Interior Designer Reviews

We got to know Lucas, the owner of the company, in March of 2021, began works shortly after in May and were very excited about working with the team because everything seemed promising. This is our first house and our first renovation project. Alas, their replies started slowing down. Text messages were constantly overlooked. Eventually Lucas just stopped replying at all and didn't pick up any calls. Our project was initially managed by Nicole who later stopped replying and then passed the project over to Vivian. Vivian rarely understood what we needed and had delayed responses. She lacked initiative and any professionalism in customer service but we were glad to have her helping us out anyway. After works begun, we would visit the site every now and then. Things started already seeming iffy when we'd go down and no works would be ongoing. Our deadline started getting pushed back from August, to September to the end of the year, to before CNY... And now, it's been a whole year past and we still have had our works completed. To begin with, our project is in a new condominium. The works were very minimal as everything was already built-in. But yet a year on and we still have loose cables hanging from our ceiling, we still have a feature wall that, because has been built with a beam running through it that prevents cables from actually passing through the back of the wall, doesn't function as it should. We cables hanging everywhere, really. Our feature wall was built so high that one has to strain their neck while sitting to watch the TV. But because of how atrocious Archive's service is, we don't even want to pursue this or get it fixed. We just want to accomplish the bare minimum i.e get all the dangling cables away so we can move on with our lives. Lots of the carpentry is terrible - laminate joints in full sight, edges sharp and not flushed. Just terrible quality of work, really. We left the defect checks to them and unfortunately that was our oversight as well. We were too trusting. We've now found giant cracks across our quartz top in the bathroom that was never worked on - so the defect was there even before our keys - but, alas, the IDs have failed to spot it and now the condominium won't be responsible for fixing it anymore. It was a complete mistake on our end, being first-time house owners. To top it all off, I think one of the biggest jokes was that we were told to buy a particular light fixture very early on. Lucas insisted that we'd need to do this first thing so that the measurements could be included into the construction of a metal shelving that we needed to attach the light to. We immediately ordered this online and sent it to the Archive Design office - as instructed. Now, one year later, our light fixture not only hasn't been installed but apparently is lost because Lucas can't find it anymore. He has not gotten back to us if he has or hasn't purchased it (we gave him the online link 4 months ago) and our cables still dangle from the ceiling because the fixture has yet to be found, much less fixed. We have since had the project passed on to yet another junior staff but she has not gotten back to us. Lucas is still MIA and our house still is incomplete. We have a baby very much on the way now and our renovation works are miserable and incomplete. If you're looking to avoid a nightmare of a situation with your IDs and are afraid of running into nightmarish situations your friends have often told you about with ID firms, look another way cause Archive Design is gonna be a living breathing nightmare too.

Hey Lucas, take care and hope you recover well soon man! But much thanks to your team of Hua Mulans (Girlpower) Nicole, Rachel and Monica. Let me share my review in point form so it is easier to digest. 1) Before signing with ID, The only firm to give me 3Ds (6 views of the home) before paying any deposit. Detailed quotation and fair T&C. 2) After signing, went to at least 4 tiles shops, 2 Laminate shop, talk about Taobao purchase, then 3Ds were changed accordingly. An assistant were introduced to us, in this case Nicole. 3) Reno starts - to be fair, Lucas broke his hand at this point because of an accident on site, so Nicole had to takeover, then Rachel their most senior project manager came to assists too. It was fine as we didn't change much, so it was more or less accordingly to the latest master plans by Lucas. 4) During Reno, prompt updates, progress not fast but confirm not slow, like there's works happening weekly. Any add ons or variation, they asked and get approval from us too. Our previous ID never, do already then give us a bomb... 5) Met with their workers on site, all quite professional to be honest. Never talk much, focus on work 6) Finish Reno, went through an on site inspection with them before officially completing the home. Just to share, they were the ones that requested for he site inspection and walk thru of the whole unit, not us, so this shows they are quite the steady bunch! 7) Completed our payment to them, now waiting for Lucas and team to come to our house warming, but after Ghost month, and they will then do a photoshoot. So all in all, me and my wife are very pleased with their design, works and quality, service also very warm and friendly. I hope this reviews helps add some glitter & gloss for Lucas and Archive design.

