shown in "Architectural Digest" as an example of what can be accomplished in an extraordinarily limited space. Having learned my lesson from mistakenly thinking that I could manage the kitchen project, I asked Melanie to manage the complete metamorphosis of the three bathrooms. One bathroom was a total gut, one a gut except for the bathtub and, the one that started out as a "replacement of the floor, only" ended up being an almost total re-do. Not only has Melanie managed/coordinated the three bathroom projects (including contractor and workmen), she has brought professionalism, taste, style and class to the selection of every product -- from major decision items (e.g., floor and wall tiles, vanities, walk-in shower, light fixtures) to the more mundane (e.g., drawer and door pulls). And, in all three bathrooms, she just made it all "come together". Hence, the bathrooms, although teensy, are gorgeous. Except for our three fieldtrips (one to a tile outlet and two to retail stores to accessorize the bathrooms) Melanie has done all the legwork. She has always presented me with workable options, after she had already narrowed down the selection to a few samples, thus making my decision-making process less painful, less overwhelming, and more efficient. One other example of Melanie's professionalism is her communication standards. All of my e-mailed questions, comments, requests for clarification, etc. are answered, not only on a same-day basis but, frequently, within a few hours or less. Such responsiveness and follow-up are extremely important to a client who is undertaking projects of t his magnitude. In addition to her flair and talent, Melanie is a delight to work with and has transformed the three-bathroom project from an intimidating, time-consuming ordeal to one of pleasure and satisfaction. And, now, we move on to the basement...

After purchasing a home in Chicago this year, with a "less than up to date " design aesthetic, I acquired the professional services of Melanie at Mod Surrounds. What a great experience its been working with a professional that is able to meld her design expertise with my minimalist tastes. From my kitchen to the living room, I now have a cohesive modern living space that flows well and reflects my style. Melanie actively listens to what your style is, and puts it together cohesively into a design that works for the client. Projects to date include kitchen redesign, as well as living room design.

I have had the opportunity to work with Melanie Wegner and Mod Surrounds recently on the renovation and design of my new home. I felt after our first meeting and interview that Melanie would be the right person to manage the design process, especially as I was taking this project on long distance while living on the East Coast, preparing my family for our move. I initially discovered Melanie on Houzz as I was attracted to her design aesthetic. However, as importantly, I required a designer who conducts themselves as a consummate professional. Whether it was working with the trade, managing the communication process regarding ideas and products or understanding my wishes, Melanie always focused on delivering the highest level of service. I am pleased to say that the house is finished and I couldn't be any happier. There were many elements from our previous home that I wanted to incorporate into our new home. Yet, I also wanted to "dial things up a bit" and take chances and Melanie really encouraged and supported that desire. She stayed within my budget and oftentimes offered me several price points and together we decided which items would be worth it and where we could be more conservative. I was very pleased with my decision to use Mod Surrounds and if I do say so myself, my home looks amazing!

Melanie has been our lifeline in designing our home and landscape for over 5 years. In that time, she has transformed our traditional Tuscan home and yard into a stunningly beautiful, contemporary home I dreamed of. Unlike other designers who wanted to give us a safe design, Melanie has created areas for living that not only reflect our personality, but has unique, unexpected style that we grow to love more and more each day. She has designed the outside landscape, multiple living rooms, and bedrooms, and I will continue to use her to expertise to bring every nook and cranny of our house to life and function. I am not always able to articulate what I want, but have come to know that she will give me more than I can describe anyway so I just trust her to run with what she envisions knowing the mood and function and we want. Every detail down to the how the lighting is cast and how it will look from outside the window is considered. Light, furnishing selections, accessories, color and style are blended to perfection. We get so many compliments from friends and they say it is so gorgeous it should be in a magazine! I highly recommend Melanie!!

I worked with Melanie to create 3D renderings of a project example for a potential client. Her photorealistic renderings were exactly what I needed to help our client see our capabilities. Melanie was able to create a visualization tool that was even better than expected. Her renderings are very photorealistic and help clients to visualize with absolute accuracy the intended designed environment. She is an amazingly talented designer that was able to take our vague ideas and create an interior environment that was unique, creative and displayed our product perfectly. Most importantly for us, she was able to do all this in a very short time frame. I would describe Melanie as collaborative, creative, intuitive and talented with a can-do, positive attitude. I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Melanie’s work is stunning and shows an ability to think outside the box when faced with design challenges. She is a talented professional who loves what she does and it shows. She is creative, honest, dependable, and forthright. Her ability to understand what the client wants and to work within their budget and get the project done according to an agreed upon timeline is worthy of my highest recommendation.

Melanie has helped us with room design for our bonus room and also our girls rooms. She is very creative and has great ideas!

We built a new home, with the project taking 11 months once we broke ground. We hired an architect for the initial drawings and then a general contractor. We initially hired Mod Surrounds for designing the exterior materials, but we were so impressed with those services, we hired Mod Surrounds to provided design work for the entire interior and the exterior landscaping. Melanie used her AudoCAD skills to show 3-D renderings, which made it much easier to make decisions. Her taste matched perfectly with our desires, and her sense of humor helped make more palatable the high stress of this project. We were so overwhelmed. sometimes we simply turned it over to Melanie to make decisions for us. She was not afraid to say what she thought, but she accepted that the ultimate decisions were for us to make. The best proof of the quality of her work is the end product. Our new house is very, very beautiful.