Full-Service Interior Design in San Francisco and the Bay Area

Everything between the first conversation and the day your home is finished and furnished. We begin with how you live, translating your daily routines into the concept, floor plans and custom millwork, and select every finish, fixture and furnishing. We prepare the detailed construction drawings and specifications your contractor builds from, coordinate with your build team through construction, and handle the full procurement, delivery and on-site installation of your furnishings.

Our six-phase interior design process, above, sets it out step by step, and What an Interior Designer Does During Construction describes our role on site.

Our interior design process has six phases: Initial Exploration, Conceptual Design, Detailed Design, Documentation, Design Support and Furnishings Installation. The first four are design, the fifth runs alongside construction, and the sixth is the installation of your furnishings once your home is ready.

As early as you can: when you’re first considering a renovation, new construction or furnishing your home, not once the plans are set or the work is under way. Starting early means the floor plan, cabinetry, lighting, finishes and furnishings are planned together, and nothing has to be chosen in a rush. Depending on the scope, we prepare the full design package ourselves or coordinate with your architect, and we can recommend a contractor if you don’t have one.

For more on preparing, see What to Know Before Starting a Home Renovation.

It depends on the scope. From kickoff to installation day, a whole-home renovation typically takes 18 to 24 months, sometimes longer. The design phases account for eight to nine months of that for a whole home, and four to six months for a smaller scope. Construction depends on permitting, material lead times and your contractor’s schedule, so your proposal includes an estimated design timeline for your own project.

We go through each stage in How Long Does an Interior Design Project in San Francisco Really Take?

A whole-home renovation in the Bay Area typically starts around $1,000,000 in construction; a smaller scope is less. Furnishings are budgeted separately. That figure is the cost of building the project, not our fee. Our design fee depends on your scope and is set out in your proposal after the initial consultation, so you see it before you sign. The Investment Guide we send once your discovery call is booked explains how our fees are structured.

Yes. If you have an architect, we work alongside them from the very beginning of your project, not once the architecture is complete. If you already have a contractor in mind, we like to get to know them early. If your project doesn’t need an architect, we prepare the drawings ourselves and consult a structural engineer wherever walls are being opened up. And if you haven’t hired a contractor yet, we can recommend builders we trust and help you compare them.

Furnishings are part of the design from the first phase, planned with the floor plan so each piece fits the room it’s meant for. We select the furniture, rugs, lighting, window treatments and art, sourcing through trade showrooms. Custom upholstery and other pieces are made to order for your home by the workrooms we work with, and we look for vintage and antique pieces where a room calls for one.

We then order and track everything, have it received and inspected at a warehouse, and place each piece ourselves on installation day. When a home needs no renovation, furnishings can be the whole project, and the process is the same. We go into more detail in Where Furnishings Fit.

Yes. We plan around the pieces you want to keep, from heirlooms to art from your travels, and select everything else to sit well with them. During Detailed Design you see it all presented together, in context with the materials for each room.

We don’t design to one look. Each home takes its cue from the people who live in it and from the house itself, so an Edwardian hillside home and a farmhouse look nothing alike. What you’ll recognize across our work is warmth: oak and other natural woods, handmade tile, custom millwork and earthy color in greens and terracottas, each chosen for that home. Our projects show the range.

Whole-home renovations, new construction and furnishings projects, most often for homes our clients plan to stay in. We also take on smaller scopes: a kitchen and bath, a primary suite, a single room or a full floor. For furnishings in up to three rooms that you’d rather order yourself, see Design Day; for advice on a project you’re running yourself, see Interior Design Consulting.

Our studio is at 447 Sutter St in San Francisco, and our projects are across the city and the Bay Area: Parnassus Heights, the Outer Sunset, Cole Valley, Oakland, Lafayette and the Berkeley Hills. We also take on select projects further afield.