Pleasant Living, LLC

If you’re anything like myself, guidance and suggestions for creating a brand new space took a lot of professional help. Pleasant Living, LLC afforded me that guidance with thorough planning to create my perfect space. I was presented with a portfolio containing three different floor plans (with measurements) including photos of the plans, ideas and photos of furniture, tables, rugs, lamps, and pillows. Their suggestions for flooring were perfect and wouldn’t have even occurred to me. Rick and Lee made themselves available if I was stuck or needed additional help. They are professional, personable, with high end talents and will be amazing partners in your journey to make your new or current space exactly as you’re envisioning it or maybe a little something different. It was a joy to work with Pleasant Living, LLC and I give them my highest recommendation. I genuinely love my new space! Linda Jones

Last year, my husband and I decided to turn our unused formal dining room into a “library”. Not knowing how to turn this into reality, we hired Pleasant Living, LLC. Lee and Rick did a phenomenal job listening to our ideas of what we were interested in and then coming up with a choice of ideas for rugs, lighting, chairs and bookcases. The final result is fantastic! From rarely spending any time in that room for 19 years, we can honestly say we are in the “library” every single morning drinking coffee, chatting and planning our day. It is such a comfortable, beautiful space, our favorite room in the house!

Lee Melahn is a terrific designer. He designed our pre war apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with great skill and care. He listened carefully to our desires, concerns and lifestyle. He kept us involved in the process allowing us to make good choices in a timely manner. We had a clear budget and Lee worked within that budget. Not only is the space beautiful eliciting “ohhs”, “wows” from family and friends, it is very comfortable and practical. Lee was great at communicating with us and moving the project forward. Highly, highly recommend.

Pleasant Living's Lee Melahn provided an absolutely excellent experience from beginning to end. The project involved complete outfitting of a 1,200 foot Manhattan two-bedroom rental, including floor coverings, drapes and lighting, all furniture and accessories. I am clueless about design, and Lee helped me explore possibilities and hone my own preferences in areas ranging from palette to arrangement. He designed and tailored a floor plan based on my input, populated it with furniture and accessory alternatives for my consideration, guided me to ensure appropriate coordination of the overall result and supervised installation and arrangement. I could not be happier with the outcome. I recommend Pleasant Living without hesitation and in the strongest possible terms.

Lee and Rick did an excellent job on our full house renovation project – 3 floors total. We hired them for both design and project management. It was a great pleasure to have Lee assisted us to go through the whole process which lasted little over 1 year. Lee and Rick are both very open-minded, creative and their design is top notch. We have a traditional house that was built in 1950 and really wanted to transform it to a contemporary style. Lee recommended Transitional style, not only it fits our house’s existing structure but gives a very sharp and elegant look. Colors are always very tricky and tones/shade can change depends on the time of the day/year. Lee took the time and explained the science behind it. He knows exactly what the trendy colors are. Lee is available to talk even at very late of the night (just text him before calling) and willing to accommodate our schedule at last minute. They have various supply vendors throughout the NYC and we were given the best deal you can possibly get. Their high-low strategy helped us to achieve the look we want at a price we can afford. Overall, we are very satisfied with the design and services pleasant living has provided for us. Pleasant Living lives up to its name.

We first worked with Rick Shaver and Lee Melahn in 2001. We were renovating and expanding our Princeton, NJ home, a 1950's modern structure. Every aspect of the house was tired. Not only did Rick and Lee assist in the design of the new addition, they transformed all aspects of the existing structure. They listened to our desires, interpreted our sometimes confusing direction, and pushed us outside our comfort Zone. They worked seamlessly with our architect/builder team making the entire experience a pleasure. The result: stunning. We continue to enjoy the beauty, sophistication and comfort they created in our Princeton home. Next, we asked them to provide a facelift to my first, small, dark, one bedroom NYC apartment, now used as our pied a tier. It is located in a pre-war building on the upper west side of New York. I gave Shaver/Melahn complete free reign. They took down a wall, installed a new kitchen, repaired and painted walls and designed a fresh, new look in fabrics and furnishings. Literally, I saw the place before and then after. All completed on time, on a shoe-string budget, and with great style. Finally, in 2007, we asked this team to manage and execute the interior design of our new 10,000 sq. ft .Naples, Florida home. Once again, they were an important part of the architectural and building team, and oversaw every detail in the design. The project lasted over 2 years. Rick and Lee stood by us at every turn. Once again, they were able to capture our personality and lifestyle and create a comfortable, elegant space. The outcome is extraordinary. Bottom line, this design team knows how to create environments that work. They understand "on time and on budget". Their ability to find unique solutions when working on a tight budgets is remarkable. And yet, they took our larger home and budget and created a showstopper. I look forward to our next project together.

We've photographed several design projects of Rick & Lee's over the years, ranging from high- end lofts to mid- century modern houses to rural farmhouses. They are always top notch, both in their style & taste which is elegant yet comfortable, and with an eye for the best quality of every detail and build. On the personal side they exemplify a warm & caring professionalism, putting all their talents into everything they do. We highly recommend working with this great team.

My company has been working with Rick Shaver and Lee Melahn since 2012. We have worked with them on numerous projects since that time and have had a positive experience all along. Both are talented designers and are professional in their approach to their projects. They have always treated our staff with kindness and respect which I know carry's over to their clients. Much of the work we have done for them has been on a custom basis and their communication skills are superb. It is imperative that we have solid communication when working on large projects of custom pieces, and they did not disappoint. We value our relationship with Rick and Lee and look forward to many years of continued collaboration.

It is always a true joy to work with the Pleasant Living team. The Vision Council has executed numerous successful events over the years with the help of Pleasant Living's design expertise - specifically, media-centered events at vision trade shows, as well as at South by Southwest conferences. The Pleasant Living team offers assistance from start to finish of all projects, keeping the clients' goals and budget top of mind throughout. They work extremely hard to understand the vision of the project, and without a doubt have always exceeded our expectations. Not only that, but they're just lovely to work with and be around, making each project they're on feel that much more seamless and enjoyable. The Vision Council would highly recommend Pleasant Living to absolutely anyone on the market for a top-notch design team!

We were lucky enough to have Lee and Rick as neighbors for many many years and have learned a lot from them. Other than being big fans of their work, they are a pleasure to work with!

Pleasant Living's expertise changed the quality of my life 100%. Their outstanding sense of design, their thorough attention to detail, and their restrained sophisticated taste transformed my environment multidimensionally-- working with color, flow, function, lighting, pattern, composition, layout- all the while creating a unified whole.

Rick Shaver has been our designer of choice since my wife and I started working with design professionals 25 years ago. Rick brings together his understanding of space, light, color and texture to create livable homes in whatever style you want. He also works to balance the needs of all family members. I imagine once Rick stops working, we'll have to stop renovating.