Practical Luxury Remodels · Sacramento & Northern California
Every project shown here was designed, managed, and delivered by our team. No stock photos. No renders. Real homes, real budgets, real construction sequencing — and a designer who stays on-site through the messy middle of the job, not just the reveal.
Lead designer: Amy Kunst, M.A. (CSUS) — NKBA Committee Member. Over a decade of full-scope remodels across Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, and the Bay Area, including Granite Bay, Mill Valley, and East Sacramento heritage homes.
What We Actually Manage
A remodel goes sideways in four places: structure, schedule, permits, and people. We work the same four pressure points on every job — before the demo crew arrives.
What’s behind the wall
Load-bearing surprises, hidden knob-and-tube, galvanized supply, undersized panels, asbestos in pre-1980 mastic, lead paint, and dry-rotted sheathing. We document existing conditions and flag the structural and hazmat risks before demo — not after the trades stop work and the homeowner is staring at an open ceiling. Mill Valley case study →
Long-lead orders, in order
Custom cabinetry: 10–14 weeks. Imported tile: 8–16 weeks. Plumbing fixtures from real European houses: routinely 6 months. We back-schedule from the desired move-in date, place long-lead orders before drywall, and stage deliveries so the GC isn’t waiting on a $40k vanity that just left a port in Italy.
AHJ-specific, not generic
Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, Granite Bay (Placer Co.), and El Dorado Hills each have their own plan-check timing, energy-code interpretation (Title 24), and inspection rhythm. We design to the AHJ that will actually stamp the drawings — with the architect or structural engineer of record — so the corrections cycle is one round, not three. Cost overrun guide →
Budget enforcement, weekly
Amy holds the GC and the subs to the budget on an hourly retainer — reviewing change orders, comparing invoiced labor to scheduled scope, and pushing back on the soft “while we’re in there” upsells that turn a $120k kitchen into a $180k kitchen. One point of contact. Weekly on-site walk. Documented decisions.
Recent Remodels
Our Remodel Process
How a full-scope remodel runs at Designed | Curated — from first walkthrough to final reveal.
Walkthrough & Scope
On-site consultation to scope the work, document existing conditions, and surface load-bearing, permit, and hazmat constraints early.
Design & Specification
Floor plans, elevations, finish specs, lighting plan, and a full procurement schedule reviewed across two design rounds.
Build & Procurement
We coordinate the trades, manage long-lead orders, and run weekly on-site QA. One schedule. One point of contact.
Styling & Reveal
Furniture install, art placement, and styling. Final walkthrough and punch-list closeout before the reveal.
Where We Work
Sacramento metro and Northern California, with frequent project work in the Bay Area and the Sierra. Each AHJ gets a designer who knows its quirks — not a generic CAD set.
East Sacramento · River Park · Land Park · Sierra Oaks · Carmichael · Arden-Arcade · Fair Oaks · Folsom · Granite Bay · El Dorado Hills · Roseville · Auburn · Lake Almanor · Mill Valley · Atherton · Alameda · Oakland
Field Notes
Frequently Asked
Who manages the contractors on a Designed | Curated remodel?
Amy does, directly — on an hourly retainer outside the construction contract. That means contractor decisions, change-order review, and budget enforcement sit with the designer who specified the work, not with the GC who’s incentivized to add scope. Weekly on-site walks, documented decisions, one point of contact.
What happens if I’m mid-project and the design has gone sideways?
We take mid-project rescues. The first step is a paid scope review: existing-conditions audit, GC change-order audit, finish-spec verification, and a written list of what still has to be ordered, returned, or re-bid. From there we either step into the project as designer-of-record, or we hand back a remediation plan you and your current GC can execute. Granite Bay clients have done both.
Do you do kitchen-only or bath-only remodels, or just whole-home?
Both. Single-room remodels are most common — kitchen, primary bath, primary suite. Whole-home is roughly a third of our work. For something smaller than a full room (a styling refresh, a furnishing-only project, or a single design question), Remodel consultations are $500 per room.
How early do you need to be brought in?
Before demo, and ideally before the GC is selected. The single biggest source of remodel cost overruns is design decisions made under demo pressure — cabinet runs re-cut, plumbing re-routed, fixtures swapped because the original spec arrived wrong or late. Time spent in design pays back 5–10x in construction.
How are budgets structured — do you mark up materials?
Design fees are billed hourly or as a fixed scope-of-work, not as a percentage of construction cost (which incentivizes scope creep). Trade pricing is passed through with documented invoices. Where we have trade discounts on furniture and decor, the discount is either passed to the client or shared transparently up-front. No hidden line items.
What’s a realistic timeline for a kitchen remodel in Sacramento or Granite Bay?
Design and procurement: 8–14 weeks. Permit: 3–8 weeks depending on AHJ (Granite Bay/Placer is slower than City of Sac on plan check; El Dorado Hills slower again). Construction: 10–16 weeks for a kitchen, 14–22 for a whole-home. Custom cabinetry and imported plumbing dominate the lead time. Realistic full clock: 6–10 months for a kitchen, 10–14 months for whole-home.
Planning a Remodel?
Schedule a no-obligation walkthrough with Amy and the design team. We’ll review scope, budget bands, permit timing, and a realistic schedule — before you commit to anything.
Recognized Industry References & Designer Profiles
Where the positions on this page are corroborated by third-party industry bodies, public designer profiles, and editorially-reviewed press features:
- NKBA — Amy Kunst, Member Profile (NKBA Committee Member, verified)
- Homes & Gardens — Amy Kunst quoted (May 2026) (press feature)
- Sacramento Love — Amy Kunst guest author, antique & mid-century modern (2024)
- JCHS Harvard — “Improving America’s Housing” (academic remodeling-spend research)
- NKBA — National Kitchen & Bath Association
- ASID — American Society of Interior Designers
- AIA — American Institute of Architects