Welcome to Saldana Design Studios

I’d like to introduce myself, my name is Laura Saldaña and I’m the owner and principal designer at Saldana Design Studios. Born and raised in Los Angeles, I’ve resided all my life in the San Fernando Valley. I’ve been in the design industry for almost three decades working in a variety of design related disciplines.

I started my own design company in 2003 working on mainly single family residential homes with a selected few small commercial projects. Specializing in ground up new construction, additions, remodels and accessory structures, I’ve come to develop a community of consultants, vendors & contractors I work closely with.

Like many of us, after the COVID pandemic I was left to take a step back and reevaluate how these new lifestyle changes would be impacting us all in how we conduct business. I decided to take some time and I took a pivot into along with continuing my consulting service I also began offering new services of Plan Review and helping mentor new designers in the art of construction documentation & management.

With so many new flexible ordinances the city and county agencies have implemented allowing for accessory dwelling units to be built, it has created a new way for others that are not architects & designers to take advantage of homeowners. These so called referral agencies & supposed “designers” are signing people up just to defraud them and take them for a long and disappointing ride. There are many steps involved in designing, much research along with basic knowledge in how to incorporate standards and codes. I recently consulted for a small referral agency that “specializes” in ADU’s and the unethical and downright fraudulent methods used to lock in homewoners is simply disgusting. It saddens me to see these clients pay so much money and get less than what they originally were sold or simply nothing. Some of these clients were flat out denied a permit because the proposed design cannot be approved or the abhorrent fees the clients could not afford made it impossible for them to continue. This in particular led me to walk away and create this new platform where I can not only provide professional services but also educate the homeowner. It’s imperative homeowners at the very least be informed of their property site conditions, zoning allowances and any potential red flags that can hinder any future projects they may want to do. Same goes for potential homeowners looking for a property, as they should be aware of any challenges that may arise especially if they are buying for investment purposes.

I will be discussing the above consulting experience I had more in detail as I move along. I invite you to explore my site and reach out to me with any questions and/or any specific topics you’d like me to discuss. Also, please check out The Plan Check section on my site, in which I offer plan review consultations and feasibility studies for residential properties. Until next time!