Sixzero6 Design

Jeff helped us navigate a kitchen, powder room and pantry remodel. We had lived in our home for 20 years and knew all its idiosyncrasies. We had lots of our own ideas about functionality and materials and the overall look we wanted to attain. Jeff listened carefully to everything and then helped us formulate a plan that achieved all of our goals resulting in the beautiful and efficient space we had always envisioned. His strengths are that he's an excellent listener, he's a stickler for details, he knows and understands both residential and multi-family construction, and he was very patient and professional at all times - a real joy to work with.

We hired Jeff of Sixzero6 Design to help us remodel our kitchen and master bathroom. He is a man of consummate taste. But he is not a dictatorial prima donna. Where we differed on design we worked it out and he never lost sight of the fact that we were the clients and we would live with the results. It is important to note that his skills are not merely aesthetic. He has clearly designed many a kitchen and bathroom and knows his way around the materials, equipment and the other practical things it takes to make things look good and work efficiently. His choices of fixtures, tiles, counters, cabinets and lighting were all spot on and really work well together. Plus, he can not only design, he can execute. He knows how things are constructed and how to talk to tradesmen and get the work done. It is difficult to do any construction work in the busy Seattle market. Jeff found the people to get the job done promptly, well and within budget. He even rolled up his sleeves and wielded a drill when necessary! We are incredibly pleased with Jeff and our new kitchen and bathroom

Jeff from Sixzero6 Design was a critical member of our family’s project to add a mother-in-law unit behind our small Florida home. I had been dreaming for years of replacing a rarely-used one-car garage with something more functional. Late in 2015, we finally pulled the trigger and hired an architect to design a custom 2-car garage with a second-story 1-br, 1-ba apartment above it to match our house. We had no idea how many details we’d encounter with our beloved/cursed carriage house project. Soon, the number of decisions became overwhelming. Decisions seemed to build on decisions with one choice affecting the other choice. We found ourselves running in circles – should we buy a separate water filter for the kitchen sink or get a refrigerator with a built-in water filter/dispenser – and in what color? If we went with the water filter, it required its own faucet and limited our choice of sinks. If we got the fridge that would fit our small kitchen and had a built-in filter, we’d be stuck with a fridge that got bad reviews. That’s when Jeff came to our rescue. Not only was he critical in helping us choose the best filter/fridge combination, but he advised us on everything else – up to and including the kitchen sink. His expertise touched every room in the house. He helped us choose fans and light fixtures, window treatments, and door stops. For our bathroom, he went out and got samples to offer us a choice among coordinated tile, paint colors, and flooring. For our kitchen, he did the entire design and gave us tips on how to get the most out of Ikea products. He also answered our countless questions about the unique way Ikea does business for purchasing/installing a kitchen. He has years of experience and brought all of those best practices with him to our project. We’re about a month away from being able to showcase the results of Jeff’s vision for the interior finishes of our new guest home. I can’t wait to post pictures of the final results.

Jeffrey Blum was wonderful in suggesting products, ordering those selected, working with the contractor (even at long distance), and assuring that things were done right.

