PURE Design Inc.

worked with Ami McKay and PURE Design 22 years ago, and given how selective (okay, picky) I am about how my home looks and feels, hiring PURE Design as my interior designer was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Ami and her team bring an incredible level of professionalism that makes the whole interior design and home renovation process, from start to finish, uncomplicated, seamless, and FUN. Working with Ami is effortless. She listens, really listens, and somehow, almost instantly, understands exactly what you’re hoping for. There’s also such a timeless quality to PURE’s work. After all these years, friends still comment on how warm and inviting my home feels, and the best part is, I still love it just as much as I did when it was first completed. Now that I’ve decided to expand, choosing who to trust again was simple. Ami got it right the first time. HC

I had the absolute pleasure of having PURE Design complete a total renovation of my home. My home has been beautifully transformed and, yet, it maintains its original charm which I absolutely LOVE. I really wanted a beautifully, well-lit, functioning, welcoming home. Ami and her PURE team really knocked it out of the park! It surpassed my expectations and I feel grateful every day that I get to call this little oasis…home. My home is absolutely spectacular. Bright, warm, cozy and inviting. Well thought out design and functionality both upstairs and downstairs. Thoughtful and spectacular colours, fixtures and finishings. Ami is an absolute delight to work with - eager to create a home as you want it, bursting with positivity & creativity and extraordinarily talented and professional. She is also just an overall wonderful human to everyone in her orbit. The PURE team are equally as lovely, accommodating, professional and talented. My interior styling is absolutely stunning. Don is an absolute delight to work with. He runs a tight ship, exceptionally professional, has a keen eye and his talent and instincts match Ami’s! They truly are the dream team.! He is always available to answer any questions or concerns, has acute attention to detail and manages the construction team with ease and confidence. Both have gone beyond my expectations in working with me, helping me, listening to my questions and concerns and being overly accommodating!! They truly care about their clients and treat each project like it’s their own. I really can’t say enough about the entire PURE team. You will not be disappointed in the final presentation and will have friends for life. I highly recommend PURE Design - they live up to their reputation, word and value!!

I had Pure Design /Jen Eves help me with my living room. I cannot say how much of a great job she did. Professional and kind. She knew how to get my living room to where I wanted it. She listened to what I liked and got it perfect! Thank you!

Ami (designer) and Don (contractor) are a power couple who renovated our home, taking it from what the house inspector told me he expected would be a tear-down, to an award-winning magazine-featured home renovation. Ami and her team were so passionate and responsive with the design, and super friendly and reassuring. The magazine features of our renovated home taught me that the style for our home can be referred to as "boho", "beach style", "west coast", "breezy indoor-outdoor style", and/or "cottage-style". I have little understanding of what these words really mean, but I love our design, that is for sure, and I can confirm that it has gone a very long way towards taking the sting out of remote-working through the pandemic. The fun part for me was when the contractor Don started working his magic. Don never gave even one thought to tearing down our one-of-a-kind home, even though it would have been much easier for him. No way he was doing that (and no way I was paying for all those new house materials just to lose the beauty and uniqueness we already had). The house was gutted. Wood at the corners of the house was moldy and rotting, everything was uneven, electrical, plumbing, everything had to be saved. The house literally sits on the side of a mountain, so the driveway is hilariously steep, making the whole process of getting material in and out that much more difficult. Don strikes a perfect balance between being a calm leader who can solve any problem, having a great sense of humour (jokes are constantly brewing in his mind at ALL times), and making completely sure that every contracted trade does not waste money but completes the job exactly to Don's satisfaction. Believe me, the level of Don's satisfaction was much higher than my own. And communication with Don is top notch. He never shies away from any question, is always straight-forward, and above board, and tells it like it is. Don make honesty rule #1, and to me, that is the make-it-or-break-it factor. He didn't make me feel like I was being a pain, even though I for sure was, sharing with him all kinds of checklists at every step which just duplicated lists that he and his professional staff has already prepared. As a final mention, I have to add that Don can easily switch from business talk to fun talk and back, making the whole process a distinct pleasure. Highly recommended.

