I found these guys just randomly searching Google for cool, interesting, unique design and…read morefurniture options for my small start-up company as I was very recently hired and suddenly assigned the enormous project of designing, building-out and moving our office in a very short period of time. The staff's requirements? No beige, no cubicles, no corporate look or feel. Original, colorful and unique. Thankfully, I found BWC. Their web site blew me away so I called. Jillian and Jeffrey are owners of this amazing business that provides an incredible array of services including interior design and consultation, furniture creation using only sustainable or eco-friendly products, build-outs, etc. You name it - they can do it. And if they can't, they figure it out or recommend options that will work for you. They turned what might have been an otherwise dull, typical office environment into a colorful, energetic, fun place to be and on a very tight (start-up company) budget. They build amazing products, give fantastic advice. They're both friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and original. We have had nothing but compliments from everyone who walks into our space and it makes working late hours tremendously easier. We will definitely work with them again.

Jeffrey and Jillian were fantastic!…read more My wife and I needed a custom shelving unit for an odd section of our home. Because We Can delivered with a beautiful design in no time at all. They supervised the installation and it is perfect. We would work with them again in a heartbeat!

Mavrik was the beginning of our extensive home renovation project. It is one of the main reasons…read morewhy our project was so successful. Nik and Michael were our architects, and their level of professionalism and detail was incredible. They took a very old home, and basically maximized the results in terms of legalizing the optimal space and value. They knew all the laws, regulations, codes and ways to bypass things 100% legally. They are very thorough and do not miss a beat. Also, they are just incredible guys, who are respectful and fun to work with. Jeff Chen was our project manager, and he was the glue that held everything together. He worked with our architects and our contractor to ensure that everything was streamlined. His level of commitment, communication and details were non comparable. He is also very respectful of your time, so he will work out details without stressing you out. If anyone has done an extensive renovation in SF Bay Area, they'll know the level of complexity, so thank god Jeff was able to navigate our project. Jeff also has such a likable personality with high integrity, so working with him is easy and enjoyable!

Neal and team did an amazing job when we completely remodeled our home in Noe Valley (completed in…read more2016). My wife and I truly enjoyed the design process that SaA took us through. We described certain features and how we intend to use the space as a family (as opposed to exactly telling them what the layout was supposed to look like) and they surprised us with a design that by far exceeded our expectations. Our house is modern & cozy at the same time and it provides privacy while still being flooded with tons of natural light. The experience of SaA became even more obvious when they navigated the city's planning process for us. We got through the entire planning process in record time (incl. neighborhood notification, etc.) as Neal & team ensured that every little detail was within the planning code and fully documented. They also helped us change a number of features in order to meet our budget requirements. The firm also supported us through the construction process by working very closely with our contractor. I have recommended Schwartz and Architecture to numerous friends and neighbors.

I hired Schwartz and Architecture to design the remodel a newly purchased single-family home. We…read moreinvolved them when we were still in the process of buying the house to make sure the remodel we envisioned could happen in a price range we could afford. Everything started out great, and I wished we'd stopped with the $2,500 "masterplan" contract where they measure your house and provide preliminary, hand-drawn concept design sketches. Instead, we proceeded to the next phase ... where you quickly begin to feel like the most important part of the relationship is how much Schwartz and Architecture can make off you. They get paid a percentage of the overall construction cost so I felt like they were trying to keep those costs as high as possible. It was crazy because adding anything to the design exponentially increased price while removing things doesn't have the same effect. Still scratching my head over the accounting. Like most SF homes, ours is small so efficient utilization of space was important to us. My husband also - repeatedly - told them not to show us designs that would be outside our budget. We reached an impasse where we felt the designs we were being shown weren't worth the money it would cost to build. We terminated our contract with Schwartz and Architecture after spending $23K and only having unusable hand-drawn concept sketches (shame on us for not calling a stop to it earlier). I wouldn't recommend using Schwartz and Architecture unless your construction budget is *at least* $2M. Seriously. They do have good ideas, so you're best off hiring them for the "masterplan," then taking those ideas to an architect who can execute on them in an efficient and affordable way.

Jim did an amazing job on both a ground floor remodel and the design and construction of a backyard…read morecottage. One thing we really appreciated was his genuine enthusiasm in working with and preserving the architecture of our old house- in spite of the many, many years he has been doing this. You can't buy that kind of energy and extra attention, you either luck out and get it or you don't. His colleague Andrea who also worked on the job was very attentive and intuitive and understood what we wanted without us having to explain much. We wouldn't think of working with anyone else.

I am a general contractor in the city and have had a chance to work with Apparatus on several…read moreprojects. All the projects turned out great and in no small thanks to their skillful efforts. As a contractor I am a big proponent of necessary preconstruction work being done well and in great detail. All the Apparatus's drawings have been very detailed and helped me produce detailed estimates and also minimized the amount of change orders during the construction. Remodeling projects in San Francisco, and most of residential and light commercial ones are, have a higher need for a very intimate understanding of construction techniques. Merging of old and new in a lasting and ecstatically pleasing way is a challenge. The Apparatus team always stepped in and found the right construction detail for the right situation. As a builder I highly recommend them.