I'll cut to the chase: Jeff was the best part of my renovated kitchen project.... and I LOVE my renovated kitchen! The best money I spent on the project was for Jeff's services, no doubt about it. Jeff and I met when he was in NY to discuss renovating my teeny tiny Manhattan galley kitchen. By the time I was ready to go through with the project a few months later, Jeff had relocated to Seattle (which he was up front about from the get go.) Aside from our initial meeting in my home, we worked remotely with a 3-hour time difference the whole time. Despite those obstacles, he responded to my questions in a timely fashion and never left me waiting. Jeff truly is the reason why my kitchen is as beautiful as it is. I went in thinking that my tiny, lightless kitchen should be white with touches of green (my favorite color), despite not being a fan of white. He advised me to find pictures of kitchens I liked and to note why. In doing this exercise, Jeff was able to really get a feel for what made me me and advised me on selections accordingly. He switched my cabinetry color from white to birch, my glossy, glassy, green-themed vision of backsplash tile to a sophisticated handmade cream and ginger ceramic one. He chose a gorgeous recycled counter top, pleasing my tree-hugger side. He narrowed down the jillion paint choices to just two lovely shades of green, knowing that too many options were my biggest hindrances. One of his greatest lessons was to not focus on pieces of the kitchen as individual accessories but to look at the whole outfit. He learned not only my aesthetic preferences but how I work in the kitchen (and I cook a lot!), which led him to choose a cabinet configuration that made sense to me. He said at the end of this, he’d know me better than I know myself… and I think he’s right! Furthermore, he has so much experience with kitchen design (and specifically Ikea cabinetry) that he could easily steer me clear from poor choices. He created an Ikea shopping list for me that allowed me to breeze through the otherwise chaotic ordering experience. He chose the right sink, maximizing my tight space, advised me on the faucet brand that would never give me problems, etc. He connected me with the right contacts, resulting in me saving TONS of money on appliances, etc. Since he was not on site for this project, he gave me tips on how to deal with my contractor when issues would arise. He knows how things work from a construction perspective so when I had a question of something my contractor was doing, I could bounce it off of Jeff and gain a better understanding. Perhaps surpassing or at least tying his design skills is Jeff’s ability to be a sounding board and to calm this somewhat neurotic client. Even with my relatively small project, things went wrong. Each time Jeff very wisely advised me to roll with it and reminded me that every glitch cannot be met with panic. His calming and humorous responses really helped my anxiety a great deal. He wanted me to enjoy the renovation process and focus on the fun of it. He taught me things that don’t just apply to home renovation, but to life in general. Now I have a bunch of life lessons in my bag AND I come home to a kitchen I adore which reflects my personality in so many ways. Jeff is a talented, funny, well-spoken, highly experienced, trustworthy designer and all-around great human being. I cannot recommend his services enough.

Jeff did a really excellent job for me completely renovating a condo apartment that I had lived in for seventeen years (and which hadn't had any major work done for at least 25 years). I had a limited budget but he hit all the points exactly right -- where and how to spend the money and where not to -- and the finished product that he put together was as good or better than I could have hoped for. And he made some surprising (but inexpensive) improvements which I hadn't even thought of that changed a minimal "City kitchen" into a meaningful kitchen that could really be put to serious use by someone inclined to cook regularly (plus it was a pleasure to look at). I had to make quite an effort to find Jeff (I went through two other candidates before finally finding him), but it was worth it. Highly recommended.

I worked with Jeff on the complete renovation of my 1960's bathroom and quite frankly, I don't know how I would have managed this project without him! The bathroom was stripped down to the studs and Jeff redesigned it bringing it into the modern era! From the start, Jeff was a pleasure to work with. He read my mind and provided the perfect plans and chose the exact materials I had envisioned in my mind for the last few years. I absolutely love the end result and I would recommend Jeff to anyone for any project!

Jeff Blum has, with my active participation / interference as owner, transformed a well-lit and spacious but flawed loft in Williamsburg into a place for me to love and for my friends, lovers, and guests to savor and to remember fondly. At the outset, the loft failed to take full advantage of the abundance of sunlight falling on it. The eight large windows facing the southeast in the main room let in the sun starting at sunrise and into the afternoon, but before the renovation, almost no light came from the other side, because of the loft's room layout, which was imbalanced; a row of rooms along the back wall left the main room an odd L shape with one window in its corner. From the start, the plan was to correct this by re-opening old, bricked-up windows along the back wall, but Jeff came up with several ideas that make a great difference in the light and re-balanced the apartment's structure. He started with natural light, this space's greatest asset. Jeff pushed for three skylights to collect light, in addition to the windows, and for transoms to distribute it, so that whenever the sun is shining, its light reaches every corner (except in closets). And finally, he converted the awkward L layout into a cross, balancing the space as well as light. He also designed the artificial lighting. Flexible with much track lighting, highly efficient because relying largely on LEDs, all lights are dimmable, which, besides conserving energy and lowering the power bills, makes artificial illumination expressive of the purpose and mood of anyone in the loft. Jeff has spent much time making also the use of space efficient, with closets, shelves, cabinets, and wardrobes. Besides knowing how to assemble pieces of furniture taller than some basketball players, he tolerates the hells provided by IKEA at the returns and delivery desks. Because of his attention to color, my kitchen is a sprightly green, one wall in the guest bedroom a vigorous red, and one wall in my own bedroom a spiritual blue, while various bright woods and whites, my taste, predominate overall. The now exposed brick, definitely an aesthetic asset, was not originally his idea, because it emerged from one of the messy accidents during renovation, but when it emerged, he certainly appreciated and encouraged it. Jeff rolled well with surprises. The loft now has two bathrooms, one for me and others tolerant of disorder, the other for my daughter and others more fastidious. My daughter's bathroom more reflects Jeff 's taste with its turquoise tiles and walls that fit but are not the same, a black floor and a shower stall as simple as it is elegant. Anybody in the room will recognize it as tasteful. The other bathroom reveals what I think is another strength of a good designer: making the best of an owner whose taste is different. Although the tiles are the same as in the other bathroom, the floor is knobby nonslip rubber, and the walls, a wow yellow. It's not Jeff, but it is me, for which its designer deserves some credit. For an owner/inhabitant of an apartment suffering renovation, Jeff has consistently demonstrated a virtue for which I suspect many other owners/victims would gladly kill: as the work was going on, he showed up almost every day to talk things over and make decisions with me and everyone else involved, the general contractor, subcontractors, and individual line workers. Absent designers are more infuriating then present horse flies. Designers, please note: much of your profession consists – or at least should – in being on the site regularly. To design is also to improvise, especially in an older building; mine was built in the 1880s and must have been rebuilt several times. Presence is not all, of course; observing, engaging, communicating, and deciding with me and the workers also count. When I first came to New York, I interviewed half a dozen designers before settling on Jeff. Among my reasons for congratulating myself on this decision, I put first his being there many days to help me make hundreds of decisions large and small, providing relief with clarity and sometimes insight. Clients, whenever reasonable, will recognize the value in this and pay for it gladly.