We had the privilege of working with PURE designs founder and owner Ami McKay on a 6500 sqft new build house in West Vancouver as well as another project and we can not say enough about PURE. Their creativity, and design visions are amazing, always different and original and the consent communication that is necessary while going through the design / building process was always there. We hope to do many projects in the future with PURE DESIGN! Thanks Ami and crew!

Ami McKay and her team did an amazing job helping me decorate my new condo. From the first home visit I knew I'd chosen the right team to work with. Ami is so warm and friendly, as is virtually every member of the Pure Design team. They listened to my needs and offered fantastic suggestions and options. Designer Jen Eves was so fun and easy to work with. I had limited funds to work with, and Ami and Jen managed to pull off even more than I had anticipated, all within my budget. I couldn't be happier with my place - I literally never want to leave home anymore!!

We have worked with PURE Design Inc since 2016. We have handcrafted Custom Furniture & Mill work for their residential projects. It is always a pleasure working with this upbeat team and bringing their amazing designs to life!

We hired Ami (designer) & Don (Project Manager) in 2014 after purchasing a house that needed some updating to better align with our tastes. Although we had worked through a pretty major renovation of our last house on our own, we were working with a pretty tight timeline this time round – just a few weeks before we needed to move in to refinish floors, paint, lacquer cabinets, add wallpaper, install new counters & backsplash, re-grout fireplace stone, etc. I won’t say the renovation finished without any hiccoughs – they never do! – but we were happy with the way in which the team worked to resolve any challenges that did arise. Ami has an infectious positivity about her that makes what can be a very stressful situation – renovations! – into something actually enjoyable… and she has an impeccable eye for design that I am reminded of every time I step in my home. We are very satisfied with how the renovation turned out, and were especially happy that we were able to move in just in time for our son to start his new preschool! We couldn’t have done it without Ami, Don, and their team. Three years later and we still love our home.

Working with Ami and her PURE Design team was such a great experience. I have long followed Ami's beautiful designs and knew that she would be the right person to work with on our main floor renovation which included a complete gut of our kitchen. I knew that I would benefit from Ami's vision and stellar design skills but what I truly appreciated was Ami's collaborative approach. She truly put the client in the center of the design experience and "coached" us through the process, providing as much or as little support as we felt we needed to make our design come to life. The other benefit of working with Ami and PURE Design is that she is just such a fantastic person to work with. I think I need another project just so we can work with her again!

My wife and I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Ami, Meaghan and Amber from PURE Design Inc. From the first meeting we knew that they were the perfect fit for our project. Not only did they demonstrate exceptional skills, but also their passion and dedication are unparalleled. They were so innovative in trying to meet our budget whilst achieving an upscale and boutique look. We trusted them completely to help bring our vision to life. That is why we now have a one-of-a-kind store that no other has. Ami and Meaghan created a signature design (a small green house) that will undoubtedly be a special feature in all of our stores in the future. Thank you Ami, Meaghan and Amber for being the very best and the most dedicated design team we have had the honour of working with. We will have to come back to them for future store design and home!

Ami and Monica from PURE Design Inc have been an absolute dream to work with. From our very first call, I knew they were the way to go. Ami understood right away what kind of look I was going for which made my life (and my husband's life) so much easier. I trusted them completely and they were able to design our dream home from the ground up, and I could not be happier. Ami took the time to really get to know us so now everyone in my family now has a room that reflects their own personality, especially the kids. My only regret is not having PURE construct the house (we used a separate builder); doing so would have saved us many headaches along the way. Thank you so much Ami and Monica for your tireless work and beautiful design!

We are about 2/3 of the way through the renovation of our home. Working with Ami and Meaghan from Pure for the past year has been a true pleasure. Ami's vision for the design of our home took into account our own style which she blended seemlessly with some prior renovations we started a couple of years earlier. Ami is incredibly upbeat and optimistic - no problem is too difficult to tackle! She is creative and innovative with solutions and is willing to be very flexible to incorporate our needs and wants! She has a high level of professionalism and customer service is a definite focus. We are looking forward to seeing it when it is entirely completed, but so far our home looks amazing and it beautifully reflects who we are as a family! Thank you to the Pure Team!

