MLB Design Group

We have worked with Marie on four different projects, she is excellent and a genius space planner. Our first remodel rearranged the main part of our house, new kitchen, living room, entry, dining room. We love it still, over 15 years ago. We did a master bedroom/bath addition/remodel that totally transformed our space from cramped and boring to an oasis that we love every day. She listens and truly collaborates with you along the way. Most recently in 2020 we did a laundry room/bathroom remodel in the only remaining 'original' area of our 1965 rambler. It is so nice to have a functional laundry room. We now have stacked full size laundry which I didn't know we could do but it allows so much more usable space. We highly recommend Marie and recommend that you let her push you a bit past your comfort zone with finishes. The result is always interesting and has movement.

We found Marie to be an excellent designer to help us with our bathroom. Her ideas are practical yet so creative! Our bathroom had to be ADA designed. We had a wall torn out to provide the space. Her design was beyond what we could have imagined. She communicated so well with the whole crew. I wish we had another project for Marie. I would hire her in a heartbeat.

Marie transformed my space into a home that is beautiful as well as functional. She has an amazing eye and an ability to envision the finished product. I had never done any kind of remodel and she walked me through the entire process. She started by walking through the kitchen, dining room and living room (areas we remodeled) asking lots of questions about how I use the space, who else uses it, what we all do there. She used the information to design a space that works perfectly for me and my family. I would never use anyone else to design my space!

We have been working with Marie on a complete house remodel project and just finished Phase I which covered the entire interior except for the master suite. The outcome is spectacular - the space is not only warm, elegant and inviting, but also uniquely ours. Marie invested the time to learn our life style and aesthetics; through an iterative design process that ran through the entire project, we debated, rejected, tweaked and updated many of her proposals; she never ran out of patience or ideas to address our needs. I am also impressed by her knowledge about industry trends, new materials and building requirements – she not only has an impeccable taste, she knows how things WORK. It's been a real pleasure working with her; and I am sure we will enjoy the re-imagined space for years to come!

It was an absolute pleasure working with Marie! She worked with us on a full kitchen and dining room remodel. Marie has an amazing ability to listen to your needs and from them create a beautiful and effective vision for a space. We were so grateful for her attention to detail and deep thought behind the use of each area of the kitchen and dining room. We needed a functional modern space that met our unique storage needs while looking like it could have been a part of the home from the time it was built in the late thirties. She succeeded on every front with innovative space & storage ideas that gave us more usable space than we could have imagined. Her ability to mix finishes was simply beautiful. She also has the patience of a saint as she navigated us through the overwhelming world of tile and countertops. The end result is a space that is now truly the heart of our home and very uniquely our own. We couldn't be more happy and couldn't recommend her more highly.

I moved into my cottage-style house about 13 years ago. I’ve always struggled with the lack of storage space in the house and the far less-than-perfect kitchen. However, after years of celebrations, parties, holidays and warm gatherings in the home, one adapts to what is – making little tweaks here and there with furnishings, gadgets, organizing cupboards within existing limits, etc. About two years ago, I began thinking seriously about a kitchen remodel. I had some general ideas of what I (thought) I wanted but wasn’t sure where to start. Fate brought Marie and I together due to a random conversation with a friend who knew her, and suggested that I get in touch. During the get-to-know-you process, Marie provided a form and asked a lot of questions about my lifestyle and wish list for a kitchen. I was forced, for the first time really, to think through how I wanted this kitchen space to function. I realized immediately that I was unintentionally limiting my thoughts to the existing configuration of the current kitchen. One of the first things Marie said when she came to my home was “your kitchen is actually a hallway.” Meaning, to get anywhere else in the house everybody had to walk through the single passage in the kitchen. Realization #1 – yup, whenever I entertain, people jam up in the kitchen as they meet and greet – on the way to the rest of the house. She looked at the space in a completely different and creative way. She never forgot my complaining about the lack of storage, and creatively tucked storage spaces everywhere possible in the design. Because Marie spent time getting to know me and my priorities and wishes (and budget), the rest of the process of selecting appliances, tile, surfaces, finishes, fixtures etc. was a perfect balance of presenting and pointing me in the direction of options and ideas, and not overwhelming me with the absolute world of possibilities. This worked well for me and I knew that if I didn’t see things that I really loved, she would present more options. One thing she said early on was that she didn’t want me to be in a situation where I was looking at a kitchen remodel or going through a home show and said “I didn’t know I could have that!” Realization #2 – the world changed since I last purchased appliances, countertops, tile and fixtures. There is no way I could have thoroughly researched these things with my work schedule being what it is and I appreciated being presented with brochures and sent to showrooms and demonstrations -including an incredible cooking demo which sold me on a steam oven. When it came time to meet with potential contractors and review the detailed plans she had prepared, Marie joined me - which was invaluable. The final decision on contractors was of course mine, but an important factor (besides price of course) was observing how they addressed questions and potential issues together during these meetings. That relationship was critical during the construction phase and Marie was respectful, creative, collaborative and strong with the contractor and workers on site when the situation called for her consultation or oversight. I’m currently at the “punch list” phase and no concern or remaining detail is too small for her to address with me and/or the contractor. Throughout this process my concerns, ideas and suggestions have been addressed immediately and respectfully. Professionally, I’m a Registered Dietitian. Food and nourishment are at my very core and having a beautiful, functional kitchen which provides me with opportunities to fully immerse in and share these passions is so important. It is spectacular. My new kitchen is the perfect blend of updated and understated elegance and functionality, which honors the character and era of my home as well. Marie deserves the credit.

