Gary designed my kitchen and bathroom in our whole house remodel. He guided me thru my uncertainty…read moreon how to incorporate the kitchen with the great room concept and designed what turned out to be a truly functional kitchen that gets lots of positive comments from people. It was easy- I told him what I wanted and he helped make it happen. He was upfront about costs and I appreciated that. He also pointed out things that I would never have thought of. I love my kitchen! Oh...the bathroom turned out very nice too!

I would not recommend Gardner & Associates (Julie Gardner) services for the following 9 reasons:…read more 1) She allegedly inherited the business. Please be aware whatever the previous owner did or had done, does not mean the person running it now automatically deserves or has earned the businesses' assumed reputation. That's a matter of personal opinion. 2) While charging a high mark-up on items plus a high dollar per hour for her time on top of that, Julie did not have either a custom furniture maker to make new upholstered furniture (only showrooms where pieces could be modified) , a custom lampshade maker, or a custom curtain or valance maker. Something that was not divulged up front. Therefore my personal opinions are that her high end fees are not justified given the lack of services she has to offer. Services some other luxury designers DO have to offer. 3) Her paperwork was not organized the way I would expect from someone running this business. Her bookkeeper rarely managed to send me digital records in a usable fashion, she used winmail dat file formats that my computer could not read, despite my repeated requests for PDF copies. She provided accounting analysis that was not on her letterhead. I had made a complaint about the bookkeeping not being sufficient and the response I received indicated that it wouldn't be corrected because it was acceptable to the business owner due to the personal relationship between the bookkeeper and the business owner. 4) I ordered 2 custom Queen headboards and requested them to be taller. Never once did she suggest the footboards for those beds she ordered would also then need to be proportionately made taller. I feel that these oversights of size and scale for the designs being proposed are unacceptable when employing a high dollar interior designer. 5) I ordered a multitude of items from her for my guest house and main house over a 2 year period. The agreed color palette for selected items had been shades of blue, white, cream, beige or brown. I do not like gray. None of the fabrics or trims I chose would or will ever be of a gray color palette. Regardless, she ordered and then had upholstered 2 living room ottomans trim with gray and gold trim, had them put in storage and then delivered to my home at the end of the project. She then refused to correct her mistake - stating (paraphrased) "sorry you didn't like it. I will replace it at your expense. Not my error. You signed a proposal". Correct, Yes I signed many proposals from her which included trims - with zero color descriptions because I trusted that the color palette of everything being upholstered would match since she is the designer putting everything together. And I knew everything I personally saw and chose had the color palette I like in it. 6) She refused to take responsibility and replace the $571 worth of trims before her mark up was added on. Keep in mind that the overall project was a very large home and guest house. But she chose to be petty, and make a big deal over making a small change to trim on 2 ottomans. 7) At this point I have found that I cannot trust her paperwork. Evidently I should have double checked the minutia of every line in dozens and dozens of purchases, insisting she change her paperwork to indicate colors on our palette. Isn't that what a designer is supposed to do? Make sure that everything matches and makes sense room to room? 8) I don't believe that anyone should be treated unprofessionally and be forced to pay for corrections to furniture that you already paid to have reupholstered - when there is clearly a design issue. 9) There were numerous times where she was unavailable during the work week due to family issues. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, parental care. Personally, when I worked, I worked a 40 hour work week; business was my priority because I had a boss and would have been fired otherwise. 10) I typically would let a few bad things go if the totality of work was acceptable. But the level of service was not acceptable; and due to the overall attitude of working with the self claimed full service designer, my honest and truthful opinion is that it is important to bring up these lacking points from my own experience.

Julie Gardner has just completed a 2+ year project with us (the timeframe was by choice and because…read morewe kept asking her back to do more), and we couldn't be happier! The extent of her work with us included new furniture, fabrics/ trim, paint selection, cabinetry design and selection, lighting fixtures, wallpaper, art, carpeting, and rugs. Julie had creative and beautiful ideas for our home that she executed with perfection. We really like that our home has a unique and fresh look; in other words, she doesn't have a 'cookie cutter' approach. Julie was on time and on budget with the project. The subs that she works with (upholsterer, painter, electrician, cabinet maker, etc.) were all timely and easy to have around. As with all jobs, we had a couple of minor glitches, but Julie quickly provided good solutions. All of her proposals/ agreements were accurate and transparent. Highly recommend her!

Customer service is excellent! Will even give you…read morerecommendation, owner comes out to your home do the measurements and will order exact size you need. I love most all merchandise, if ask they're so good at give their opinions. I love the shop!

This store is cozy and inviting. But make a point to patron because of its one of a kind home…read moreaccessories and excellent customer service and accommodating staff. Guido is truly magnificent with his styling magic and dream worthy home-scape. This is one of those shops you linger in and let you eyes delight in what you'll bring home. We came to Carmel to celebrate our anniversary, and decided to walk these shops. Running out of time, I made my husband return on our way out just for this store. I'm so happy I did. I asked Guido if he had owls. He gladly showed me the inventory he hadn't put out yet. Little did I know he designed the trees in one of the vacant shops that I admired. The designer himself shared his vision with me. Thank you, Guido and staff for sharing warmth and beauty at a time when we could use more of these delights!