We worked with Stuart at Apparatus on a project and he was a dream…read more He was funny and professional and gets the job done. He has a great way of mixing modern elements that are timeless and classical at the same time. Apparatus has a great office as well in Hayes Valley. There is always parking out front and the bonus is that they are just a few doors down from Citizen Cake and you can pick up a cupcake on the way to or from your meeting with them!

I hired City Garden Studio to help design and install a kitchen garden in our backyard in Oakland,…read moreCA. I knew of Helmina's work from the Berkeley Edible Schoolyard and the Berkeley New School garden and wanted to create an edible garden for my own use since I love to cook. I knew I wanted to support a woman-owned local business and am happy I chose City Garden Studio for our project which included soil testing, building and installing a raised bed, wine barrel planters, irrigation, and planting. I'd like to address the comments below about pricing to share my experience since it differs dramatically from the other reviewer. From our initial consultation through the completion of the job, Helmina was extremely communicative in regard to pricing and what was included in scope for the job. Her SOW included a detailed breakdown of pricing for materials and labor, noting that the price of lumber and plants can fluctuate. The final price ended up being $287 under the highest estimated amount. It took me several months to figure out exactly which design I wanted to move forward with, and Helmina was patient with guiding me through the various options based on our project goals. As another reviewer mentioned, Helmina is extremely detail-oriented and thorough, which are qualities that I appreciate. I've attached photos of our beautiful urban garden so you can see the great work that Helmina and her team did!

Through the recommendation of our contractor, we hired Helmina to help us with design and landscape…read morework, however, she ended up putting herself in the role of doing builds even though she knew we had our contractor lined up. Further to that, the contractor wouldn't provide estimates on the items she has quoted which gave her a monopoly on the pricing on the project. We were placed in a very awkward situation as it almost appeared as if the designer and contractor had been colluding. Further to that, working with Helmina has been the epitome of hidden surcharges. She overthinks everything and pays attention to detail that doesn't matter or add value. She went out of her way to ask questions with the contractor, however, she subsequently surprised us with an additional bill without any previous communication that she was going to charge us for each and every phone call, email and text message she sends to either us or the contractor. She did the same for asking questions to the City of Berkeley. Considering she's based in Berkeley, which I thought was the benefit to hiring someone local, she should be more familiar with city policy and even if she didn't, we shouldn't be charged for her to learn on the job. It was quite incredible to see that Helmina was not willing to accept there's a cost to doing business. The time for her to complete phase one, which is to design the overall schematic, was done in a rather timely fashion. However, when it came time for phase two, it took her 5 months to complete the finishing details and drawings we needed for the build. Aside from being frustrated over how long it took to complete phase 2, I received the final deliverable and invoice on a Friday. I acknowledged receipt of the completed work and asked a question about the invoice the day after. On the following Monday, she then harassed me for payment and wrote this ridiculously long email explaining how much unpaid time she spent in providing us with proposals (not even the designs themselves!), a matter which completely came out of the blue considering it was less than a business day since I had been invoiced. Apparently Helmina spent all her unpaid time pulling together proposals and overthinking things so when it came time to actually reviewing her work, we were already working at a time deficit. At almost every stage in working with her, she kept badgering us on how we've technically run out of hours before we were even able to provide feedback for the first round of reviews. If you're willing to be patient in working with someone who likes to overthink the details and be told what your design should be without you providing much input, perhaps Helmina can do the job for you, but be careful of all the hidden charges she'll likely spring on you. Make sure to have pricing sorted out upfront!

It was such a great pleasure to work with Landed Interior & Homes on designing our new office! Lynn…read moredid such a great job of ensuring the design was something that we'd all love. Everything came together so perfectly. The design of our office speaks for itself-- as our floor has become the building's new model showroom! Lynn and team are true professionals, super creative, great people and great to work with. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for help on a renovation.

When Steve and Daniel of MacCracken Architects walked into our Russian Hill condo last spring, we…read moreknew we'd found our architects: Friendly, articulate and oozing competence, they were immediately excited about the space, inspired by it, enthusiastic about the project. We eventually worked with Daniel and another architect of the firm named Hutch. They listened carefully to our needs from that very first day, and through the back and forth over the ensuing weeks we worked together to integrate our unique needs for the space into their creative vision. The process of renovating was, to say the least, daunting. As the project progressed, Hutch became our point man day-to-day -- and he stuck with us through all the trials and tribulations, very responsive and capable, and in the end helped make the process bearable, even enjoyable. Hutch was steadfast about his vision and demands for excellence when it would have been much easier at many junctures to compromise quality for expedience. He went far, far beyond the letter of the contract in order to see the project through to its completion. The results are spectacular, far exceeding our expectations. These guys were truly amazing. I'm sure that there are many talented architects out there, but having been through this, I can't imagine its having gone half as well with anyone else.

An outstanding architecture firm with reputable projects both locally in Northern California and…read moreabroad. Their website and portfolio offer an impressive mix of commercial and residential work, all with a stunning design aesthetic. Steve, the principal, is an outstanding mentor with an uncompromising eye for detail. His commitment and leadership would undoubtedly make him and his team of architects and designers an invaluable resource to any project team. The firm's numerous and consistent Yelp reviews come as no surprise! I highly recommend MacCracken Architects to anyone looking for an Architect who will deliver the highest level of attention to detail and who will contribute greatly to the overall success of any project.