We are in the final stages of a major home renovation designed and executed by the Pure Design team. We first met with Ami and Don 18 months ago - and they quickly were able to present us with an exciting vision of how to make our 1930's home work for our modern day busy family. Ami radiates genuine warmth and immediately made us feel at ease. It has been exciting to see her vision become reality and I can honestly say we love it all! We worked most closely with Don (Construction project manager) and he was extremely professional, responsive, detail oriented and generally just an excellent person to work with! Home renovations are stressful - but generally I could relax knowing he would make sure everything was done RIGHT! As with all major home renovations there were some delays and budget challenges - but we are over the moon with the result and now have a home we are excited to live in and proud to show off! A huge thank you to the PURE design team!

As contractors, we hired Pure Design Inc to do the interior design for a luxury home project. Ami and her team have been excellent to work with in creating a gorgeous and exciting space. She's picked such beautiful details to really set this home apart. She's always available and easy to communicate with any time we have an inquiries or concerns. Ami is genuinely one of the nicest professionals i have worked with and i look foward to collaborating with her in future endeavors.

Updated review: We had really hoped to leave this all behind us & that our very brief original review would suffice, but now we see Pure Design has left a comment along with photographs. Because reviews are so important to the consumer, we feel it is only fair to provide some further information to clarify. Please note that this is all either our opinion or experience: 1. Our house was built in the 1930's, not in the 1890's as Pure has suggested. 2. Our house is very well maintained & the kitchen had a full renovation in 2003 - any issues that an "old house" may have encountered were dealt with at that time. The electrical was all updated, etc. An older, partial reno of the upstairs bathroom had also been done, probably in the 1990's. ( The only issue we ever encountered in Pure's reno is that we needed to leave the upstairs toilet in the same position / minor flooring restriction. ) We feel the age of our house had no bearing on the renovation whatsoever. 3. Yes, we chose to adhere to a strict budget, and we did a large amount of the demolition ourselves to keep the costs down. We feel we were on top of everything in the renovation & had to do a lot of troubleshooting on our own. We have reams of emails to attest to this. Part of the 12% savings was due, in our opinion & experience, to a lot of troubleshooting on our behalf. 4. In general we feel that Pure's communication with us was inconsistent / disorganized. We spent a great deal of our summer working-out ongoing issues, and coming to their solutions ourselves. Most items like faucets, sinks, lights, etc were ordered by Pure online. We feel there was an emphasis placed on form, but not functionality or the item(s) being appropriate for our home. For example, a foyer pendant light was ordered that we approved on paper based on a photo, but when it arrived at the house it was massive & ill suited. We sent it back & sourced our own light. Also, we ended up with 3 different shades of white in our powder room: the sink, toilet, faucet. We had to send the white faucet back & have it replaced with a stainless steel one. Our sink & toilet remain with different white shades. 5. The photographs Pure has provided look great & we are pleased with some aspects of the end result, but certainly not with all. What the photos do not show: • Our upstairs bathroom tiles are terribly stained, & are so due to what we feel was incorrect installation of the cement tiles. We were never given a definitive reason. The tiler had to be called back 2 additional times to attempt to remedy this. He removed the surface protection of the tiles so that now they yellow immediately when water is splashed on them. He also attempted to paint some chipping with a felt pen ! We have to clean the tiles on a regular basis with hours of bleach sitting on the tile surface to reduce the yellowing, but they still are riddled with permanent stains - although a portion of the tiling cost was refunded, this issue was left unresolved. A rather large hole in the tile wall was left 'ungrouted'. Please find photos at the bottom. ( Photos were taken after the tiler came back twice. ) • The tiler spilled acid or something on our hallway runner & it is permanently stained. Pure emailed that they were going to come by to pick it up to have cleaned, but never did. • The painter was subpar & had to be called back on several occasions. We ended up having to hire another painter to come in to touch-up cracks & several areas that only one coat of paint had been administered. • The kitchen cabinet unit was installed prior to us being notified & was placed approximately 6" from the back wall. It is a narrow kitchen to begin with, and with a kitchen island placed right beside the cabinet it would have been difficult to fully open the fridge & cupboards without backing into the island. We were never consulted about this & the entire unit ( at our request ) had to be re-positioned with a large area of the drywall being hammered out behind the unit to maximize space. • We were surprised that Pure did not provide us with a wall paint colour consultation & were going to just paint the kitchen / bathrooms a standard 'white'. We ended up going to Benjamin Moore & were recommended a light grey colour. The tiler who installed the subway tiles in the kitchen had no idea what colour grout to use as he had not been notified, so we chose that colour too. • Due to a cancellation by the deck door installer we ended up sourcing the back glass deck doors ourselves. • A lavatory faucet ( for a bathroom sink ) was ordered & installed as our upstairs bathtub faucet. After this was brought to our attention by the plumber, a lot of back & forth between us & Pure ensued. After we investigated, a verification from both the manufacturer & distributer were offered & we were told it would take 40 minutes to fill the tub !! At our request Pure removed this faucet, re-tiling had to be done, & we ended up having to source our own tub faucet that was functional. We could cite more issues but will simply end with saying that we would never recommend Pure Design to anyone. Original review: Our experience with Pure Design Inc. was mostly unpleasant - we are not recommending this company. We did a small renovation with them that took about 6 months to complete. Based on their management fee we expected a much smoother process and a timely completion. We feel that neither was achieved.

