Unethical, stay far, far away. If you want details - e-mail me. It took her over a year to pay me…read moreback and my job went unfinished. Ashley has great taste and presents very well, but beware - do NOT EVER pay her any money up front. This would be a zero star review if I could.

I have known Ashley for years and it was a "no-brainer" on who to chose to help me with my SOMA…read moreloft. The thing I like about Ashley is that she was able to work with pieces that I already had and was able to deliver great style within my budget. She is flexible, stylish and knows her stuff. She is also incredibly easy to work with. I would recommend her to anyone wanting to work with a professional yet fun designer.

We worked with Emily and team at Umlaut to renovate our kitchen and a bathroom and had an…read moreoutstanding experience from start to finish. Working with her and team--during design and construction-- was truly a joy. We love the results, highly recommend her and wouldn't hesitate to work with her again. Going into the project, we had a strong overall sense of what we were looking for in terms of design, but we had never renovated a kitchen before. Emily helped us navigate the many discrete choices (cabinets, appliances, layout, lighting, countertop). She was a sounding board for aesthetic decisions and helped us make good choices on the more functional decisions. She is extremely well organized and proactive. For example, we were strongly leaning towards a particular modular / semi-custom cabinet maker. When we learned that their system would leave too-large empty spaces in the corners of our U-shaped kitchen, Emily put together a set of alternative cabinet maker options with a diversity of prices and degrees of customizability. She helped us think through and ultimately select a cabinet maker that we've been really happy with. Her team's construction quality and project management are also excellent. From previous experience with other GCs, we expected to need to closely monitor the workmanship but it quickly became clear that the team had high standards. Emily stayed closely involved throughout construction, visiting onsite and reviewing the previous day's progress with us nearly every morning. The project stayed 100% on schedule (we actually added some additional electrical work midway through the project and it still came in on schedule) and on budget. We'd work with Umlaut again in a heartbeat.

Emily is the absolute best. From start to finish, she and her Umlaut Interiors team have been…read morereliable, responsive, honest, and great communicators. Before we began the construction, she researched pricing, gave us different design ideas with the pro's and con's of each choice. We would get regular updates and pictures with the progress that the team made that day. Her team is excellent -- skilled, efficient and very respectful of our home. She gave us a spreadsheet of every cost -- everything was transparent and clear. As a woman, communicating with another woman (a rare thing in this field) just made it that much easier to understand and feel included in what sometimes can feel like taking on a daunting project. Truly, I can't recommend Umlaut Interiors highly enough!

Outerlands Design helped us with a complete remodel of our master suite, living room, an interior…read morestaircase, facade, exterior staircase, and roofdeck. We were thoroughly pleased with the entire process, from the first visit to the last handshake. There are four key qualities of this outstanding group worth highlighting: (1) Flexibility: We wanted to renovate our whole 3-story house, but in two stages, so that we could continue to live here. The first stage was going to be the top 1.5 floors, and the architect was nearing final designs for that ... when this happened: We had a flood on our lower floor, due to a blocked sewer, about 2 months before the work was going to begin. This couldn't wait to get fixed. Their team quickly pivoted, shelved plans for the top 1.5 floors, and put all their energy behind quickly creating and finalizing plans for the bottom 1.5 floors. And then this happened: Part way through the renovation, the crew discovered extensive dry rot damage in the frame of our house, due to leaks between the wood planks of our siding (and maybe the roof). What had been an interior-only project, quickly became a massive interior/exterior job, as the only logical fix was to remove the problematic siding, repair/replace the rotting wood frame, put on a new roof, and place all-new stucco. And then this happened: Faced with a bigger project than originally envisioned, we started to imagine all the little (or not so little) things that it might make sense to do while the team had various parts of our home ripped up ... and so we kept asking for more and more things (the dreaded "change order"!). Brad and his team were as gracious as saints, and remained open-minded and loyal partners in an open-ended design process, even as we were the ones causing the project to drag on further than they had anticipated. (2) Communication: Brad, the project manager, is phenomenal. As the single point of contact, he is super-efficient in his responsiveness to emails, phone calls, or texts, and he consistently follows through on questions and requests. I can't tell you how valuable it is to have a single point of contact, when your home is invaded by carpenters, electricians, plumbers, tilers, floorers, stucco guys, roofers, dry wall experts, painters, and people whose job I never even totally fathomed. Brad was not one of these people -- and he had no other job but to conduct the orchestra and respond to our needs. Priceless. Brad is not the only highlight: Jared (Brad's son and the founder/owner), the plumber, the electrician, and other key folks also had excellent communication skills and were comfortable interacting with us directly. (3) Efficiency: There was someone on our site doing work every single day. I've heard stories from friends -- and witnessed other renovations on my own block -- where projects seem to drag on with no worker on site for days or sometimes weeks at a time. We never saw a slow-down in momentum with this group. Brad had a big role in ensuring that things moved forward. (4) Aesthetic: Last but certainly not least is the design sense that Outerlands offers. As illustrated on their web site, they are fluent in the modern Bay Area aesthetic and steeped in higher-end finishes. But they do not blindly go after the most expensive options, or forget the history or overall context of a home. In our case, they transformed a dated 1980s home into a modern masterpiece, achieving holistic oneness through a renovation (as opposed to a complete rebuild, where this is easier). We're thrilled.

