Jaki and Jennifer were wonderful to work with! They understood our vision and the outcome was…read moreperfect. They helped us design an addition and refresh to our main house and building a new 1,200 sqft ADU. They walked us through every step and provided beautiful options that fit our aesthetic. I would would recommend her and her team 10/10! Thank you JY team!

Unfortunately we had an awful experience with Jaki and cannot recommend her work at all. There were…read morered flags from the beginning but we wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Please don't make our mistake. Ultimately, Jaki did not understand our vision and kept pushing her design preferences on us. We had to fully create our own PowerPoint deck with reference photos to get our ideas across room by room; source our own tile (when she claimed the design we wanted didn't exist in the tile we wanted); ordered the wrong quantity of products; among many other issues. Additionally when we chose not to use her preferred contractor, she became even more difficult to work with. She claimed she didn't know how to use IKEA's closet building tool to help us build our master closet, was always running late to our meetings; nor did she know how to use Gmail to schedule said meetings. Due to COVID and vendor supply issues our renovation took much longer than anyone expected. But the most egregious and unprofessional behavior was when she quit the job BEFORE any of the fixtures she ordered were even installed. She literally took our money and ran. We were still in the middle of our renovation and had been project managing the majority of the work ourselves. To reiterate-- we paid Jaki in full for her services but she would not even honor returns or exchanges for products that we DID NOT install (because they didn't end up working in our space and were misrepresented in the renderings). In the end, we had to go directly to the vendor ourselves, who graciously honored the exchange given that we had such a terrible time trying to get that through Jaki. The whole experience has been extremely disappointing and we would not recommend her services.

I cannot say enough great things about Sharon Fox! If you are considering hiring a designer for…read moreanything from help with paint colors to a total remodel - HIRE SHARON! Not only is she talented, creative, and full of great ideas, but she has an incredibly warm and joyful personality. I had never worked with a designer before and was somewhat skeptical, but I am sooooo happy I worked with Sharon. She totally understood the look I was going for and turned it all into a beautiful reality. Her rates are super reasonable and she was always very responsive when I needed her or just had a question. I love Sharon and you will too!

After reading many reviews on the internet and interviewing several designers, we chose Sharon to…read moredesign our whole home remodel. We live out of state so we were really focused on selecting a designer who could not just create an incredible design, but would also work with the builder to insure the execution was in line with her vision. We are so happy with all that Sharon has done for our home. Her attention to detail really made the difference. There are several good designers in North County but Sharon just goes the extra mile to insure it's perfect. We love our home. Ron B.

I got the opportunity to work with Kate Griffin on an organization job that I needed for my home. I…read morecontacted her one week & she scheduled our appt. for early the following week. Which was such a breath of fresh air in this very active real estate market. Being a Realtor. I know all companies that are associated with real estate are experiencing lots of volume so that was very quick considering the market. To be honest I was in such need of moving this project forward. What a wonderful blessing we got started right away! I had moved into a new home and with the exception of a desk/chair and a bed. I only brought items that fit in a box. Or went in the closet. I initially contacted Blythe so I can get a design to get some furniture etc. but I had boxes all around the parameter of my home and couldn't get to the design until we went through all the boxes and had everything organized and put away. Over the years we can accumulate so many items that are so precious. IE: just to name one category. I had been saving a variety of keep sake items from over the years that were also in cardboard boxes and felt stuck not knowing what to do with them. I didn't know where to start. When Kate arrived she rolled up her sleeves and got to work. We opened every box and went through absolutely everything. She made what looked so overwhelming a breeze. She was able to help me discern what to keep and what to purge. I had a hard time parting ways with items I hadn't used in I can't even remember the last time I had used them. I even had kept boxes from vacuums and other appliances that she kindly pointed out were taking up space that we could use to organize other items in. Apparently, I needed the permission to get rid of it. Which when I did get rid of them. It felt freeing! We sorted through all sorts of items. Anywhere, from a variety of keep sakes (my daughter trophy's, various photos, bday and holiday cards I had collected over the years), office supplies, to electronics (she helped me discern what to keep - and what to recycle - phew - so nice to know you can recycle electronics), kitchen cabinets, cleaning supplies, cleaning appliances in a closet, to paperwork that needed to be shredded and had piled up over time (which I got done), misc. bathroom items, linen closet to labeling. By the time we were done it was after 6pm and we had lot of empty cardboard boxes to recycle. Even though she had been here for 4 hours on a intense and detailed job.... with a mask on... On a hot day. She wanted to ensure she didn't leave any task for that day not completed. She offered to help me break down and take out every last box (I live on the 3rd floor) which we did. Then we scheduled an appt. for the next day so we could get some containers etc. to efficiently organize the items. Bye bye cardboard boxes. What started off as a 3 hour process. Ended up being a 9 hour job over a span of 3 days. I'm so grateful Kate was available 3 days in a row to keep the flow of the process going. I can go on and on. When you don't know where to start it's sure great to have someone who is a professional organizer help you. Kate is experienced, professional, amazing, friendly, funny, jovial and someone you will feel comfortable having in your home.

