
Jeff Pelletier
The Business of Design
What Was I Thinking? (Learning from Your Mistakes When Starting a Business)
Starting a business is no easy task, and you just can’t expect that you won’t make mistakes along the way. You will make them, we promise. The important thing is to make sure you learn from them once you do. Here are five mistakes Jeff Pelletier made when starting Board & Vellum.
Learn more.Custom Residential
What Not to Forget When Designing a Vacation Home
When it comes to vacation home design, there are some things that are decidedly different from a typical home design: features you need in a vacation home that you don’t need in your main home. But what are they? Here are five features you should make sure you include when designing a vacation home.
Learn more.Ask a Designer, Custom Residential, Interior Design
How Do You Get Great Design on Your Project?
Great design takes patience. So, if you want your project to look and function like it was designed really well, you need to invest in design, and that takes time. There are several later phases after the design concept is formed that are crucial to your project’s success. Here’s a quick review of why.
Learn more.Ask a Designer, Custom Residential, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture
Tips for Communicating with Your Architect, Interior Designer, or Landscape Architect
Communicating with your architect or designer is crucial to the success of your project. How do you prefer to communicate? Great professionals will strike a balance between their communication preferences and yours. Here are ten tips to help you find that balance and ensure you and your design team are on the same page.
Learn more.Ask a Designer, Custom Residential
Sharing A Vacation Home Between Two Families
Are you considering sharing a vacation home with another family? It’s not uncommon, and a great investment, but make sure you go into it with eyes wide open. Here are a few questions you and the family you’ll be sharing with should ask yourselves before starting design.
Learn more.Ask a Designer, Commercial
How Do You Select the Right Commercial Space for Your Business?
Selecting a commercial space for your business is very important to get right. It’s not as simple as “location, location, location” when it comes to ensuring the success of your retail or commercial space. There are many important details you need to check. Do you know what to look for before you sign a lease?
Learn more.Would you like to read more from the team?
If you enjoy reading our blog as much as we enjoy writing it, that simply makes our day. You may also enjoy a few of the related posts below.
Community Engagement at Board & Vellum
Giving back to the community has been part of Board & Vellum’s DNA from the beginning. Our commitment to community building led to one of our major 2022 initiatives: developing our Community Engagement Manifesto to help organize our company’s and employees’ charitable efforts.
Why I’m a Generalist Architect
Many architects and designers choose to specialize in a specific sector or focus on a single project type. That’s awesome and necessary, but it’s not Jeff. His journey as a generalist architect is why providing out-of-the-box services is part of Board & Vellum’s DNA, and it’s what keeps him dedicated to design of all kinds.
How a Philosophy of High Performance is Changing the Way We Work
Designing a home or building is one thing. Designing the work experience of your employees is quite another. But the design mentality we bring to our projects also allows us to adapt and innovate how we operate as a team. Though our firm has evolved over the years, our values have not, guiding us to adopt the philosophy of a high-performance team.
Advice for Starting a Design Firm
Starting a design firm isn’t easy. It takes a lot of luck, it can exciting, but also stressful. You’ll need to take some calculated risks. It worked out at B&V, and we’ve grown to about 40 people in 8 years. Here are some tips learned along the journey of starting a design firm.
Do Architects Advocate for the Client or for the Architect?
Does an architect or designer advocate for your interests or for theirs? We believe your design team should advocate for you. That doesn't mean just being a "yes man" — it means working with you to design the best path forward. Here are a few areas we can especially help by being your advocate.
How To Design For Others
Unless you are an architect guided only by your own ego, you need to learn how to design for others. Your clients will be unique individuals who may have needs and preferences that are completely foreign to you. Here are some tips to hone your skills at understanding the needs of people unlike you.
Considering a project, or curious about something?
Say hello, and send us your questions via the form below. We’re always pleased to make new connections, and eager to get to know you, your project, and your goals.

Honored as a finalist for residential landscape design.

Our team includes LEED-accredited professionals.

Our team includes certified Passive House consultants.

A Certified LGBT Business Enterprise Since 2016.

Honoring companies that lead in promoting equality.











