Best Interior Designers In The East Bay
(credit: PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
The 2014 San Francisco Decorator Showcase takes place at 3660 Jackson Street on April 26, 2014 through May 26, 2014. The three-story house clad in climbing ficus has six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in a 8,820-square-foot property overlooking the Presidio Wall. It was built in 1907 for Rose and Alfred Sutro, nephew of San Francisco's former mayor. The unique appeal of the property is evident; the house sold last year for $18 million within one week of being listed. The interior designers listed here represent East Bay-based interior designers who have been selected to contribute to past San Francisco Decorator Showcases which currently attract more than 15,000 visitors each year. From among hundreds of invitations to Bay Area designers, a short list is reviewed, from which a professional design advisory board selects each year's finalists.
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 286-0222
www.zumaooh.com
Blending the indoors with the outdoors to create that connection in living spaces is a specialty of this Oakland-based architecture and interior firm. From a beginning in 1998, the four-person team offers "a modernist tradition that allows for a three-dimensional expression." Called the heart and soul of the group, Michelle Wempe is an award-winning designer. From a Sonoma pool house in a 13-acre meadow linking to a newly-built main house, to a Tudor-style home redesign in Piedmont, the firm tackles residential and commercial projects. A member of the American Institute of Architects, Zumaooh participated in the San Francisco Decorator Showcase in 2009, responsible for creating the home's vintner's vault.
222 Railroad Ave., Suite D
Danville, CA 94526
(925) 820-3844
www.kristemichelini.com
"We love to mix classic, timeless interiors with modern simplicity," is the mantra from this four-person firm in business since 2002. The firm's work was showcased at 2010 in Dining By Design. Versatility was displayed in a wonderful teenage girl's bedroom suite at the 2012 Marin Decorator Showcase House in Belvedere, looking like far too much fun for studying. At the 2012 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, Kriste Michelini presented an intimate and glamorous master bedroom dressing room furnished with special vintage pieces. In the 2013 showcase, a third floor loft space was transformed into a light-filled writer's nook, simultaneously dreamy and calm, with vibrant pops of color to shake off writer's block.
100 Shady Lane
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
(925) 930-7013
www.frankholbrook.com
"The greatest satisfaction in my work is the rewarding personal connection that results from turning a house into a home," says Frank Holbrook. The capabilities are wide-ranging, including historic preservation, lighting consultation, fine art acquisition and project management. Take a tour of the results through the lovely website photography. Just add sunshine. Frank Holbrook's background is a unique blend of expertise in teaching art history, fine arts, painting and drawing before handling the restoration of some of Napa's important landmark structures, bringing them to National Register of Historic Places status, including The Buford House (1887).
Laurie JM Farr is a freelance writer covering all things in her adopted San Francisco. A dedicated urbanite, she's a transplanted New Yorker by way of a couple of decades in London as a hotel sales and marketing manager. Follow her work on @ReferencePlease, USA Today, Yahoo! and on Examiner.com.
