LP Designers offers affordable services in building houses, interior and exterior designing, staging, renovations and even landscaping.
Paul and Penny Chauhan, co-owners of LP Designers – a business involving designing, staging and building houses, have achieved success and repeated clientele due to their dedicated service and honesty. “I think that honesty plays a big part in our success.
Everyone knows that we do a good job and are honest,” says Paul, who along with Penny, is a licensed builder.
The couple has been in this business since 15 years. “We started our business in 2000. Initially, it was interior designing and faux finish painting together. And recently, a couple of years back, we started doing staging as well,” says Penny, adding, “I was the first inour community to start faux finish painting.”
The services provided by LP Designers include building houses, interior and exterior designing, staging, renovations and even landscaping. They also design and stage
homes for other builders. “About 60% of our clients approach us when they are making
the plan or the framing of the house. We advice them on the drops, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, etc. We colour co-ordinate everything – the flooring, cabinets and counter tops. And if it’s a spec house, we start normally at the framing stage,” explains Penny, who keeps her self updated about the latest design trends and regulations in the market.
Before designing a custom-made house, Penny makes sure that she knows what her clients want and expect from their house. “I have a specific questionnaire. When we meet the client, I ask them about themselves and their liking and disliking; and while doing that, I judge what kind of personalities they have. And according to that, I decide on the colours for the house that they will like.”
Kitchen is the first thing the couple looks at when designing the house. “We look at the kitchen layout and then we look at the house layout. Because every house is different, what colour co-ordination suits one house, it may
not suit the other. And the main thing thatngoes with kitchen is people’s needs, as everyone has a different need,” explains Paul.
Penny agrees, “Kitchen is the heart and soul of the house. It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small, everything should be nicely aligned and organised properly.” She further adds that the exterior of the house has to look nice too. “Then only is the buyer going to go in – we make sure that the exterior of the house is beautifully done. In 90% of the custom-made houses; we make changes for the exterior.”
The couple has built and designedhouses in most parts of British Columbia, like Surrey, Richmond, White Rock and Maple Ridge, among many others, with their next project being in North Vancouver. They have a varied clientele of South Asians, Chinese and Caucasian.
Affordable price is one of the many features of LP Designers. “Ours is the most affordable service. We even tell our clients if there is a sale somewhere going on [on house-related items], so that they can save some money – because they hired us and we do have to look at their best interest,” points out Paul. Penny adds, “And when we quote the price, it does not mean its only five visits or 10 visits. According to the needs of the client, we do visit them as many times as they want.”
Paul and Penny have also designed restaurants and offices in and around BC, and are in fact working on a restaurant at the moment.
According to Penny, working on a house is different from working on a commercial space. “It’s not the same. Offices and restaurants have different regulations, while houses have different regulations. If it’s a commercial place, we have to see so many things, like the tiles or floors should not be slippery, the walls or the colours should appeal to the people so that they come there.”
One of the biggest achievements of LP Designers is its repeated clientele. “Even the people whose house we did in 2000, we are still doing their houses. We have never done any advertising; it was all word to mouth. People have been really helpful and supportive,” says Penny. “Also the recommendations that we get, that’s the biggest compliment you can get from anyone,” concludes Paul.
