Regina G.
Google
I really can't say enough about my experience working with Alex, so brace yourself for a long review! I had a 12-year vision to transform my very original 1964 midcentury ranch style home (pink bathtubs and all!) into something that would give an already wonderful home new life. It was important to me to preserve my home's midcentury bones, while also opening it up to foster more connection with me and my boys, and also to entertain family and friends.
From the moment I found Alex's website, I was hooked not only from her design aesthetic, but also the philosophy and diverse experience she brings into her designs. We connected immediately on the phone, and even with an aggressive timeline, Alex put me at ease that we could finally bring my vision to life. The other thing I appreciated was that Alex assured me we could work within my budget, which felt substantial to me doing this on my own, but to some other designers it felt like small potatoes :).
Alex immediately helped work through finding contractors and aligning on my design aesthetic by presenting several beautiful concepts to calibrate on how sophisticated or casual I would want my home. There wasn't a bad one in the bunch, and we ended up mix and matching across a couple. Once we got to the design layouts, Alex took what I had originally communicated as one option, but presented several more. This is where it became SO clear why it's important to work with an expert, because for my primary bathroom alone, I think she gave me 6 different layouts that I would never have thought of, which we also mix and matched for the final design.
It's no secret that a remodel can be exceptionally stressful, and mine was no exception given the complexity removing walls, adding structural beams, moving plumbing, etc. But, even as I was away in various rentals as far as Sonoma (I live in Oakland), Alex was there every step of the way (virtual and onsite in person) to keep things on track as much as possible across my GC and subcontractors. She also was great at consistently keeping my budget in mind (even more so than myself!) and being direct when something was or wasn't worth the cost, or if the quality of the work wasn't what it should be. Her transparency and candidness really helped me trust her with every decision no matter how big or small, which was important to keep things moving as I was also juggling a very intense job and am a single mom.
The end product couldn't be more lovely, and even lovelier that the space does exactly what I was hopeful it would... bringing way more connection with me and my boys now that we took down some walls and have one large space between the kitchen, dining and family room. We also focused a lot on bringing in more light into the house adding skylights in key locations, and more storage anywhere we could hide it!
Looking back, I truly couldn't imagine going through this huge project with anyone else but Alex. There isn't a surface we didn't touch at the end... it feels like an entirely new house and I have Alex to thank for finally making this 12-year dream come true. She's an exceptionally talented designer, but also a truly wonderful person whom I now consider a dear friend.