We met with them because it was through a referral from my husband's brother's friends house renovation project. A nice cozy office at Serangoon, Lucas was warm and seems knowledgeable about interior design. So we decided to go for him and his team, and let them design and do up our home. We love the home design and their process of selection of materials. Unfortunately, Lucas had to be on medical leave just when we start work on our home (after 3 weeks).We visited him, hope he recovers soon!! I think because of his absence, a lot of clients cannot get him then left bad reviews, but so far so good for us. So far, we have already moved in, works are well done, the pricing is reasonable and most importantly, their team are quite professional, variation orders (I think all reno will have) are always presented to us first before doing, that is good so we keep our budget in check. We have a few changes during the design stages that led to a slow start on the reno process, but I think it it just the way it is as they cannot commence works until details are ironed out. Hope to see Lucas soon! Waiting for him to come visit our completed home.

Thank you and your team for working hard with us to complete our home renovation within 3 months, quite fast considered it was a resale condo unit with hacking almost everything and redoing them. Sorry to hear about your health issues, but we pray for you and god bless you for quick recovery! Just want to drop a note to show the appreciation from me and my family to you and your team, as you guys have patiently helped us with every details of the home, from lighting, furniture selection, purchase from TAOBAO and many small chores, thank you Nicole, Rachel and Elaine.

The renovation projects aren’t just jobs! I would recommend Lucas and Nicole in a heartbeat. We engaged ARCHIVE on a very complex project. They orchestrated the whole thing, and amazingly came in under budget. They worked hard to alleviate all concerns on that front, so that we didn’t’ have to. Our home is exactly what we imagined when starting out with them. More importantly, Lucas and Nicole are caring and talented people that you can trust.

During times like these, to be honest, every ID firm would have difficulty managing their manpower and timeline, same as Lucas and his team at Archive Design, the project was not the fastest in completion but the things were done well and quality and assurance was surely of good grades. I must emphasise that sometimes it takes a more than just a company background of marketing power to justify that. They are a fairly new firm, around 5-6 years old, but Lucas and his team is a trustworthy and experienced bunch to work with, and that for me is priceless. They really do what they can do to help, sometimes beyond the norm of what an interior designer is expected of. They may sometimes be slow in response, which I can understand, because they are really busy, they work round the clock, even on weekends. But one thing that is really assuring is that they are honest and very nice people, with good design sense, and eye for tasteful home decor and furnitures. They are a company that I can entrust my home with, and go to sleep well and tight at night, knowing they are on well on the job, that kind of trust cannot be bought in any other ways. Love them and thank them.

We bought our unit during the hectic mid 2020 , right after lockdown. We know that plenty of renovation firms are facing manpower issues with very limited resources(carpentry works etc). We were prepared to face some challenges along the way with our renovation journey. Our unit is quite challenging honestly as i literally wanted a total makeover. Nothing was salvage and the existing walls will need to be plastered all over again as it was an aging property. All the quotations we received were way above our budget however we decided to go along w Archive as we feel that we are able to "click" with Lucas even after the first visit. I think that is one important factor that we believe is essential in engaging an ID. It was not a smooth journey (as we expected), manpower issues which was inevitable and delays in carpentry works. But we ride on the tide together and plenty of give and take here and there . Rachel was in charge of the operations of my project. Meticulous girl! She ensure that even with covid restrictions she was able to get the works moving. I know that on some days , she had to even Grab with the tilers to bring them over to my place . i had some vendors of my own (aircon , doors etc) and she work willingly with them and do not charge any fees for that( i know some ID do charge the client!). We have some minor issues with the kitchen tiles and we asked to remove all of them totally. Lucas came over with samples tiles and got all of it rectified the next day! We appreciate the fact that Lucas is not a calculative person. He tries his very best to give what he can. Workmanship wise, i am not disappointed. Tiles and carpentry are done nicely! Even though our budget did budge and we took longer then expected, we are happy with the end results. It have been 6 mths since we moved in, Rachel still answer my calls and does rectification works for me. After sale service is excellent! Overall , we are please with our new home. Thank you Lucas and Rachel!

