I needed lighting consultation for a kitchen remodel. She was very well informed and provided very helpful advice. She is very professional and Davy about placement and selection of fixtures. read more

Sheryl was fantastic! We have a 1920's bungalow in Oakland and I was looking to up our curb appeal as well as light our backyard palm tree. I realized that I needed expert lighting help and I was absolutely right on this point. I can't imagine having done this project without her! She knows what lights to use, the brands, and she can even refer you to the right electrician! She checked in with me regularly and followed up with me after the electrician came to our house and did the installation work. I highly recommend her for residential or commercial! Our house is the best looking house on the street now and the exterior lights made all the difference! read more

Sheryl at Eluminations was a joy to work with for our first floor lighting revamp. We hated the overhead lights especially in our kitchen, but also throughout the first floor of our house; we also had no fixture in the dining room other than the terrible overhead lighting. We thought we'd like recessed lighting and a fixture over our dining room table, but we didn't know where to start or how much the project might cost. Sheryl came to our house for a design consultation, listened to our complaints and ideas, made recommendations and drew up a detailed plan for the electrician. Benefits to working with Sheryl: - We didn't have to learn ins and outs of recessed lighting! Saved us tons of time. - Recommended local lighting shops where we could check out fixture options - Gave her professional feedback on the fixtures we were thinking about - Ordered the fixtures we chose, passing on her trade discount - Dealt with manufacturers when wrinkles arose (shades broken in shipping, etc) - always prompt and professional, and we felt she truly cared about the outcome - Recommended several electricians, one of whom we hired and absolutely loved! Our installation just finished, and I can't even tell you how happy we are. This is the best investment in our home we've ever made, and we get to enjoy the results every day! Best of all, we came in significantly under budget - thanks to Sheryl's trade discount (we did not skimp on fixtures and got the ones we really wanted, rather than compromising to save money) and to her electrician recommendation. We highly recommend working with Sheryl for your lighting project. read more

I was looking for a Oakland-based lighting consultant to help us improve the lighting in our 1,100sf loft/condo in Old Oakland. My husband and I were not able to come to a consensus on what was needed to light our living room with 20ft lofted ceilings and i had spent too long staring at lighting websites not getting anywhere. I found Sheryl online and she was more than willing to work with us, even though I was worried it would be too small a project for her. First we chatted on the phone, and then she came over for about 90 minutes. She was very helpful talking through all our options, and making recommendations. She gave us a general sense of the pricing so that we would not be surprised by the final price tag. She also offered up other suggestions for how to improve the lighting in the entry area and our bedrooms. We ended up with dimmable LED can lights in the entry and master bedroom - they are 100 times better than our old hanging paper latern!! We are also getting architectural uplights (soon to be installed) in the living room (the kind that light up the Lincoln Memorial!). After her visit, Sheryl wrote up a summary of what we discussed and also drafted an estimate for the lighting fixtures. She also offered up several names of electricians and contractors. We got really good pricing from the first one we called and the father/son team did a fantastic job with the installation. Sheryl answered a lot of question from me and the contractor via email and even helped arrange the ordering and delivery of the fixtures. read more

Sheryl came in to help us come up with a lighting design for our small updated condo (850 sq ft), and we couldn't have been more happy with the results. She came up with a great lighting plan that was much more sophisticated than what we would have ever come up with on our own (or what the electrician would have), and she kept in constant communication with us and our electrician to make sure we were all on the same page in terms of getting the right fixtures, and where everything was supposed to go. She gave us very detailed layout plans and very timely responses to our questions. If you're wondering whether you really need a lighting designer (like we were), just know that it was well worth the price to get things looking great the first time. Sheryl Klein definitely delivered, and I would highly recommend her services. read more

Sheryl completed a whole-home lighting plan for our new construction home build. We are extremely pleased with the work from Sheryl. She is a professional in every sense of the word. Her knowledge of lighting is excellent, and the time and attention she paid to our project was very evident during the plan review. Every detail was carefully thought out and she is great about taking any input we had. We have a very clear path forward and do not have to give our lighting another thought. its done! Lighting is such a key component and we had no clue how to light our home. Sheryl's expertise was well worth the investment. She completed her work in a timely fashion and is always quick to respond to any questions or requests. thank you Sheryl. Very glad we added you to the team! read more

Working with Sheryl was a pleasure start to finish. During our two hour consultation, she drafted a lighting plan for our living room, two bedrooms, and bathroom, which I was able to share with an electrician for installation. The process saved me countless hours of research -- after 2+ hours Googling beam angle, percent dimmability, switch compatibility, color temperature, spacing, etc., I gathered that online resources are limited, and lighting is both an art and a science. Sheryl considered our furniture and art layout, fixtures (working around a sprinkler system), and needs based on activity/times of use. Her design was stunning, the lighting fixtures that she recommended beyond expectations. I am an avid DIYer, but I value my time and effort -- I know when to hire an expert. Sheryl is knowledgeable, professional, and responsive, following up during and after installation. I highly recommend her services. read more

Sheryl is great, have had her help doing lighting plan for our remodel. Very sharp, efficient, great work.

