Design for Conscious Living®

Celia Rutte, Design for Conscious Living was the designer for a complete gutting and expansion of our home in Mid town Toronto. The project took just over a year to complete and Celia was present with us all the way. She helped guide us through the multiplicity of options and choices to be made in such a big undertaking. She always kept our preferences in mind and chose options we liked. She has an excellent sense of space and proportion and a wonderful colour sense. She was mindful of our budget and kept us on track there as well. She was extremely organized and conscious of deadlines, keeping us and at times our contractor on track. The trades people she suggested were excellent as well. Her communication skills and organizational skills are second to none. She really worked hard and has exacting standards. She has created for us a home that we love and one about which we receive many compliments. We can’t recommend Celia highly enough.

I have been a contractor for over twenty years and have worked for clients with all different sorts of budgets and scopes of work; anything from bathroom renovations to large additions. Each project and every client are vastly different. I have also worked with many designers brought in by clients. There is not enough time to describe the numerous negative interactions I have had with some designers. I never know what situations will arise when designers insist on doing something one way, even though it will add thousands to their client’s bill and where the design usually puts form over function (which I know the clients will regret once they live in the space or use a fixture that looks pretty but does not function well.) Working with Celia has been a pleasant surprise. From the first moment we did a walk through together of our mutual client’s project to the finish of the project, Celia was always respectful of my input and changed her design to accommodate both budget and function. Celia also offered more of a coaching role to the client where the client knew what she wanted but benefitted from bouncing ideas off of Celia. Celia also offered a range of services and, instead of charging for drawings in certain situations, she saved the client money and time by meeting with me on site to measure out locations for lighting and fixtures. Celia also has excellent contacts for products and services. She also reached out to check on the project even though her roll was mostly finished, which I really appreciated. For anyone out there who would like an interior designer who is flexible, listens to you, and offers valuable advise or coaching on design elements, I highly recommend working with Celia from Design For Conscious Living! Aresh Katirai from Brilliant By Design Inc.

We have worked with Celia yet again on one of our projects and she continues to provide excellent and detailed design insight and drawings for our clients. She is very detail orientated and keeps the design process moving by taking command of schedules and milestones. We would continue to recommend Celia and will continue to work with her on future projects.

Celia came highly recommended through my contractor to help me with concept drawings for a three-level (unexpected) renovation to my new house. After meeting with her, I was impressed with her focus on getting to know exactly what my style and design inspiration ideas were (rather than just what I thought they were) and knew I had to hire her right away. Celia was absolutely great to work with and so kind when explaining the process to me as I had no prior experience in this field. I learned so much about what I really wanted for the renovations through Celia's guidance. It's incredible the difference she made and I'm so happy I got to work with her! I can safely highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a real high-quality professional for their renovations.

Celia is an outstanding professional. We met years ago and when I saw her work I loved her choices and design aesthetic. I would often ask her resource questions and share my completed designs with her. This past year I asked her to work with me on a large design project. She went beyond what I could imagine with design ideas, presentation, and thoughtfulness. We were able to compliment each other on design concepts, to further elevate the project. Celia is a natural. She understands room layout, furniture scale, fabrics, furniture, and layering. I so admire her ability to complete a project to it's tiniest detail, and this shows in her final images of each space. I would work with Celia again, as she is one of the best designers I have come to know in the industry. Rhonda Moscoe, Interior Designer, Toronto

Excellent! I really enjoyed working with Celia and I will continue to do so as I look to future projects. Celia was very easy to work with and she has a great network of suppliers, retailers, installers, etc. She has a great eye and I appreciate how she works with both your vision and your budget. She provided me the right amount of ideas/options and she also helped educate me in a few areas which will help me as I continue to play with some decor elements. How working together and costing would work was very clear which meant there were never any questions on timelines/costs. In the end, I am very happy with the result of our collaboration and I will continue to leverage her expertise. It is a real pleasure to have Celia as a partner. I am a little bit sorry I did not meet her earlier as I would definitely done a few things differently in my newly built house. Highly recommend.

Celia was fantastic to work with. She helped my husband and I plan the exterior of our front porch including landscaping ideas. We had a tired looking entrance that needed some help and upon demolition she helped us design a beautiful space where we can enjoy watching our boys play outside for years to come. She helped us navigate the design process, keeping functionality and aesthetic at the forefront and helped my husband and I combine our joint ideas for this project. Without her help I'm sure we wouldn't have landed on a design that we both love.

As a general contracting company, we have worked with Celia on several projects, big and small, over the past five years. Celia is professional, meticulous, and is a pleasure to work with. She knows how to work with both trades and clients, and seamlessly flows back and forth between the two. With a calm and warm personality, we definitely look forward to working with her every single time.

We have worked with Celia on several projects over the past few years. She is a dedicated , meticulous and artistic designer. Her experience and expertise added the aesthetic features we needed to bring the projects to a professionally finished level. All of our clients were extremely pleased with her designs and personality. Albert Donadio AJD Design Group Inc Alair Homes Orillia and Barrie Ontario

Celia helped us in a pinch when we were well into the design of our small downtown backyard where every inch mattered. The space is stunning and functional. She was able to quickly and practically offer design options so we could fit a small deck, beautiful garden and eating area to accommodate our large family without the space looking compressed. She helped us carefully choose colours for the stone border, eating area and deck that complemented each other and look stunning. She did the same for the colours of our new front porch. She also helped in the design of our front walk way. Celia was very helpful in the design of the garden itself - helping us choose beautiful plants, with a great lay out, that are low maintenance (required for a busy family). We are very particular about our choice for design. Both aesthetic and function are priorities for us and we did not want to compromise on either. Celia was great and narrowing down our options and helping us make a wise final call. We are so pleased with the results!

Celia is a true professional. Our project was the renovation of a main family bathroom, and we hired her in early February for completion by the end of April. She got things moving and worked effectively with our contractor. She was attentive to our tastes and interests and delivered options that reflected this. She was always responsive to phone calls and email. She was pleasant to deal with. We were impressed with her clear written contract and the straightforward way she sat down and reviewed it with us. We are very pleased with the look and design of the new bathroom, and highly recommend Celia.

I’ve been working with Celia for about 3 years now...first with a living room Reno and seeing as that was such a positive experience continued on with our Mancave and exterior house face lift. I had interviewed other designers in the past and could never find that right person who would balance listening to what I wanted but also inject their knowledge when needed, but with Celia I found that and more.. Celia was able to use her wealth of knowledge to find me the exact items I envisioned or saw elsewhere and added her complimentary visions as well. She was always readily available when I need to bounce ideas off her and worked with whatever speed I needed to go at. Celia worked seamlessly with my contractor and was able to supply a vast list of contacts necessary to complete every minute detail needed to overhaul a house and make it a home. Renovations can be very stressful and Celia helps relieve the stress and make it enjoyable.