Jessi was extremely helpful selecting tile, colors, decorative bedding and especially contractors.read more

I have hired 1st Stage for multiple properties over the years. In the past, they generally did…read moregreat work and I was impressed with their staging style, professionalism, availability, and pricing. That said, my most recent experience was disappointing. I had them stage a modern townhouse in Costa Mesa near the beach. Unfortunately, the staging style they chose did not match the aesthetic of the property at all. I am not a designer, so I typically trust their vision and let them take the lead. This time, I reached out to their team and simply asked if we could swap out a few items to make the space feel more modern or beachy. I was told I would need to pay a restocking fee. That response was frustrating. I had referred them many jobs and clients in the past, and while the fee itself was not a large amount, it felt unnecessary and left a bad impression. They did eventually waive the fee, which I appreciated, but the situation already felt mishandled. Fast forward a bit. The property did not sell, and I requested that it be de-staged. Their team came out a few days later and removed the furniture. A few months after that, they emailed both me and my client, who was the actual party to the staging contract, claiming there was a prorated balance due for a few extra days the furniture remained in the home. The amount was under $400. The contract was between my client and 1st Stage, not me, so I was confused as to why I was included. Shortly after, Mark Sutton emailed me directly asking if I could take care of the payment by the next day. I found that extremely unprofessional. Agents are the ones who bring them business, and asking me to personally pay an invoice that had nothing to do with me showed a real lack of business judgment. I expressed my disappointment with their customer service, and the only response I received was a payment link. If you are looking for a stager who truly feels like a partner and values long-term relationships, I would think twice before using this company. In my experience, once an issue arises, you are treated like just another number, and preserving relationships does not seem to be a priority.

What an amazing experience we had with Janice and the entire team! Not only are they creative, hard…read moreworking, and professional, but they have the most beautiful and quality items! You can put your complete trust that they will stage your house to perfection so that it will look great for the photos and the tours!! Our home went into escrow 4 days after listing and we received $100,000 over asking price! The 1st stage service is a great value and will pay off tremendously in the end.

More than one month after ordering a $3,500 item, i got an email (no courtesy phone call)…read moreindicating that my "order status has changed to refunded." Keep in mind my wife and I were waiting and relying on this dresser for our new home. Further, my credit card wasnt actually refunded! At least they did follow-up to my follow-up email promptly.

I love Clutch Modern and all the organic, modern pieces. So stylish! This is just the look I've…read morebeen seeking all under one roof and reasonably priced. Sarah clearly has a skilled eye for design from large scale projects all the way down to the details that make a space and home feel elevated, comfortable and welcoming at the same time. I bought many pieces for my home and look forward to hiring her on my next design project!