Story LLC

Story Architecture came into our lives at the perfect time. We were searching not only for incredible skill, but also a firm that could represent our best interest when interacting with others. We got that and so much more. Story was with us from the very beginning, to help us come up with our vision - that would incorporate our style within a limited time frame and budget. I was blown away by Miriam’s vast knowledge of products from appliances to trim to paint. She knew it all! She helped us see things about our space that we never could have imagined - turning a closed off galley kitchen into a luminous and open area with unimaginable counter space. I still don’t know how she did that! Her vision was unparalleled. Miriam was even there to tell the contractor the various ways to make the top of a cabinet look better through her knowledge of construction techniques. To combine her kindness and professionalism with such an immense knowledge of her craft, and insight about space - blew us away. But what truly set her apart is how she advocated for us. She understood our situation and what we wanted to accomplish, and she worked diligently on our behalf to see that through, every step of the way. She was gracious and brilliant with each interaction. The final result is that we have a magnificent kitchen! Wow! Story has it all and we feel so grateful to have worked with this incredible business and Miriam’s phenomenal talents.

It was an absolute pleasure working with Miriam to realize the vision for our remodel - we wanted to preserve the character and bones of an old turn-of-the-20th century Craftsman, while pretty much completely completely changing floor plans for all new living spaces in the home. Miriam worked with us all the way from early conceptual drawings, to architecture and site plans, organizing bid sets for general contractors, researching finish options, recommending color combinations and fixtures and ultimately serving as our project manager through the construction process. We couldn't be happier with the result - the home is an expression of her creative vision with our preferences and crafted with detail and care by the collaboration with our general contractor. Two characteristics stand out in Miriam above and beyond the many creative and technical qualities that one might expect in an architect/designer/project manager - * Empathy for the people who would ultimately live in the home - this comes across in the way she expertly balances the aesthetic with the function, and * Ownership of the process throughout - even after the completion and move-in, staying on top of the little fixes that are often required. We are grateful for having worked with her during this process, and would wholeheartedly recommend her for any project!

We are so grateful for all the work Miriam did for our addition. Miriam took our limited budget into consideration, designed our beautiful master suite addition, found reputable and relatively affordable contractors, took care of city permitting, and managed our project throughout construction from beginning to end. Not only is her design absolutely beautiful and included exactly what we wanted for a price that we could afford, but she also knows a lot about construction and coding. Her instruction ensured that we understood the construction process. Miriam took what we thought was going to be a very scary endeavor and made it painless and enjoyable. She is responsive, communicative, and your advocate when you need her. We can’t recommend Miriam highly enough!

Architect Miriam Larson of Story designed the plans and is providing impeccable construction administration on a large addition and full house (3 story) remodel we are working on in the Seattle Capitol Hill area. Throughout the project, the clients have lived in another state, and Miriam has kept the project on track, quickly solving any issues that come up, steering open questions and decisions toward closure, and driving all parties toward the shared goal of efficiency, quality, and timeliness. It is hard to overstate how valuable this service is. With boots in the field, time really is money, and this particular remodel was a tricky one: a 1905 home that experienced a not- good-quality remodel in the 1980s and with its current addition, needed to come up to 2020's code. It required a lot of structural problem-solving on the fly and a knowledgeable team. Miriam's advocacy has been the secret sauce of project success, serving to simultaneously hold all parties to high account while maintaining an encouraging, collaborative spirit. The level of trust this earns from all parties is what it takes to navigate complexity with confidence. From a contractor's perspective, in addition to a beautiful design, you really need an architect with these skills to realize your remodeling dreams. For this reason and many others (including beautiful design!) we highly recommend Miriam Larson/ Story Architecture.

Can't say enough good things about Miriam and Story LLC - she is a consummate professional, excellent at her craft and so committed to her clients. Miriam designed our living room/entryway remodel during the height of COVID, all virtual with minimal to no adjustments once we were able to see each other in-person and on-site. Her design hit all of our asks right out of the gate, we felt like she listened and grasped our style and needs so quickly. Once we actually got the project started, there was a great deal of issues we experienced with the chosen contractor and Miriam jumped in to mediate, project manage and problem-solve. The amount of care and support she provided us was nothing like I've ever seen - she helped us find a new cabinet maker mid-way through the project and got us an amazing outcome because of her commitment to us and seeing everything through. She has an amazing attention to detail and really designed a space that looks gorgeous but is truly functional as well. I've already referred Miriam to anyone that asks because I believe she has the perfect combination of expertise, knowledge and care. She won't accept anything less for her clients and we are so grateful for her support through a longer than anticipated process. Miriam will be who we use again when we tackle the master bathroom in a year or so!

Miriam created a kitchen for us we'd been dreaming about for 15 years. We have a small home and desperately needed a remodel of our old and dated kitchen. She also created much needed space in my office/closet and laundry/1/4 bath- adding gorgeous yet practical cabinets to both spaces. We loved working with Miriam and would happily hire her again for any project. She is incredibly skilled, pragmatic, thoughtful and budget-conscious. Moreover, she has a savvy design aesthetic. Above all she is honest, direct and has integrity. We are so grateful to have worked with her as she made our first remodel experience truly a delight.

Miriam has helped us realise our vision and improve it. She has taken our ideas on board and offered new ideas that made our home beautiful, comfortable and more in tune with the environment around it. We would absolutely recommend working with Story LLC.

Miriam at Architect Story was a breath of fresh air. We moved into a 80s split level that needed a lot of work. Over and over no architect would even talk to us unless we were willing to expand our budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars and add tons of square footage to the house. (NOT in the cards.) Miriam listened to what we *needed* from our home, and built a plan within our budget to make our house work for us. No additions. Hundreds of thousands less than anyone else said was possible. We love her work, and we loved working with her!

Miriam designed my kitchen back in 2005. I had just moved into a new condominium which had a pretty basic no frills kitchen. The challenge was the space is relatively small -- perhaps 200 or so square feet. She worked with me to come up with an efficient but professional kitchen that allows me to continue to explore my passion for cooking. She had great ideas, but was always anchored in trying to figure out my vision of what I wanted. The result is a kitchen that I still enjoy immensely, and that won a design award. In addition, she worked extremely well with the construction company, which was in fact a design build shop that had its own ideas about the design (they came into the project later). There was never any tension or competition between the two of them. I cannot recommend Miriam highly enough. If I were to do another remodel I would hire her in a heartbeat.