LCID

I have now worked with Lori Churi of LCID for just over a year and I could not be more pleased with the services she provides. I tried her because her father is a friend of mine; I went on her website and liked the style that I saw there. I called her to set up an interview, and she came to our home in Los Gatos. She is easy to work with, extremely professional, but with a straight-forward and simple style. My wife has Alzheimer’s, so I explained that my adult daughter would be helping with many of the choices we would be making. Lori welcomed the input and collaborated beautifully. I explained what I had in mind for the first and major project/phase – the renovation of all 4 bathrooms in our home, the replacement of our stairwell banister and chandeliers in our entryway, the replacement of our fireplace hearth in the living room. Subsequently, I added in phase 2 the re-framing of two prints and the replacement of window treatment in our living and dining rooms and the replacement of 2 window shears in our entryway that our dog as a puppy had torn to shreds. Lori is now continuing to help me to redecorate 2 of our 3 kids bedrooms as they have moved out of the house and it is time to turn those into nicer guest bedrooms. Lori drew up plans for the bathroom renovations. We went over them, agreed on modifications and they were submitted to the town of Los Gatos’ building permit offices. They were immediately approved with no further modifications required. Lori recommended a contractor, Christopher Bates of McElroy Bates who she had worked with before. Christopher had recently split off from another contractor to start his own company, but both Lori and Christopher were extremely good at their jobs. Lori knew what we wanted, and Christopher was able to execute it to the finest detail. They both paid attention to many details that I would have overlooked. The work on the first phase took 5 months. It was quoted at 4 and a half months, but the cabinet maker tried to paint cabinets on a 100 degree day and that caused a two week delay. We did not live in the house while the work was taking place but checked it monthly. Everything went reasonably smoothly, but as we reframed one bathroom floor to drain properly, the inspector requested certain modifications and we had to replace a glass window to waterproof it as shower water would more directly hit it. Phase 1 came in on time and on budget, so I began phase 2 the reframing and the window treatment. Both were executed equally well. When I look at the renovations that we have accomplished so far, I smile, and I do both often. Lori took a house that was built in 1986 and gave it a style update that is much more appropriate for 2023. Lori is a terrific designer, making many complex choices simple for the customer and the result is one that I could not be happier with. I give her my highest recommendation.

We worked with Lori for the design of our remodeled kitchen, living room, master bath, and hall bath. We had a challenge trying to figure out how to expand our master bath, and Lori provided a solution that 2 other designers had not even considered. When it came to choosing materials (fixtures, tiles, hardware, paint, etc), I am so glad to have had Lori's help! At times, the options were just overwhelming. Lori could take my vague reactions and pictures to pull together something cohesive and beautiful. Her attention to detail and ability to understand what I wanted helped create our perfect space. And...she is just a fun person to work with - gentle in her feedback, but also honest in her opinion when helping you with your remodeling goals.

We worked with Lori for a residential renovation in Menlo Park. She came recommended by a contractor we had approached and I liked her hourly billing arrangement. She drew plans, interfaced with the city planning department, and helped us with design decisions re tile, marble, fixtures, paint, etc., and interfaces with the contractor during construction. In the drawing phase, she was extremely prompt with measurements and some initial ideas, and very responsive as we iterated through many variations over the course of a week or two. She was able to incorporate my ideas and improve them with her own, and we were very pleased with the final design. Her structural engineer was also very responsive. The permitting phase required two resubmits, one major, one minor. Our initial submission violated a setback requirement and required us to revise the plans and the structural. It would have been nice to avoid that, but I understand that it's hard to foresee what each city on the peninsula will require and how strict/lenient each is with waivers. And, in any event, Lori was quick to revise and resubmit. While waiting for the permit, she recommended several contractors, one of whom we selected for the work and who did a great job. She also recommended several supply stores & visited them with us to discuss options, and her suggestions were very helpful. In the construction phase, she was responsive to the contractors messages, and came by at important times to verify proper positioning/height/pattern/etc. Overall, Lori was a tremendous help to me and my wife and, having been in the house for a year now, we still love the new layout and design choices that she helped us select. I highly recommend Lori to anyone planning a residential renovation.

We hired Lori/LCID from 2014-2016 for a 2700 s.f. whole house remodel based on a recommendation by our contractor, Bill Fry. We had interviewed several other architects/designers, including a couple of design/build firms, but Bill Fry and Lori were the "dream team". Lori carefully collaborated with us to create a design that significantly reconfigured our interior space and gave us an extra bedroom, relocated and expanded kitchen, and a lofty open floor plan while only minimally expanding the footprint. She was up-front about the scope of her practice and did consult with a licensed architect when she needed to (in a couple areas involving the roofline). She was diligent and a bulldog on our behalf to get our plans approved by the Santa Clara Planning/Building Department. The thing we appreciated the most, though, is how Lori oversaw the construction phase and was the communication "hub" between us and everyone else. She had an easy rapport and great working relationship with the contractor, subcontractors, suppliers. Over and over, we saw the framers, electricians, plumbers, tiler, etc., pause their work to consult with Lori with their list of questions - often written on a scrap of cardboard or right on the studs - about how to implement the design details. We remodeled our previous home twice and never saw this level of mutual respect. Although for budget reasons, we had to break our project up into 2 phases, we are loving our beautiful, sunlit, newly completed phase 1. The space and floor plan are really working well for our family of 5, plus multiple pets. We're already thinking about and looking forward to working with Lori again on phase 2!

Lori is responsive and realistic in her approach to servicing her clients. It was a pleasure to work with her on my home remodel. I have already recommended Lori to some of my friends and they are just as delighted as I am,

LCID is fabulous! We thoroughly enjoyed working with Lori. She has experience, knowledge, and excellent resources. She helped solve all of the design problems we wanted to address in our kitchen remodel. She worked closely with us to pick out all of our materials. She talked with the contractor to make sure we were all on the same page. We highly recommend LCID.

This is long overdue! Lori helped us for our kitchen, great room, bathroom, etc. (6 month) project from start to finish. She made everything so seamless and was very sensitive to our timeline and availability to discuss details on the project. She understood our needs and did not waste any of our time and effort.

I highly recommend Lori Churi/LCID for your next home remodel! Lori designed two major remodels in our home. The first involved full redesign of two bathrooms including removal of walls. The second was more extensive, including the kitchen, dining room, living room, new hardwood floors, and replacement of all interior doors. We are extremely pleased with the results. Lori did the full design for us, including floor layout, custom cabinets, lighting, materials, and appliances. She coordinated activities with our contractor. We continue to work with Lori regarding furniture and art selection. She is extremely knowledgeable, creative, a fantastic listener, and very easy to work with. She made excellent use of our limited space. We are proud to “show-off” our gorgeous home!

I am a general contractor working throughout the Bay Area, primarily with residential property owners. Lori with LCID has worked with us on several of the most recent projects and I hope to continue this relationship into the future. It really has been a delight working with LCID. I have nothing but good things to say about the experience. LCID is a full service design company that can be depended on from start to finish: customer design process, plans, acquisition and delivery of materials/supplies, project oversight, etc. LCID truly makes my jobs run smoother. Thank you LCID!