I had a terrific experience with Sheryl. I had never worked with a lighting designer before so I wasn't sure what to expect. She made everything so easy for me. She asked all the right questions to first understand what I wanted, my design preferences, etc. and was quick to offer several suggestions for me to consider. She mapped out my lighting design and was very responsive, flexible, accessible when I had questions - and changed my mind later :) And, we had a particular challenge in that our wood exposed beam ceiling has limited clearance so our lighting options turned out to be limited. At first I was very stressed about that, but Sheryl did some research and was able to come back and present viable options that would both work and meet our design needs. Phew. I absolutely recommend Sheryl - plus, she's very easy to work with. read more

We are a small business in the middle of an office remodel, and Sheryl was fantastic in helping us navigate and select from the more cutting-edge LED-based recessed lights that are starting to be available now. The choices out there were daunting, so we were really glad to have her help in narrowing down our choices, and answering all of our questions. She was even able to buy the fixtures wholesale, saving us money. Her experience with these lighting systems was crucial in figuring out what we needed, since all the internet search in the world can't really tell you how the lighting is going to look in a real-world setting, especially with a new technology like LED. We are so happy with Sheryl's service and wouldn't think twice about hiring her again. read more

We would have been completely lost without Sheryl's help. Remodeling can be crazy, and trying to decide where/how much lighting is needed is not an easy task. Sheryl took into account our budget and lit our rooms beautifully. We love the recessed lighting she chose in our kitchen, family room, and great room. She was very accessible and communicative. She made us feel like we were her only clients :) Thank you Sheryl! read more

Sheryl came to our house yesterday to help us figure out the lighting for a remodel of our 1920 Oakland house, which includes indoor and outdoor spaces with some rather unique challenges. We had been struggling to figure out the options for weeks, and within 2 hours Sheryl produced some quick drawings and sent us a page of links for products to look at. The world of lighting has changed so much in the last few years, that I'm amazed that we thought we could do this without professional help. We'll definitely be calling on Sheryl during the next phase to help us refine our choices. read more

We had pretty much worked up our own lighting plan, but had some nagging questions and things we felt unsure of. We found Sheryl on Yelp and she was very flexible to work with us on a consulting basis. We had great long meeting and she helped us refine and edit our plan which gave us the confidence that we had everything covered and could move forward. She is TOTALLY knowledgable and gave us oodles of information and answered all our questions thoroughly without trying to sell us something or give us any kind of pitch. She was responsive to what we wanted and her expertise was invaluable. Highly recommend whether you want a whole lighting plan and products or just some consultation. We were extremely pleased to have found her. High value for the price. Would definitely use again. read more

We had talked to several electricians, lighting stores, and designers over the years about non-pendant lighting over our kitchen bar. All the advice was about the same but when I looked at the lighting catalogs it was never clear that what we wanted would actually work with our mid-century modern, sloped ceiling, beamed kitchen. Finally, decided to look for a lighting specialist and saw Sheryl's great reviews. What a relief to work with someone who is so experienced! Sheryl listened to what we wanted with the new lighting, she made some measurements then gave us several options with pros and cons, and we zeroed in on what the best option for us. Sheryl discussed the installation in detail with our electrician and gave us a list of every item needed. She also helped us pick compatible lighting heads and the correct bulbs for our needs. We used Sheryl to order the lighting components since she was able to get us a great price, and she kept us informed of the shipments. Sheryl is very efficient and her rates are more than fair for someone with her expertise and knowledge. Highly recommend! read more

Sheryl has been wonderful to work with! Two years ago, Sheryl came to our house to do a whole house evaluation on our lighting. We asked if she would be willing to schedule an appointment after dark because we have a ton of windows and get a lot of natural light during the day, but it was incredibly dark at night. She came over in the evening, walked through our house room by room and pointed out areas where she would add lights. Later, she provided us with a written evaluation which told us the type of fixture, voltage, and spacing that she recommended for each room. Her evaluation has allowed us to slowly enhance our lighting as our budget allows, and she has even ordered lights for us. The kitchen lights that she selected for us made a huge difference - we were so very happy with them. She helped us come out of the shadows and into the light! read more

Sheryl provided lighting consulting services for a large remodel in San Francisco. She responded to my call promptly and was able to schedule a meeting at the property immediately. Her work was thorough and completed within the timeframe indicated. She communicated well with the contractor and provided the detailed mark-up of plans he needed to provide direction to the electrical subcontractor. Her recommendations added light in the right places and actually saved us some money by specifying better priced fixtures than were provided by the contractor for some fixtures. I noticed a large range of pricing for lighting consultants, Sheryl was fairly priced and provided good value for the investment in her services. read more

