Rebecca Schnier Architecture

We were first drawn to Rebecca's aesthetic of contemporary, minimalist, and clean designs with influences of Japanese style. We've had an amazing sense of comfort and creativity working with Rebecca since the day we met which ultimately led us to choose her for our large remodeling project. Our initial project was for the interior of our first home, including kitchen/dining/great room, bathrooms, hallways, garage, soft-story/earthquake retrofits, backyard deck, and landscaping. Rebecca was able to educate us on the entire remodeling process, provide great ideas on layout/functionality/aesthetics/materials, and find and interface directly with contractors/suppliers/vendors all while keeping our budget and timeline in mind. She definitely makes the process more relaxing and allows you to focus on the aspects you enjoy the most. Now that our remodeling project is over, we are so grateful to have Rebecca as our architect. We absolutely love how our updated home turned out and all of the living spaces are aesthetically tied together in a way that only an elite architect would be able to achieve. We currently have another ongoing project with Rebecca, this time on the exterior of our house. We couldn't recommend enough Rebecca enough and we will continue to work with her in the future.

Rebecca brought sanity and structure to our home renovation project. She was able to explain the stages of the project and what to expect at each step. By working backward from our budget and having us split our requests into needs, wants, and wishes, she helped us prioritize our wishlist. Rebecca guided our plans through the design approval process, a milestone we could not have reached without her expertise and contacts. When various changing circumstances brought us to the decision to abandon the project, it became clear how advantageous her approach is. By following her guidelines, we minimized our upfront costs. We should have found and hired Rebecca much, much earlier in the process. We would have saved quite a bit of time, headache, and money had we done so.

Rebecca is an absolute pleasure to work with. She always exercises good judgment and has a comprehensive grasp of the construction process that helps each job flow smoothly. She listens extremely well and synthesizes the myriad issues that arise, always with an eye towards the best value for her clients, the highest level of design, and keeping things uncomplicated for us as the general contractor. Highly recommend working with her.

If you see Rebecca and she now has gray hair, that would be us. We had a project that seemed to stop and start way too many times. And then she had to patiently try to coax perspective out of us - were we only the people who would say, "just do it and we'll be fine" the job would have flown by. That was not to be. But we got there and now love the look of our house and that is 100% due to Rebecca's help. So what was our project? We have a home from 1989 and the exterior was in desperate need of an update. But the house is a bit of an oddity which meant a coat of paint would not do. With her help we wound up getting all new windows, updating the exterior with siding and finally repairing the stucco and painting. What did Rebecca bring to the table besides patience? First, perspective - how do we update our house in a way that fits where we live as well as what we would like to see. I would have no idea- she did. Second, rock solid recommendations around materials - being considerate of our budget but also recommending things that perhaps a bit more expensive but where we would benefit from the extra dollars (lighting was one example, siding was another). Third, pricing and help when figuring out how to get the project rolling and also how things should progress- this was also helpful as we had never done a project like this before. The only thing we would do differently next time is probably keep her involved on a more day-to-day basis and use her contractor. Our contractor was great and things turned out fine but it would have likely saved us time and money to have worked with someone with whom she had a relationship and to have her even more involved when the inevitable surprises came up (versus having to email or call in a panic!). So we would definitely recommend Rebecca.

Rebecca and I collaborated on the design of two decks for a vintage Berkeley home. She was terrific, offering creative ideas, a great appreciation for integrating these new elements seamlessly into the design of an older home, and clear expertise in developing detailed plans and presenting them to the client and the permit office.

Rebecca is always a wonderful collaborator of projects. She has a wonderful sense of space, light and function and has a way of incorporating stunning details into her architecture. Clients really enjoy working with her, as do I.

I have had the pleasure to work with Rebecca and her staff on a number of award winning project in the greater S.F. Bay Area. She possesses the ability to identify and create design solutions that not only resolve the needs of the Client, but that are environmentally responsible and visually beautiful. Rebecca always addresses the overall visual impact of a project with regards to how the new feature(s) will integrate with the existing design and she is an expert at bringing all those elements together. I have been in the construction industry for over 40 years and have worked with a number of architectural firms; Rebecca Schnier is professional, very detail oriented and one of the best at what she does.

Rebecca was our architect for a large interior renovation of a kitchen, dining, family area, and half bath. She collaborated with us early on and provided useful tips and ideas on how to make our dream project a reality on schedule and within budget. We really like her clean and contemporary design ideas and attention to detail as she sought to understand our requirements and style. Rebecca worked well with other members of our project team and was available for questions and guidance while the project moved forward. We highly recommend her!

We are delighted to recommend Rebecca Schnier Architecture. We hired Rebecca Schnier Architecture for our project after watching, in our neighborhood, a major second floor addition of hers go up. Rebecca Schnier Architecture made many valuable changes to our 85 year old house. Most of the changes were subtle, yet have made wonderful, positive impacts on the way we live in and enjoy our home: Rebecca moved a wall in the kitchen just 15 inches, and created a much more attractive and functional work space. Before, the center of our house was dark and not particularly inviting. After studying how the sun angle effected the interior natural light, Rebecca convinced us to add Solatubes in the middle of our kitchen and at a stair landing. Looking closely at the house’s structure, she saw just how this could be accomplished without disturbing any finishes. She modified openings between rooms to improve traffic flow and make views to the outside available. This again, brought more natural light into the center of the house. She removed an interior wall in the bathroom to provide more light and space. Throughout the project, we felt Rebecca listened to our ideas and priorities and was collaborative in her approach. And she was cost conscious and realistic - a true creative problem solver, thinking outside the box. Her extensive experience allows her to find creative solutions. Rebecca was a joy to work with. She cares about each project and wants her clients to love their homes. We enjoyed working with Rebecca, and we are very pleased with her work.

I highly recommend Rebecca Schnier Architecture. Rebecca has done several projects for us, including a 1000sf upper level addition, kitchen and bathroom remodels. The first project was in 2001 and the last one in 2012. She does beautiful design work that is very functional. She asks questions to be sure she understands her clients needs and taste. She offers design options and always has her clients best interests in mind. She is very creative and resourceful in her use of space. She is a pleasure to work with and delivers beautiful results.