Erwan Illian

Jessica O. _{on Yelp}

Jan 2nd, 2016

We live in a nearly-all-original mid-century modern house and we want to respect the era and the original architect's work anytime we renovate our home. Our house is entirely wood paneled so when we decided to update an old, tired wall of built-in shelving to accommodate a large flat screen TV and to hide a rather unsightly AC wall unit, we knew needed a true craftsman and woodworker to build a piece of furniture, not a general contractor who would slap together some paneling.In Erwan Illian, we got a true artist who has created a beautiful, high-quality piece of furniture that stayed true to the aesthetic of our home. He struck an amazing balance, giving us a modern fresh renovation that is still true to the original style. Every day that we sit in front of Erwan's work we think we "nailed it" in terms of the design, but also in finding a gem of a person to work with.Beyond the final results, we cannot say enough about Erwan's integrity. He never cut corners even when we ran into some logistical complexities with the space and we trust him implicitly, both with his eye for design and with our home. We felt 100% comfortable letting him come and go as he pleased while we were out of the country.His communication is impeccable and he kept us constantly apprised of his progress and plans. When we first spoke with him he had a busy schedule for the next 6 months but he stayed in contact with us throughout. He came out to our home a number of times to take measurements, make drawings, and collaborate with us on our vision. Before we even signed a contract he did so much due diligence and had such attention to detail that going with Erwan was an absolute no-brainer.Erwan works in a number of different styles, so be sure to check out some of his beautiful work on his website (erwanillian.com) - which includes a gorgeous remodel of Chez Panisse in Berkeley!Erwan is an absolute pleasure to work with and we're excited to have him work on another project this year, and hope to involve him in many home improvement projects in the years to come.