Had to give a retainer of 7500 dollars. After two months not happy with any designs given and they retained 4000 dollars . I feel and is only my opinion, that there was little or nothing to show for the monies spent. Also, I have only ever used another designer, when my children were small. We decided to wait for renovations, and as we all know, spaces change when children get older.

My name is Damian Cassidy , co-owner of The Natural Textile Company Inc. We have collaborated with Ami over many years , and are always extremely impressed by not just her talents as a designer , but her ability to guide and enthuse her clients . She is decisive , gently persuasive and amenable.... and always upbeat, We wish her continued success with her work.

Ami McKay is a very talented designer. She is professional, reliable and a joy to work with! We initially hired Ami to review our kitchen plan. After meeting with her, we quickly realized that she could transform our new house into something special. Ami worked within our tight budget and helped us with lighting, furniture and materials selection. It was a pure pleasure working with Ami. She is generous with her time and responds quickly to questions.

I recently moved and hired Ami and her team from Pure to redesign my new house from the ground up. Appreciating that I am a busy professional with a demanding work schedule, Ami and her team made the entire process enjoyable and stress free. From her initial consult I knew she heard what I wanted and also saw some needs that I wasn't even aware of. I trusted her vision and she followed through creating an amazing new home, full of luxury and beauty. Overall a positive and exciting experience for myself and family. Highly recommended.

Ami and her team exceeded our expectations throughout every step of the process. We are thrilled with the end result and would not hesitate to recommend PURE Design Inc.

Before I hired Ami I was a puddle of decorating uncertainties and indecisions. I could not see the big picture let along the details that would enhance my dwelling into a serene inviting home for me and my family. It could not have been easier working with Ami! She somehow quickly interpreted what I was looking for and professionally held my hand while we sourced out the best decorating choices to make within my defined budget. Ami truly has made my home a super-star. It seems that everyone who comes over compliments me on how beautiful and comfortable looking it is - and some even go as far and insist that if I ever consider selling my house they want to be the first on my list to buy it, furnishings and all. Helena Cynamon West Vancouver, BC

We undertook an extensive renovation of a 100 year old home, which included replacement of the exterior cedar shingle siding. This have us the opportunity to completely rethink the colour scheme for the house. We consulted with Ami on interior/exterior paint colours, space planning and material selection which would maintain the classical appearance of the home, while reflecting the contemporary updates undertaken. Ami was very prompt and responsive in our communications, her recommendations were very appropriate, aesthetically pleasing and creative. We went through a couple of different test patches and Ami's advice was always decisive and clearly articulated. We are delighted with the colours selected, and we receive numerous comments and compliments from neighbours, friends and strangers, about the colours. We look forward to our next opportunity to work with Ami.

My wife and I are busy full time professionals with 2 young children. We wanted to have a house with the look and feel of a high end hotel, and what the Pure Team created for us at the reveal blew us away! We held an open house party and all our guests said, "Your house puts our homes to shame..." Though as nice as it is to have "wowed" our family and friends, more importantly we couldn't imagine the house being any more perfect for us. Our daughter squealed with delight when she viewed her room for the first time, and ran to her bed and jumped and snuggled in with the hugest smile on her little face. Her actions and response were exactly how the rest of us felt. We loved the fact that PURE handled both the design and contracting which gave us peace of mind and made it effortless for us. They are a one stop shop. We completely trusted them to create a sophisticated and comfortable home for us, and they came through with flying colours. They successfully took our ordinary house and transformed it into a beautiful dream home for our family to enjoy for years to come.