Marie pays attention to detail and thinks outside of the box. She gave us several ideas to work with when we were designing a remodel on our master bathroom. She was instrumental in helping make decisions we could not make with out her knowledge for design. Thanks Marie!

I have been following Marie's work for years without getting the pleasure to work with her. I have a couple family members that have had Marie dream up and design their projects. I have always been envious of how their projects turned out to look like. This year, it was finally my turn to get the pleasure to work with Marie! I had no doubt in my mind that Marie was the right person to put together our kitchen design. Other designers turned out to be merely contractors. They couldn't see past the construction. They couldn't see the whole picture of what my husband and I wanted. She took photos, blue prints, and the ideas that we had in mind, to come up with a few different designs that could work for us, our home, and our project budget. After picking the design that worked best for us, Marie was also a great sounding board when it came to helping us pick colors. She would give advise when asked to make sure that the whole project flowed well. In the end, Marie met our needs, and dreams to come up with a beautiful, open design that brought out the beauty we saw in our home. Thank you Marie for your inspiration! It certainly was a fabulous experience working with you! Kim Dorman

My first encounter with Marie and her design skills was when she designed my parents home five years ago. When my husband and I decided to add on almost 1000 ft. to our 1960s home we knew Marie would be the best person to start the project with. She came up ideas and a design that we never would of been able to achieve on our own. She worked side by side with us to design a remodel that encompasses everything we were looking for, a mud room, a laundry room, my dream kitchen as well as a master bath and closet. If you are looking for someone to actually listen to you and work with you on a project large or small, there is no one I would recommend more. She comes up with ideas that makes your project become your home, small touches that make every inch usable thoughtful space.

Marie is an outstanding designer!. She really thinks outside the box and worked with us to reach the kitchen of our dreams. From our initial consultation and dreaming phase to completion, Marie offered valuable insights and resource recommendations. She really had us rethink our space and helped us visualize the changes she suggested making and we're glad we listened. We are very excited to use and live in our new kitchen/dining room space and would definitely work with Marie again!

Marie is a fountain of ideas. We needed to renovate a small, poky little bathroom and wanted a tub (for a child), a separate shower, a WC and vanity. Marie managed all this beautifully with a wet-room concept and an RV tub. The result is *exactly* the layout we wanted. Moreover, she has fantastic taste. We met at a tile store to go over her choices: looking at their collections quickly had us overwhelmed without seeing anything we liked, but the pieces she had picked out for us beforehand were fabulous. I would definitely go to her first for any future work.

I hired Marie Blackburn to do a whole house renovation on a home that we had newly purchased. We bought it from the original owner and it was basically untouched since 1972. Needless to say it needed a lot of work. I met Marie at the Seattle Home Show and what I was really struck by was how great a listener she was. She asked a ton of questions to get to the heart of what I wanted my house to look like. Her ability to take my suggestions and turn them into amazing designs made her so wonderful to work with. She was warm and friendly throughout the project and she helped guide my vision into a truly beautiful home. That's not to say that you have to know exactly what you want. Marie's extensive experience entered into every part of the project. She was very knowledgable about finishes and had a great sense of how to make a space functional. I could not be happier with the finished product. Our new kitchen is my favorite room in the house. Marie made a warm modern space that is functional and streamlined. She also designed our master bath, master bedroom closets, main floor bath, and a family space with an extra bedroom in our unfinished basement. I would not hesitate to hire Marie again for any project. In my opinion she has the expertise to renovate any space in any style.