We worked with Jackie Alonzo of Kitchens of Diablo twice - first time was to remodel our Kitchen in…read more2013 and in 2015, she helped us remodel our three Bathrooms. She was a pleasure to work with, gave us many options to choose from, steered us away from making poor decisions, respected our budget, valued our time, and was always a pleasure to talk with. We felt that Jackie took the time to offer advice throughout the project - and really showed an interest in how the final project would end up - we were able to send her pictures of ideas throughout, ask questions, and ask for advice. When we would mention we were looking for design or decorating ideas, Jackie would send us suggestions. The Kitchens of Diablo showroom is relatively small, but has an amazing number of ideas and samples in a very small space. And, it is always improving. It now has more products and design ideas than it even had two years ago. We felt that we could almost make all of our decisions from right in the showroom - cabinets, counters, hardware, etc. We also felt that when you hire Kitchens of Diablo, you not only work with your designer, you work with the entire design staff. Often times, we learned that Jackie would consult with her peers on various ideas - so you have the benefit of all of their experiences. You also have the benefit of being able to work with a firm that has a lot of experience in the Tri-Valley, where so many of the homes are similar. Jackie shared pictures of similar projects that she thought captured ideas we were thinking about. Sometimes seeing your concept really does help. Jackie worked very closely throughout the project with our Contractor to ensure that the ideas we discussed turned out as well as they did. We happened to work with Shawn Lober Construction - married to the owner of Kitchens of Diablo - a huge plus, however Jackie shared that she works with lots of General Contractors. This is another benefit of working with the professionals of Kitchens of Diablo. We think that the team of Jackie Alonzo, Kitchens of Diablo, and Shawn Lober Construction were the reason that our first major remodel project (our Kitchen) went so well and gave us the confidence to take on our three bathrooms. We can recommend this team without any concern whatsoever.

Stepped in a few weeks ago to take a look around, as we may be looking at a kitchen remodel in the…read morenext few months. Not one person looked up or even greeted me. I took a quick, awkward look around then left. I understand people are busy and perhaps it's by appointment only, but I didn't appreciate being completely ignored by at least three employees. I'll take my business elsewhere.

Kathy Bate is a gifted designer. She was able to help us make the best decisions for our home…read morerenovation including the most important details for the kitchen and bath. She was able to work quickly and followed up with digital plans showing our options. The project is off to a great start with our budget in tact. Kathy Bate knows how to help you get the best quality working with the funds available. Already we have saved money on the project by having Kathy 's helpful guidance. She is a warm hearted person who knows when to take charge. My husband and I enjoyed working with Kathy Bate Designs.

Kathy is an amazing and talented designer; smart, savvy, and experienced, very much in tune with…read morethe clients needs. She did a great job designing our kitchen.

We worked with Douglah Designs on a major renovation of our home and are very happy with the final…read moreresult. The craftsmanship and quality of the work are fantastic, and the finished spaces look beautiful. It's clear they care deeply about design details and the overall outcome of the project. Like many large renovations, we did experience a few missteps along the way related to coordination and timing. However, what stood out to us was that the team remained engaged and focused on making sure we were ultimately happy with the result. They were willing to have open conversations with us and worked with us to find solutions so we could close the project out in a positive way. Renovations can be stressful, but we're very glad we chose Douglah Designs and love how our home turned out.