We used Outerlands to do a full renovation of the interior and exterior of our house and loved the…read moreresults! They were professional, timely, and thorough. I would recommend them highly for any project, big or small.

We loved working with Megan!! We got to work with Megan for our kitchen renovation and she did an…read moreamazing job! I had never done a house renovation before with a general contractor, and Megan helped me every step of the way. I gave her a very specific and short timeline that I needed the work to be done by. She went with me to multiple appointments, had frequent video chats with me and insured that we had the quality of products picked out within the appropriate amount of time to order them and get the work done. She drew out plans for me, got exact measurements, so we were never delayed in a part in our project. Multiple vendors commented on how easy it was to work with her blueprints. Throughout the project I would feel comfortable raising concerns to Megan and on multiple occasions, she spoke up on my behalf and advocated for me when I didn't feel comfortable speaking up myself. She did a great job of ensuring my initial vision was pulled through, even when we ran into redirection. She consulted with me on which products to splurge on versus what things could save me money. She helped bridge the communication between working with a contractor and someone who had never done something like this before. I highly recommend Megan not only for her style and her organization, but also for her professionalism and her advocacy. We will definitely be working with her on all our big projects to come!!

We had an incredible experience working with Megan. We were renovating our master bathroom and felt…read moreoverwhelmed with each decision. Megan jumped right into our project and designed an entirely new bathroom for us, including new floor layout, new materials, hardware etc. She made it a seamless and fun process. She instantly understood our design preferences. She absolutely transformed our sad bathroom into an incredible space that we love and enjoy each day. Even with us living in GA and her in California, she never missed a beat. We love Megan so much... we hired her to do more!

If you are looking for designer who can work magic, Lesley Ray is an exceptional interior designer…read moreand space planner. We have a limited budget to remodel our home office. Lesley listened to our needs, and we were impressed with how perceptive and resourceful she is. Her attention to details and creative suggestions gave us the roadmap to transform our cluttered room into an organized, functional, welcoming home office. I was amazed that Lesley also has a good sense for Feng Shui. Lesley has a keen eye for design and she is professionalism yet personable. I highly recommend Lesley for your next project.

I worked with Lesley Ray on my family's multiplex rental renovation consisting of 4 separate units…read more I loved working with Lesley! She was thorough, organized, and responsive and did a great job of incorporating my specific requirements, budget, and timeline into the design. She was a great communicator and made sure I understood the unique needs of rental units. She was proactive and always anticipated potential issues. In addition to being knowledgeable about the construction process and the rental market, she was excited to embark on this process of listening to my needs and working together to design a space that our tenants would enjoy. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to renovate their home or a rental property.

What a professional company! Everyone has a nightmare story…read moreabout dealing with contractors but we were amazed as to how knowledgeable and professional everyone was at McCutcheon's, beginning with Michael at the helm and continuing with Dan Hano and Robert. Our project was one of rebuilding our decrepit decks. After several discussions on options, plans were drawn, permits were obtained and the project was completed with meticulous care and detail. Robert went above and beyond by taking care of incidentals like hanging new light fixtures in difficult to get to places! Now that we found them we are thinking of re-doing our bathroom and kitchen! No need to look elsewhere. We highly recommend them.

We loved working with Mc Cutcheon on our complete remodel in North Berkeley ! Hello from the Tuttle…read morefamily ! We especially love our kitchen and bathroom which are so easy to move around in and behold the fantastic appliances surfaces and well planned storage and cabinets ! Years later it's still a dream come true !!

It's been some time now since I redid my kitchen, but I had a great experience with Korts & Knight…read more Some points: - Susan did multiple iterations of the design until we got it perfect. - She arranged for storage of my cabinets AND my appliances until my contractors were ready for installation. - Installation was extensive and done perfectly. I can't recommend them enough if you are ready for top of the line product and service.