We were referred to Archive Design by our friend Natalie. We are very appreciative that our designer Lucas kept our budget and preferences in mind. He manage to design to match our preferences without compromising on the quality of materials and looks. He was very responsible and patient from the beginning, always ready to help us achieve our reno goals and ideas. Once the project is ready to kick start, he will delicate a project manager to us (in case he doesnt have the time to attend to our immediate needs). The project manager assigned to us was Valene. She was really helpful and responsive. Valene is rather experienced in this field as well. She will give us advice on what could be or not possible to be done (due to space of HDB limitations). Lucas will do the overseeing from the side to make sure that his project manager did not neglect us in any prospect. He did his best to make sure that all aspects of renovation were done to the best. The reno plan that Lucas proposed was sensible and the various works were done rather smoothly even though they were packed with projects, so we managed to move in with only some slight delays which were evitable due to the covid situation. The workmanship was really beyond our expectations as we were previously quite concern that the workmanship will be compromised due to lack of manpower currently. We were very satisfied with the process, outcome, and the team's workmanship and professionalism. Finally I will really like to send a big Thank You for Lucas and his team. Great jobs guys!!!! We will definitely passed down the good word of mouth to our friend who are going to get their BTO keys soon.

I’m writing to compliment Lucas and Elaine from Archive Design for displaying great professionalism and providing excellent service, even for their after-sales service too. We started our collaboration in early October 2020. The renovation work commenced in November and was completed in end February 2021, just in time for us to host our wedding at our new nest. To be honest, we had high expectations of their designs and work as they were referred by both Qanvast and a friend of ours. Despite our high expectations, the team were patient throughout the entire process and accommodated to all our requests, without compromising on their expertise and workmanship as well. Elaine was especially meticulous and on task. We were impressed by their efficiency and credibility. There were several occasions when we caught them in actions with the workers helping to touch up the work and ensuring that all the items were in place which I don’t think many designers are as hands-on as they are. They even offered to help us to go down to our unit to help us to receive our delivery items and taking the extra effort to help to liaise with vendors that we had engaged externally for our curtains and aircon installation. Their after-sales service were excellent too. They were efficient to arrange for all rectification works and they even came on site just to check through after the work is rectified properly. Overall, we were very satisfied with their work and service. To Lucas and team, thank you for giving us a good experience and transforming our home to our dream home!

My wife and I met up with a few IDs and finally decided on Lucas from Archive Design. As first-time homeowners, we were clueless with how to renovate our own home. Lucas was meticulous in his planning. From the design concept, to how we wanted to use the various spaces, before finally going into the finer details. It was an eye-opener, knowing what was needed to make a house a home, and how to make the home our own. During our meetings, we were able to bounce off ideas with Lucas and he would give well-needed feedback on how feasible those ideas were, and providing his own opinions on how to build on them. The whole planning process was a breeze and we felt very comfortable with him after our sessions. It was an easy decision selecting him to work with us. During the actual renovation, he kept us up to date and helped a lot with picking out the right pieces for each part of the house. He was always on hand to give advice and we fed off his experience, trying to find the right balance between quality and price. There were some hiccups along the way, but Lucas was always able to provide solutions and reassure us. The project was completed on time and we could not have been happier with the results. I would definitely recommend Lucas to someone looking to build their own slice of paradise.