Douglah review After…read moreliving in our house for over 25 years, we decided to redo our kitchen - appliances, cabinets, floors, countertops, lighting, etc. We also wanted to update our laundry room and hallway bathroom. We were looking for a business that would handle everything from design to installation. We met with Leila Douglah and her staff in their showroom in Lafayette. Fast forward 2 years, and we now have a wonderful kitchen, laundry room and bathroom, and except for the purchase of the major appliances (refrigerator, ovens and cooktop), we never had to work with anyone else. We are very happy with the results, and while there were some snags in the construction process (that may or may not have been partly Douglah's fault), the entire process went professionally and smoothly. Douglah Designs is an all-in-one design/construction service. As you might expect, the total cost of the kitchen remodel was probably higher than if we did more of the legwork ourselves and used multiple vendors. But there are certainly advantages to offset the increased expense. The project was seamless and professional. Many of the craftsmen that Douglah Design uses are employees, not contracted. There is no finger pointing between designers and contractors; they all work together to use make things work. To us, the extra expense was definitely worth it. My wife and I are pretty picky when it comes to design, and Leila and her staff were very patient with us. We did have a similar esthetic, so we were usually on the same page from the start. Leila and Rachel Steely had a level of experience and industry knowledge that was a great advantage. Watching them work on the design and materials selection was very impressive and gave us high confidence that they REALLY knew what they were doing. As we realized, designing a kitchen is actually quite a complicated process, with thousands of details that we would not have even known about, let alone been able to address. But the designs and plans handled every detail and issue beautifully. Douglah recommended vendors and products with which they had experience and confidence, which saved us the trouble of having to vet each product, and which gave us confidence in the products. One limitation of working with Douglah Designs is that you are somewhat limited to products and vendors with which they are familiar and confident, so that may constrain your choices (and which may increase the cost of the project). But we felt that limited choices and extra cost were outweighed by the dependability and quality of the products that Douglah recommended. Overall, we were very happy working with Douglah Designs. They are not for everyone - if you have a different esthetic, or a different budget, or want more control over the process, you probably would be happier elsewhere. But if you want a top notch design and installation and have the budget, we highly recommend Douglah Designs.

This was my first time hiring a home stager, and Miranda Home Design was recommended by our real…read moreestate agent. Simply put, Miranda and her team are exceptional. I can confidently say her services are worth every penny. Miranda has an incredible eye for design and an innate ability to see the full potential of a space. The way she and her team decorated and arranged each element blew us away--we kept asking ourselves, "Why didn't we think of that?" She didn't just stage our home; she completely transformed its aesthetic. Every room felt elevated, cohesive, and intentional, yet still warm and inviting. She knew exactly how to highlight the home's best features, improve flow, and make each space feel both stylish and livable. Our listing stood out from comparable properties and made a strong emotional impression on everyone who walked through the door. Thanks in large part to Miranda's work, we received multiple offers and ultimately sold our home for top dollar. Her staging didn't just make the house look beautiful, it directly contributed to a faster sale and a stronger financial result.

My realtor had a vision that she wanted Kristi to stage. Kristi made that vision come alive in a…read moreway that all said was amazing when they saw the results. But the goal was to sell the house. Her staging is what made the house tell its story to sell on it's first weekend. This meant not having to keep living through a staged house for so long. It is amazing to have had to get the house staged then it sells on its first weekend of open house! That pretty much says it all. She knows it take 8 seconds for a buyer to enter the home and determine if they like it or not. She made impact for the house and it sold!

I highly recommend these folks. They helped us design a new kitchen with Schrock Cabinets. The…read moredesign had to deal with a fairly complex floor plan so Christine and her sister worked together to figure out options. The cabinets arrived and were in great shape. I'm really happy with the quality of these cabinets. Finally during install Christine supported us when we had some accidents, helped us swap out some materials, and help when I lost some glass. I really can't say enough about these folks, they were so awesome.

We recently completed a whole kitchen remodel using Bay Area Cabinet Supply for our cabinets. I…read moreoriginally planned to reface our old cabinets or do IKEA cabinets with updated fronts from companies like Semihandmade, but ultimately found Bay Area Cabinet Supply to make more sense in terms of pricing, quality and time investment during the planning and design process. I walked through Bay Area Cab's Dublin showroom a few times to confirm they have cabinet styles and colors I liked, and the employees were very accommodating in letting me check out cabinet door samples to see in my actual kitchen. I'm so glad I did that, because the color we originally wanted ended up looking dingy in our northern facing kitchen. We went with their Icy Avalanche color, which is a cool toned grey, and have never loved anything more! The design and estimate process was simple and likely less time consuming than even wading through the IKEA kitchen designer yourself. Chrissy was patient, professional and very knowledgeable and made sure every detail was handled to perfection. She even hopped on the phone with our contractor a couple times to make sure every measurement was exactly correct. But her excellent customer service really came into play after our cabinets were delivered and we discovered an issue--due to a slant in our kitchen floors that weren't accounted for in our original measurements, our crown molding wouldn't fit! She and her sister, who heads their other branch, redesigned and supplied a new molding quickly so that our remodel wouldn't be too behind schedule. And if that wasn't enough, when my contractor mis-installed a drawer, Chrissy replaced the broken pieces for me immediately. For just the customer service level alone, I'm so glad I went with Bay Area Cabs. There are already so many small things that can go wrong in a kitchen remodel, and I was so glad to have the cabinets be headache-free! Finally, the quality of the cabinets is amazing. We've been in our new kitchen for about 6 months now and are happy to report that all our cabinets, drawers, shelves and doors are working perfectly. We're so happy we chose Bay Area Cab Supply for our kitchen and hope this review helps more people find out about this awesome family-owned company!