We were fortunate a few years ago to pick up a small cottage in Carmel. We realized in order to…read moremake this something that we could potentially retire to we would need to expand it a little and for that needed an architect or draftsman that could design something that was sympathetic to the existing structure, the cottage is pretty funky being built in the 30's and remodeled by no other than Hugh Comstock 10 years later so is bursting to charm and quirks. One such quirk was the odd idea that laminate flooring is A-OK for a period cottage so we figured when we stick the extension on the house we should run hardwood through the whole house including the existing structure to bind the two together and given better continuity. We went out to bid for a few places and they were all roughly in the same ballpark, we chose Mark as he had a better sense of what we were trying to accomplish, he seemed to have an empathy for this and also has a very hands on approach being the crew was him, his son and one other chap. They were very low touch on the property considering the rolled all the way through, they worked well and around the other craftsmen and were incredibly accommodating. Like a good number of the other contractors we used on this adventure I highly recommend Randazzo and would not think twice about using them again.. Thank you..

Randazzo Hardwood Floors just completed staining and refinishing our floors. Wow for the quality,…read moreperformance and price! Perfect job by Brandon and Dan. Thumbs up to Mark Randazzo and crew!

Julie was referred to me as I was helping my mother transition to assisted living after more than…read more30 years in her home. I had no idea where to start with clearing everything out and preparing the house for sale. Julie truly saved the day. She knew exactly what needed to be sorted for an estate sale, donated, or discarded, and she took control of the entire process. She managed everything from start to finish, including coordinating hauling services and working seamlessly with the estate sale company. She made what felt overwhelming so much easier and far less stressful. I would highly recommend Julie to anyone going through a move or major life transition.

Julie is a wonderful help. I moved here over a year ago and still had boxes to unpack. She finally…read morehelped me unpack and organize my basement storage area and get rid of needless items that I brought over from my move. Needless to say, when you are stuck with boxes or just don't know where to start, call Julie!

I am eternally grateful having crossed paths with Jana Caron. She is an incredibly talented…read moredesigner who also possess an ability to work extremely well with others, particularly those like me who can be indecisive and visually challenged seeing an end result of something brand new. She was very patient and accommodating when I needed more assurance on what the end result would be. She listened very carefully to what I hoped to accomplish and what appealed to me, and had a knack for reigning me in when I was all over the place with different design concepts. She kept me focused, staying on track with our agreed concept and she was excited about creating something special and making a statement to add to the vibrancy of downtown Salinas. Her excitement was contagious and gave me such confidence needed to trust her completely. She encouraged me to be bold and not play it to safe, which is exactly what I would've done, and I know in the end it would been a terrible mistake that I would've regretted immensely. She had great ideas and resources for new materials I was not familiar with. I appreciated her taking the time to investigate all options, while being very conscientious of budget. The project turned out so beautifully and I continue to receive such positive response to it from so many people. I am so proud of this project and am profoundly grateful. She has such a breath of knowledge with paint color, and material selection and consistency in keeping with the overall design scheme. There were days I was apprehensive and wanting to play it safe, for example with color accent, and thankfully she reminded me that our goal was to create something modern and exciting, not safe and boring! Jana was such a joy to work with. She's a talented and exceptional designer as well as a wonderful human being, whom I consider a friend and I hope to do more projects in the future with her. Thanks a million Jana! Eternally Grateful!!

Working with Jana is a breath of fresh air. She is thorough, courteous, and gets things done! I…read moreworked at the Ferguson Showroom and whenever my calendar told me that Jana was bringing in a client, it was the highlight of my day. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable, she's creative, and attentive to even the smallest detail. Jana also has good taste, tact, and an eye for original beauty. Stellar work and a pleasure! Thank you, Jana.

Product excellence. Knowledgeable staff. Superb customer service. Installation flawless.read more

We bought a Hot Spring spa from Monica. Great customer service went above and beyond to answer all…read moreof our questions & got us the best model for my son and budget. They had a great Memorial day Special/ 4th of July and we got our spa last summer. We had Tyson come up to do some adjustments today and he was so professional and courteous. We had a wonderful experience with him. Spas by the Bay has a great showroom with a lot of models. They took the time to explain how to use the chemicals and what would be a better system for us a salt vs chemicals. When I did my research, hot spring spas are the Mercedes of all spas. They have the best warranties and are the most energy efficient and less maintenance/more reliable.

Met Chad at his home workshop / garage in Carmel. What a great guy, his shop is well organized and…read moretidy, a sign of a professional..... no question. I had a small wood working job and he handled it on time and made some good suggestions. Customer service was TOP NOTCH. He's even done work for his neighbors across the street, an amazing gate to their front patio. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend or use him again. He deserves more than 5 stars.