Amy at Pure Design was great! At first I gave her not the best budget to work with for a transformation of my apartment which is large-ish for apartements in Vancouver and she came up with exactly what I was looking for and even specifics to ideas on the millwork, flooring, tiling, and fixturing options to keep me under budget. Amy came into my apartment with an assistant and they were very professional and friendly and easy to work with. They inquired about what was import to me and got to know me a bit on the personal side to see if they could get that reflected in the inspiration photos she provided and the ending designs. What I had done was definitely not the typical cookie cutter reno. I had a picture in my head of what I wanted and she not only made it happen but made that picture better than what I had in mind. She had a lot of practical advice as well and was readily available to respond even after I had her draw the designs and her job was done. She was also helpful in putting me in contact with contractors as I was project managing myself. Word of advice though, if you have a rather large renovation and have a full time job, it probably is worth it to use her project management services. I thought I was saving money by doing it on my own but it was way more grief than it was worth and I probably paid more doing it on my own than getting the savings with the project manager which would offset their fees. Thanks Amy! Great work. vic

Ami McKay is genius. She walked through our house and within 30 minutes, we had a fantastic plan that has taken an average home and made it incredible. We did the work four years ago and when people walk into our home they say, "Wow...this is beautiful.!" She had a vision for the space right away and helped us choose paint colors, upholstery fabric and the smallest details. We actually went shopping together multiple times to choose furniture and accessories. She continues to offer advice! If I see something I'm thinking of buying, I email her a photo and she tells me whether it will work. I can't imagine doing anything again without her advice. She is the BEST!

We have worked with Ami for over one year on a renovation of both the inside and the outside (living area) of our home. Ami is extremely creative and has an excellent sense of design. What makes Ami unique is her ability to really listen to what the client wants, look at how they live and understand what they want to accomplish in the home. Ami doesn't push a particular "look". She creates amazing environments in a variety of styles using both new and existing pieces from the home. As a person Ami is warm, authentic and is truly passionate about her work. She sees beauty in everything! Ami is also a lot of fun and makes the design process stress free.

Ami really knows how to incorporate the old with the new and gave my home a fresh new look that we loved. She's such a pleasure to work with, fun and gets the job done on time. Highly recommend her services for your home, office or retail space.

My husband and I have worked with Ami McKay on two different projects and wouldn't hesitate to work with her again. Our first project was a renovation of the main floor of our small townhouse. She helped us to turn our "builder basic" living room, dining room and kitchen into a chic, unified living area that maximized the use of the available space, and made best use of our modest budget. One of the best pieces of advice she gave us was to work with the existing kitchen cabinetry rather than replace it. She showed us how we could fit in an extra bank of cabinets and an island, and pointed us to a place that could make doors to match the existing kitchen cabinets, but be attached to Ikea bases. The end result was the most functional kitchen in our townhouse complex, and it has made our townhouse highly desirable for renters. During our work with Ami, she helped us to discover our preferred design aesthetic, which evolved from transitional to what I would call "colorful modern". We engaged Ami during our hunt for a new home, and we made the decision to buy our current home based on her confidence that we could do a lot with the space. We then embarked on a dramatic overhaul of the main floor of the house, creating what is truly our dream home. Ami and her assistant listened to, and incorporated many of our ideas/desires into the design, and they also made a number of excellent suggestions that made clever use of the existing space. Together (because it was truly a partnership), we have created an open, bright, contemporary, colorful space that is a wonderful antidote to the rain/grey skies that are typical of a North Vancouver winter. No matter where you are on the main floor, there is something interesting and/or beautiful to look at - beautiful woodwork, interesting tiles, or colorful accents. I'm particularly happy with the kitchen, which any dedicated cook would envy - loads of storage and counter space, built-in fridge and dishwasher, large pantry, tidy appliance garages, convection oven and microwave that serves as a secondary oven, and a wonderful induction cooktop. I would never go back to gas. As colorful and contemporary as the house is, Ami worked with us to keep the permanent fixtures and tiles neutral (white walls, white and walnut cabinetry, charcoal, marble, and cream tilework in the living room, family room, kitchen and guest bathroom). The advantage to this is that we can change up the look of the house simply by changing the accessories. And if we decide to sell it will be easy for prospective buyers to put their own personality on the house. The project was not without its hiccups, in that we had some issues with some of the tradespeople - some brought in by Ami's assistant, some chosen by us. These hiccups added delays and costs to the project, but the result at the end of the day is a house that both my husband and I love, and that we can't wait to get home to at the end of the day. We have a couple of bathrooms and a bedroom upstairs that also need attention - I wouldn't hesitate to work with Ami again to transform these spaces as well.