Be prepared for the expense. Unless you have money to burn and a six month window....look…read moreelsewhere. Pros: 1) Kriste does have a good design eye and has good suggestions. At the start of the project, this is compelling. 2) Her design work is professional and she presents attractive options. 3) If you have a budget greater than $100k and have a lot of flexibility on timeline and delivery dates...you should consider her. Cons: 1) She is a bit of a prima donna will be openly annoyed if you ask for any adjustments to her design or furniture recommendations. We asked for designs that were family friendly and she acted like that request was inconvenient to her. She didn't really honor our request and came back with a suggestion that we buy a $7k side-chair made with delicate material. She conducts herself in a way that says "you are lucky that I'm helping you at all" 2) Her business model is super-expensive. Many designers either have an hourly rate and others make their money by keeping their discount % of the furniture costs that the suppliers give to interior designers. Kriste's approach is that she gets both. Buyer beware. Since she get's paid hourly...you will likely get surprised by the invoices and the budget will over-run by 25%-50% or more. 3) If your project is less than $100k, your project will get handed off to her minions. Her team is very junior and doesn't have much experience with project management or client relations. One example is that her team scheduled woodwork to be done after painting....and thus the painting crew had to come back to touch-up wall dings that were made by the woodwork crew. Net:Net - her service doesn't match her price...and her team skills are uneven. Make sure you know exactly who will be working on your project and make sure they honor that commitment.

Professional, personal and attention to detail would be hallmark traits for Kriste and her staff…read more My wife and I had a great experience with our remodel and the finished product is something to be proud of....and we are!

My wife and I used Julie to remodel our kitchen and 2 bathrooms in our house and had an amazing…read moreexperience. We had never owned a home or done a remodel previously and Julie was great at taking us step-by-step through the process. Using some inspiration from our Pintrest boards, she came up with designs unique to our house and aesthetic. Julie ordered all the materials on our behalf and identified a fantastic contractor who carried out the remodel with Julie's oversight. Julie took so much of the process off our plates, which was great because my wife was pregnant at the time haha. I've attached a few photos of the kitchen before the remodel and then when it was almost finished. I've also included some pictures of one of the shower areas before and after remodel. I would include more professional pics post remodel but our attention was quickly subsumed with a tiny human! Overall, Julie was so great at taking control over so much of the process while always listening to our feedback and suggestions. I can't recommend Julie enough.

Julie is amazing at what she does - I can't believe how beautiful her design was for my mothers…read moreprimary bathroom ! It's a true master piece !

We just returned to the Bay Area and are renting a great place in Piedmont until we decide what to…read morebuy; still we needed to furnish and decorate as none of our old stuff fit the scale. We found Robineve thru a neighbor and she understood how to work with our needs, i.e. not make mistakes with purchases that we wouldn't be able to use in our next home. Sooo grateful we chose to go with her. She found really fun multi-functional, flexible pieces--kind of modern, kind of timeless. My partner can't picture things as easily as I can (techie!), so she had her design assistant do a cool schematic 3D presentation with the new selections. We were so happy with the results, and she hit our budget parameters. Will definitely be coming back to her when we move into a house of our own. - Lee L.

Robineve is wonderful to work with! She helped me a bit at my old house but when I moved, she was…read morethe first person I called to come out and see the new house because I knew I wanted her help to decorate it. Because she has learned my style, she is able to provide me with a few excellent options for each piece in my rooms. For the new house she actually did the whole floorplan for all rooms except my husband's man-cave. I love her work and the pieces she helped me select. People who come to our house are always complementing us on our beautiful livingroom. I actually just worked with her again on a small project to add a reclaimed wood mantle to our fireplace. Love her and highly recommend her!!!!