I decided to work with Jeff of SixZero6 Design based on a friend's recommendation. I had never worked with a designer before. Jeff came over and listened to my ideas about what spoke to me based on style and design. He was able to choose examples for me based on not only what I was saying, but on his own vision of what would work well in our space based on many factors. He was always right too! Kitchen renovations can be overwhelming, but Jeff really took the bull by the horns and made it as manageable for me as possible. When I was doubtful about certain suggestions, he would carefully explain why he thought something might work better than something else and, in several cases, I just took a leap of faith. I am so glad I did and that he didn't just do what I asked for. Jeff was also great at time magagement for our construction team. We had a certain amount of time that the project needed to be completed by and he was able to make sure that that happened. When we hired Jeff, he told me the experience would be life changing and he couldn't have been more accurate. His talent as a designer is innate and so very impressive. I would work with him again in a heartbeat and would recommend him to anyone.

After winning a kitchen sweepstakes sponsored by Houzz and Lowes to do a whole kitchen makeover, I had to choose between two designers. Before I made my choice, Jeff actually took the time to come to my home which I appreciated very much. He was very professional, friendly and personable and took the time to get to know me and the needs of my family. I was sold pretty quickly. He answered all of my questions and made suggestions that made a lot of sense - things I never would've thought of on my own. I didn't really give him much to work with in terms of ideas but he figured it out as he got to know me. We also had a tight budget and he worked hard to cut unnecessary expenses and chose materials that wouldn't sacrifice quality and looks but would still fit the budget. Well, it's been three months since it's completion and I still feel that it turned out better than I could've ever imagined in every way. We love it and are truly enjoying it - no regrets! My wife and I have often talked in the past about how we would do the old kitchen differently but never had the know-how to put the pieces together. Jeff really picked all the right pieces and colors and brought it all together for us. There were a few times when I doubted his choices because I couldn't "see it" at the time but when it came together, it totally made sense. Everything just really feels "right" and taylor-made for our family. It not only looks amazing, but it's very practical and functional. I loved working with Jeff and I highly recommend him without any reservation. Here's the link to the finished kitchen: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/6698601/list/Here-It-Is--See-Our-Finished-Kitchen-Sweepstakes-Makeover

We brought Jeff in fairly late in our renovation process. With demo already proceeding, our architect showed no inclination to help us with the material choices for our three bathrooms and kitchen. Jeff returned for our second meeting with a set of materials for all three bathrooms. The kitchen came a little later, but the important part for us was that he brought our architect's kind of far-out plans into focus for us, bringing them back to the way we were actually going to use the space. We ended up keeping Jeff on to help us with lighting, paint colors, wallpaper, door and hardware selection, and finally, furniture. Our home is so cool, especially the kitchen, which was a true collaboration of so many players. I love coming home from vacation, and every day!

Jeff helped us create a home that our family will enjoy for many years....and within our budget! I would happily work with him again and highly recommend him for anyone who is thinking of making some changes - large or small. Could not have asked for more in a designer.