Building Design Services in Walnut, CA

“We were very impressed with how they got to the heart of what we were looking for and gave us a beautiful design that reflected our goals. It was always a pleasure working with Josiah and we felt like a team for the whole project. Our home turned out incredibly and everyone that comes over absolutely loves the space.”

“Lisa Little worked wonders in our smallish Venice space. We had complicated needs and she found elegant solutions within a tight budget. We redid a kitchen from the walls out, extended it a bit, added a bar, added in a huge walk-in closet and staircase in the master bedroom, and reconfigured a guest loft. The latter involved enclosing a half-wall for privacy via rotating shutters that Lisa dreamed up and designed. The shutters rotate open when the loft is not in use and closed when we have company up there. This was a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed at not much cost. Lisa helped with fixture choice, color choice, and furniture choice, and worked closely with the general contractor and his subs. She exhibited great taste, a firm hand, and a keen eye on the budget. Recommended without reservation.”

“Giovanni is creative, original, careful and considerate. I cannot imagine a better choice for your architecture needs. He did the plans for an apartment over our garage. When people open the door they literally gasp with surprise at the light, feeling of spaciousness (it's just over 450 sq ft), and unity of presentation. It's all down to him.”

“Made to Matter has exceptional taste in design while bringing a collaborative spirit to the development process. The team understood our vision and brought it to life even better than we could have imagined! Semone, the CEO, is creative, thorough, and reliable. She will take the time to understand your project needs and work diligently to make it happen. I would highly recommend working with Made to Matter!”

“We worked with asap on one of our multifamily apartment projects. We were very pleased with their professionalism, quality of work, and dedication. Having worked with several other architects, I would say that they are by far the most creative ambitious and competent.”

“We have a mid-century one story home built in 1959. We hired TOLO Architecture to update the home. We worked with architect Peter Tolkin who transformed both the interior and exterior making it a fine example of contemporary design while being conscious of both budget and the integrity of the original design. Our living room, kitchen and dinning room were enlarged visually by exterior mounted "barn doors" which open the spaces to the outside, and by raising the exterior walkway elevation with wood decking to the level of the interior floor elevation. Peter's design added 5 feet to the master bedroom, designed a wall of built-in cabinetry of closets and drawers. The design placed barn doors on two adjacent corners of the room which transformed an ordinary bedroom into an extraordinary space which opens to the outside wood deck and pool beyond. He also resigned the circa 1959 "lava rock" free-form swimming pool. Peter used the pools existing footprint to create a new rectangular pool with spa which has a continuous spillway into the pool. It really is a water sculpture with sound! He secured our hillside with a 50' long horizontal white wall (5' tall) which not only keeps the landscape in place, but gives beautiful definition to the pool area. He designed a 400 sq ft pool house, perfect with shower right from pool. Barn doors at the corners makes the pool house an indoor/outdoor space. And last, but not least as the saying goes, Peter created an outdoor living room which steps down from the wood deck. It is complete with a cushion covered concrete banquette and a large fireplace within a concrete base. The house was featured in Pasadena Magazine (cover and inside) in an issue showcasing indoor/outdoor living. It was a pleasure working with TOLO Architecture!! They are creative, cost conscious, and responsive.”

“Ian is so creative, resourceful, flexible and ingenious. We could not have created such a fantastic home were it not for his artful design and efficient use of limited space. He is amazing!”

“I was looking for an architect that would be able to transform my galley kitchen into a kitchen/great room combination without having to bump out any areas of the home. When Kurt presented his plan I was amazed at his ingenuity, creativity and the plans' ease of execution. Moreover, as a newbie home renovator, Kurt assisted in patiently answering my endless questions and helped me with the endless design decisions. In addition, he deftly and professionally handled some "interesting" personalities on the job. He also returned my calls and emails promptly. I am so thankful for his help and plan on using him for my next project, phase #2, the exterior!”

“Experienced, confident, capable, reasonable and intelligent. Ruben listened carefully to the issues we were facing and came up with a design solution that we loved. I would recommend Ruben in a heartbeat for any size job imaginable.”

“Mark Teale is one of the easiest architects to work with in the area! You will not find a better architect or architecture firm that will listen to your ideas and thoughts and illustrate it the way you didn't know you wanted it. They listen, suggest and create your masterpiece just for you. I am asked constantly about who I would recommend to draw up plans and the answer is ALWAYS Mark Teale! You won't go wrong here.”