This review shall be divided into 3 parts to give what I believe is a fair assessment of my project experience with Archive Design. 1. Facts 2. Experience 3. Personal Opinion 1. Facts of the Project A) I engaged Archive in July 2020 to renovate my father's home and Lucas promised that the project could be delivered in October 2020. The project only concluded in February 2021. (4 Months of delay) B) Every Instalment invoice was paid by me (the client) on the day of the invoice. (No delays in paying Archive) C) Project manager quit and left the project halfway. D) There were periods during the project where no works were done for up to a week. E) There was no point in time where Archive told me that the project completion had to be pushed back/no effort to update me on the progress unless I chased them. F) They did not give me any new expected completion date. I had to revise my own expectations twice for when the renovation works would finish. G) Contractors were smoking in the house and would ash their cigarettes and leave them in the house H) Contractors would use the toilet and stain the toilet bowl without cleaning up after themselves I) Lucas (Director) refused to answer and reply my calls and messages at the halfway mark of the project 2. Experience When I first engaged Archive Lucas was extremely friendly, helpful and pleasant to deal with. They were extremely fast in churning out designs for my consideration and we had very productive sessions about organizing the renovation. After I had paid for the first deposit they were still very fast to respond and start the works. The problems with Archive started about 2 months into the renovation works, the works started to slow down and even halt, there was no observable progress for days and Lucas and Elizabeth (my project manager who left half way) started to get more and more difficult to contact. In my group chat Elizabeth can take days sometimes to reply messages/give me updates on what was going on. To be fair to Archive, there was a miscommunication and misalignment on the budget expectations from the project and when I felt like the VO Works were getting too expensive for me to afford I requested for Lucas to have a session to sit down and rediscuss what I can pay for moving forward. It was at this point Lucas completely ghosted me and refused to answer calls/have a discussion. I will admit that it was my own fault for not scrutinizing the quotation to me, even though I had told Lucas what my maximum budget for the project was, that caused this misunderstanding. I immediately wanted to correct this but Lucas was totally MIA, he assigned Elizabeth to settle everything for the budget discussion. Elizabeth was clearly an inexperienced project manager and struggled to juggle the coordination for the project, she made many mistakes during the course of the works which translated to certain issues during the construction (such as forgetting the flooring type and making certain unnecessary changes (aircon relocation) due to her inexperience). Elizabeth was clearly juggling more than just my project and her incompetence resulted in a lot of my friction with Archive Design. To be fair to Archive again, there were mistakes on my part as well such as confirming certain changes (kitchen and living room flooring) and failing to correct Elizabeth in certain quotation works that also resulted in many issues of the construction, I was not the perfect client for sure but where it was reasonable that I was at fault I would openly admit it in the group chat and bear the responsibility of the costs involved. I was never given a proper project schedule by Archive and I suggest anyone considering to award your renovation works to them please make sure you get a detailed project schedule from Archive otherwise you will have an impossible time to keep them to their promised deadline. I finally forced Rachel to give me one towards what was supposed to be "the final month" of works. I paid Archive every instalment on time when Elaine requested it from me, they have absolutely no way of saying that they were unable to meet their committed deadline because of failure of my part to pay on time. I have to say that finally when Rachel took over the project after Elizabeth quit the company, I finally got a more responsive and proactive project manager. But too little too late, the workmanship was already degrading and flooring works had to be redone and skirting and trunking had many gaps that needed to be filled in. I had to bear a lot of costs to extend my storage for my things due to the extremely unreasonable relay. I am giving a 2 star review because I feel it is fair to the company as Rachel did try to come to make up for the failures of the previous project manager and Lucas. Rachel was also there when I found cigarettes on my boxes in the house and the dirtied toilet seat. It was also very obvious that Rachel was overloaded with work and at one point took two weeks to reply me in our group chat, even after I messaged politely everyday to check on the progress. To expedite the works and help with my over-expensed Budget I enlisted the help of another contractor who were able to come in and finish all carpentry works for the house in a month. Seeing thee contractors move so fast and produce quality work really showed me how stark the difference was between Aegro and Archive Design. All in all a very disappointing performance from Archive. 3. Opinion I am sure Lucas will reply to this review to give his "fair" opinion of what went wrong, which I more than welcome him. I am honestly very disappointed at this experience. I am not writing this review out of spite but in the hope that Lucas realizes that a company should not promise what it cannot deliver or bite off more than it can chew. I personally would not recommend Archive as it just seems like they are more interested to win clients than to produce good projects. The quality of the project management was really lackluster and the overall construction was very very poor. I hope this company has a turn around and live back up to the hype of their good reviews. I do not believe they are bad contractors, however, I do think they got complacent and dropped the ball.

Many thanks to lucas and elaine for helping to manage my project. They have been of great help throughout the project, managing through every single detail. I moved in before chinese new year period. And they still took the effort to respond to my recent request for some defects and add on items. Really appreciate Elaine for being responsive and being a great help. Good job Archive Design. I will definitely refer them to my friends and relatives 👊👊