The folks at Korts & Knight are delightful people but unfortunately their excellence is in front…read morework, not in execution. In my experience, once we fell in love with our proposal and signed on the dotted line, the problems started... - The contract happened to be switched underneath me - We received one copy in email, but I was presented another to sign, which I didn't notice until 3 months later when expensive things weren't installed and I wondered why! - It took over 6 months for the project to finish! Towards the end I had to email them EVERY SINGLE DAY to ask them for status and try to get them to come and finish. - Additional items exploded in price once work was underway. E.g. I was told a support beam for our countertops would be easy, and would probably cost around $150 to add in. Once in contract without it documented, it was $629. This was not a change order. This was just a change in our negotiating position: We had already hired them. That said, they're really friendly (seeming) people, their pre-contract prices are reasonable, so you may be tempted to use them. If this temptation swings you, please please please at least follow these points of advice: - Make sure the contract encourages prompt completion of the project and follows California laws. In my case, only $446 was to be paid upon completion, the bulk paid before the cabinets even arrived on-site. Consequently, it took over 6 months from the date of the contract until completion - probably because they already got their money! - THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!! Bring a copy of your draft contract and make sure it matches the contract you sign at Korts & Knight. In our case, around $1000 of internal pull-out drawers went mysteriously missing, and since I signed the contract without it, I had no recourse. You may even want to print the drawings yourself, review them thoroughly at home, and sign those. - Do not use Korts & Knights for anything besides cabinets. You will have a much better experience if you handle or your general contractor handles countertops and appliances: Things will be scheduled promptly and/or in tune with the general construction, you won't have he-said-she-said problems when it comes to property damage during delivery, and the price you're quoted will more likely match what you pay. In my experience, we were ordered countertops for $5800, documented VIA EMAIL, they were delivered one month late (due to Korts & Knight mistakes), and ultimately the invoice came in at $7200 because Korts ordered a different countertop than we asked and didn't inform us of the price difference. (We paid $6083 in the end.) Additionally, the appliance installers damaged our entryway and floors, but Korts claimed it could have been anyone, so we had our GC fix it for them. And the appliances weren't even installed right. The fridge is tilted forward so it's hard to close. There's gaps around the range hood. - ALSO IMPORTANT: Follow-up all verbal conversations with emails with confirmation. You're going to want documentation to cite when things go wrong. (But do be aware that they'll often site conflicting "phone calls" or undiscoverable "emails" that you didn't make and they can't reference to their defense... so documentation only goes so far.) As you can see, much of this comes down to me over-trusting Korts, signing a contract which favored lax execution, and getting what I agreed to. This is my fault. This does not have to be your fault. Fortunately, Korts does have some ethics, and is a long-standing company, so they did eventually get my project done according to the contract I unfortunately signed. But I wish I had done things differently, including hiring a different company. If you have any questions or would just like to talk, feel free to send me a Yelp message. An investment like this is a huge deal and I'll be happy to respond. -- Some notes responding to Spencer's critiques: - Interesting to note that he does not dispute that the contract was switched out underneath me. And I do have a printed contract, directly from him, that includes roll-out cabinets and other improvements, for exactly the same price I paid. - He offered that I come with him on a Saturday to build trim pieces for the kitchen he's responsible for assembling. And this is a favor? For me to do his work for him? On my weekend? I did it, because it needed to be done, and Spencer wasn't going to do it himself. - I did insist on paying $6083 for the countertops, and not pay him a penny more, because he said they'd cost $5800. It's disgusting he even attempted to profit for overcharging me by $1300. And you have no idea how he tried to sneak this past us...

What a pleasure it was to work with Lucile. My Eichler remodel was far more detailed than I had…read moreever imagined. Lucile and her partner Eve came up with some very creative ideas how to achieve everything that I wanted, while also being mindful of cost and maintaining the integrity of the home. They were extremely responsive and gave my job all the time and attention it needed, no matter how busy they were. As well as the actual deign of my home, Lucile had many great ideas on fittings and fixtures. She helped to keep me within a budget as well as being able to achieve the look I was after. I now have a home that not only looks beautiful but is excellent quality as well. Lucile's eye for detail and creativity turned my house into an amazing home. Thank you Lucile!

I have been working with Lucile for over 2 years on my extensive home remodel project in Palo Alto…read more I can honestly say that I would not have made it through this process without her! She is equal parts great designer and project manager and helped me (and my contractor!) stay on schedule during the height of the pandemic. She listens and learned my style (and budget!) so well that it often feels like she is reading my mind. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her for any project.