Hello to a Bay Area neighbor! I don't have a specific person to recommend, based on experience, but a great source of names is the link below. Angela Free, Jay Jeffers and Kendall Wilkinson have especially nice portfolios you can look at on their sites. I have a number of designers bookmarked for various reference reasons, and I *think* I may have someone from Oakland as well. You style home is popular there too. If I do, I'll post back. Here is a link that might be useful: SF Showcase Designers

Well we're not done yet, so I'm sure I'll have more to tell you in a while..:) But, for now: -I went with a lot of vintage lighting. First of all I tried to save money which I did; second, they were charming and well-made fixtures. most of them from Europe. The wiring is fine, etc. However when the time has come to install them it appears some of them missing little things like crossbars and stuff..naively we go to Home Depot where we are told none of the standard American stuff will fit these lamps. So then it begins: running to specialty stores, ordering things on British website(why British? no idea. apparently they do have some of these parts. while other sites simply don't), and I-don't know-what-else. Yes, I saved a lot of money. Maybe hundreds maybe thousands I don't know (of course I'd like to think it's thousands)). But I really have no patience for another month spent trying to refit two thirds of the lamps. The GC has much less patience than me of course. You get the picture.. -Or: the countertop in the kitchen doesn't overhang enough. Doesn't bother me I must say, but my husband is really mad. We had no idea we should specify it, and the granite guy didn't ask. It also happened so that the inspector from the gas company came at the same time to look at something the city saw as problem(not related to the build; just a coincidence) when the granite guy was working on the template..we had to run between the two of them. The inspector is outside, the granite guy is measuring inside..no wonder we didn't ask. I don't know why he didn't; he then said that we seemed really knowledgeable and confident. No! That's how I look when I'm really tired lol. -Or: we went with a very complicated design for master bath. Or should I say, we wanted a lot done in a modest space. It looks good by the way. But they redid it so many times to fit it all, that now we'll have a) narrower vanity b) narrower bathtub. If I knew I'd let go some of our grand ideas. It would be still nice, and I'd have more functional space. -Or: I'd order some things more in advance than I did. I had no idea that oil rubbed bronze and chrome are usually in stock, but polished nickel is suddenly considered a special order and takes weeks. And you don't really know until you start actually purchasing. In short I did not know many things. So a designer wouldn't solve all of these issues of course. But he/she would anticipate most of them. Simply because of experience, better spatial thinking, better knowledge of the resources..because of studying it before and dealing with it a lot every day. Even me-not a designer-would be wiser a second time. Only I'm not going to do it for a second time, never ever..:) And if I'd choose to work with someone and had money for it-wishful thinking here-it would be someone significantly more talented than me. Sense of admiration from working with someone better than you not just helps. It creates excitement and pushes you forward too. When you're alone it feels different. Not right away maybe. But within several months, I felt less excited, less creative, less confident, less everything. It's not fun; when it's small reno it might be fun, when it's long and involves a whole house, it's already a job. Almost a full time job. And you don't necessarily enjoy it as much as you imagined. Every job has nice parts-and parts that are tiresome and very lackluster. You do the lackluster, a lot. And you pay for it too:)

OP here. we decided to order a sectional from pottery barn. the shorter side measures 89 in while the longer side is 152. alternatively we could order one slightly smaller sectional 89 x 111. which size would be better. thanks a bunch.

We published a new article on our Home & Design blog on how to boost your home's interior design. Let us know what you think! 😊 Do you have other tips?