I hired Ami with the goal of finding a talented designer who could help me design a beautiful dream house from scratch (brand new construction) - and WOW did Ami deliver! WOW are the words uttered by everyone that visits us in our beautiful new home. Ami spent the time getting to know my husband and I so she was able to capture and design a home that incorporated our very different personalities and taste. The different textures (fabrics, wallpaper, materials), tones (both dark and light), materials, decor, detailing - from start to finish was a job well done. The result was a contemporary classical home that reflects today's colour palates yet incorporated a look and feel that surely will transcend time (very important criteria for me). Ami was completely professional yet caring, patient and listened to what we liked/didn't like and to our budget requirements. She made everything look like the high-end home we were building. Once you meet Ami, you will know that how I describe her is exactly who/how she is. I look forward to working with her again!

From concept to design to project management, the Pure Team created something that was unique to our style and 100 year old character home. We are very pleased with the amazing transformation which includes a dream kitchen, spa master bathroom and many unique spaces in the house that our family will enjoy for many years to come. The renovation also included 2 separate one bedroom suites now with modern appliances and fixtures, and easily rented as a result. Throughout the project, Pure Design was professional, attentive to our needs, flexible and easy to work with and full of great ideas. We are very happy with the design of our place.

When we first decided to re-design and renovate our Port Moody home, we knew we wanted a different look and we wanted to create a healthier home. We just didn’t know how to achieve it. We were extremely fortunate to find Ami to help us with the entire process. She brought creativity and imagination to the project and was a tremendous source of ideas. She was able to look at the big picture and provide design suggestions that would all tie in together into a fresh look that suited our tastes. She was also very respectful of our desire to consider health and environmental factors and she made many recommendations about materials and other ‘green’ options that appealed to us. As her portfolio can attest, she is a very talented designer. What her professional accomplishments do not show however is how much of a pleasure it is to work with her. We recommend her without any reservations.

Ami put sparkle into our home and helped create spaces that stopped us in our tracks. She has a positive and warm personality that resonated from the first time we met with her. She has a keen sense of professionalism and style. She was always on time with her appointments and was flexible with schedule. When we gave her our budgets she worked within them. Her experience was obvious to us when she managed to organize the ideas in our dream book and make it a reality. We had been collecting these ideas for 10 years and the resulting product gives a feeling of harmony when you walk through the rooms. This was the first time we had worked with a designer and were cautious of the whole experience but our trust in her proved worthwhile since she helped us choose mouldings, room colours, door styles, tile work, cabinetry, lighting, window treatments and furniture styles. At times the building process was overwhelming but she helped manage these details for us so it could be elegant. She and her team also worked well with our builder and were able to provide them with needed specifications. She suggested a few sub-trades of her preference and their work was classy and professional. In life we sometimes need to be reminded to stop and enjoy the moment. Our dream home allows us to be mindful of this each and every day.

Ami was fantastic to work with. She was intensely concerned with our needs, lifestyle and budget as she developed the plans for the expansion of our cabin into our full-time home. She worked easily with all members of the household who sometimes had competing demands. We loved the plans, the execution and are completely delighted with our home. Ami has extraordinary talent and a lovely personality along with a knack for guiding clients toward decisions that will make their projects the best they can be within budget.

We loved Ami's service. She was professional and cheerful to work with. She found very practical solutions for our quick renovation in time for the arrival of the new member. Most importantly, the style matches the existing house and our taste.