My wife and I are renovating a house in San Mateo, removing a wall to forge the former dining and living rooms into a Great Room. Our architect had been mute on matters of lighting so we needed some consulting. Sheryl came over one evening for two hours of consulting, during which she gave some suggested designs, sketched layouts on paper, and showed me some product catalogs. I got out of it exactly what I needed -- some education, some confidence we were installing something that'd be reasonable, and some specific ideas for how to improve our initial sketch. It was great Sheryl could come over in the evening to fit my schedule. If anyone needs some consulting on a lighting plan I'd happily endorse Eluminations for that work. read more

I can not say enough good things about Sheryl. My husband and I bought a 1950s home in the Montclair area of Oakland and after a few months of living here we realized the main living area was missing something crucial: lighting. We weren't sure what to do as the wood planked ceiling was a major attraction and we just couldn't see ourselves tearing into it to put up lights (and with two small kids under foot lamps were not an alternative solution). I found Sheryl here on Yelp and called her right away. She called back promptly and was very flexible in arranging to come see the space. And with my screaming infant and toddler under foot she came up with a great solution to make our space functional during the day and after sunset. To boot, Sheryl even got us a discount on the fixtures and lights and handled all the footwork of ordering our needed supplies. Thanks to Sheryl (and the contractors who used Sheryl's design specs) our open concept living and dining has unobtrusive, elegant lighting to accommodate how we live in the space. We will be calling Sheryl back for our next task of updating our kitchen. read more

My wife and I designed and built our own custom home in Danville. When it came time to deal with the lighting, we were lost and engaged Cheryl to help us navigate through the vast world of lighting choices. Cheryl was a true professional and there is no way we could have achieved success without her efforts. She is passionate about her work and truly cares about her clients. She spec'd out all the lighting locations for the entire house and recommended everything from the fixtures to the diffusers to the bulbs. As anyone who has built or remodeled their own house can attest, there are a million choices when it comes to this type of stuff and I highly recommend you engage an expert like Cheryl...it will save you time and money and look way better in the end! read more

I worked with Sheryl to bring much needed light into my peaked beam ceiling in the living room and for under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. It was a wonderful experience as Sheryl excels in her technical knowledge of lighting and she has a good eye for what will look appropriate and sophisticated. I was so unsure of myself when it came to investing in lighting and Sheryl really took care of me. In addition to knowing her craft, Sheryl is so easy to work with. She is professional, responsive and so easy to talk to. She also maintains good relationships with lighting contractors. I used a contractor that she recommended who was top notch and she worked seamlessly with them as needed so I didn't need to get in the middle of some communications and possibly muck it up. I love the twinkling lights she picked for my living room ceiling which transformed my home from a practical and from a design perspective. Thank you Sheryl! read more

We just bought a home that had no overhead lighting in the living area or master bedroom. The electricians we spoke to all recommended adding a ridiculous amount of canned lighting. Sheryl came in and confirmed our suspicions that it was going to be overkill for the space. She came up with a plan for both rooms that has turned out beautifully. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone who needs advice on finding a solution to their lighting issues. read more

We were building a new home in Pebble Beach and our designer recommended we consider adding more lighting to our home. She introduced us to Sheryl and we "hit it off with her right from the get go." She listens and then designs to meet your living space and lighting needs. I can't imagine our new home without all the beautiful lighting touches Sheryl created, especially around our clerestory in the living room. She designs for function and for beauty! I would highly recommend her for your next lighting project! read more

Sheryl did a great job for us and we highly recommended her. We were struggling with how to light the living room in our 1938 Oakland Hills home. With wood ceiling, floor, and cabinets, and with no fixed lighting, the room was very difficult to light. We called Sheryl and in one appointment she was able to come up with a great solution. In a short time, we had an order placed and the lighting installed. I'm writing this now from beuatifully lit living room. read more

Sheryl is great! She is extremely professional and has great ideas. We needed help lighting our living room/dining room that has exposed beams, as well as our family room and hallway. Instead of spending countless weekends going to lighting stores and driving all over the East Bay, Sheryl came to our house, made recommendations, showed us fixtures and recommended an electrician. The lighting turned out great and we highly recommend using Sheryl. read more

We hired Sheryl Klein (Eluminations) to design the lighting plan for our new kitchen--we tore out the existing kitchen and started from scratch. She came to our house and carefully evaluated the space, as well as reviewed the design plan for the cabinets, appliances, etc. She also asked questions about our needs and wants. She then crafted a design plan, giving a copy (professionally done) of that plan to us as well as a separate copy for our contractor. She reviewed the plan with me in detail, ensuring that I understood everything that was included. She also offered and made site visits during the project. She was communicative and made herself available throughout the process, clearly wanting to ensure that we were pleased with how it all came together. End result: we love the lighting in our new kitchen! We are extremely pleased with the services we received from Eluminations. read more