Ann Lowengart Interiors - San Anselmo, California

Julia Shafer

We've had the pleasure of working with Annie and her team at ALI on two design projects over the past three years. Her creativity and vision combined with her great expertise brought our homes to life in unique and beautiful ways.

We first teamed up with Annie on an extensive remodel of our historic San Francisco home that included a full kitchen/dining area gutting, multiple new bathrooms, paint, art consulting and soft goods throughout. Our architect had recommended ALI based on Annie's experience updating historic homes like ours, but what stood out for us was how direct and organized her process was from day one, including a high level of budget transparency.

One of the highlights of working with Annie over the course of this two-year project was her ability to cater to our preferences while also pushing us out of our comfort zone when she saw the opportunity for something really special. Two years into living in our home, many of our favorite elements are those things we never would have considered had she not nudged us toward them. Another strength of Annie's was listening to our needs when it came to functionality—with two young boys at home, durability and practicality were often a factor for us. In those cases, Annie managed to produce designs that elegantly and creatively addressed those needs, from hidden pull-out drawers for toy storage in a custom sofa to upholstery fabrics that are durable while still feeling luxurious.

Annie's lighting selection and sense of color were also highlights for us. The fixtures she helped us select for our foyer and living room are far from simple sources of light, they are true works of art, hand-made by artisans from her unique repertoire of craftspeople. As for color, she pushed us (in a good way) to consider applications that initially felt dramatic but ultimately turned those areas into visually lush spaces that we love to be in.

Our second project with Annie and team was for our vacation home in Wine Country, involving mainly soft goods and design consulting for both indoor and outdoor areas. Outdoors included new construction of a kitchen and pool with surrounding living areas. In contrast to our San Francisco home with all of its historic embellishments and the design to match, the Sonoma home is all modern, clean lines. Annie didn't skip a beat in pivoting to a more relaxed, organic style befitting of the more rural terroir. Whether indoors or out, the resulting spaces are comfortable yet elegant, and once again Annie delivered designs that are both beautiful yet functional.

Annie and team helped turn both of our houses into homes that we love living in and that visitors constantly compliment us on. From managing the myriad details passing between us and our architect and contractor during construction, to presenting us with furniture and lighting pieces that we fell in love with, Annie made our renovation journeys inspiring and fun and we've been enjoying the results ever since.

Jim Robillard

Annie and her team were indispensable as we took on a brand new home project in the mountains. They invested time and energy into understanding our vision, and they were committed to making our house truly “ours”. The whole team was efficient and responsive as well as being incredibly thoughtful and creative. When we encountered the inevitable hiccups in the build process, Annie’s experience and enthusiasm quickly helped resolve any issues. The ALI team’s professionalism around having an organized timeline and extremely detailed budget was impressive and helped us understand how the project would unfold. When we are ready for our next project Annie will be our first phone call.

Stephanie Garber

When we purchased our 135 year old Queen Anne home, we knew we were going to be undertaking a large project but beyond that, we were pretty clueless.

We started the project by interviewing many designers and Annie and her team were by far the most thoughtful. They asked great questions and helped us to really hone in on the scope of our project. What started in our mind as a kitchen and bath remodel, turned into touching all 6000 square ft of our home. Annie helped us find the team to make our dream a reality- referring us to both our architect and contractor and held our hand through the entire process.

Annie begins her projects by really getting to know you. She has what is called your “narrative document” that gets you answering questions about your family and your goals. The part that struck me the most was that the majority of the questions were not about aesthetics, rather the feel you want to have when you enter each part of your home and the functionality each space needs to have. And she remembers what you say and makes sure that all of the design choices are made with your ultimate goals in mind.

The thing I like best about Annie is she makes the entire project about you and your vision. Not about her ego or her design. She told us in the beginning that our house should look like the best version of us and it does.

And although she wants the home to be the best version of you, she has no problem pushing you out of your comfort zone if she thinks it’s the right choice. And any time we second guessed her specifications, we ultimately returned to what she had originally chosen for us and we couldn’t be happier.

As with any construction project, we had little setbacks along the way and Annie was always there for us. She was immediately accessible via phone or text when we had “design emergencies”. For example the painter was questioning our color choice for our millwork and I got nervous. I called Annie and she immediately talked me down and the color choice is now one of my favorite parts of our house.

These are just a few examples of why Annie was such a great member of our home remodel team. The outcome exceeded our expectations and Annie really brought our ideas to life. I would highly recommend working with Annie and her team on any design project.

Susie Caulfield Summers

We recently hired Annie and team to help remodel and decorate our first home. Their classy, personal approach combined with technology-savvy, process-driven method was an excellent match for us balancing two full-time tech careers.

From the very beginning, Annie has been an active listener, absorbing all of the details and nuances of our personal and project needs. We were thrilled with her creativity and superb taste; it truly made the selecting pieces a breeze, particularly with the close adherence to our budget.

ALI has executed flawlessly and exceeded their mantra of "surprise and delight." As the project comes to a close, we'll miss the regular interaction with ALI as they've become part of our extended family through the process.

Elizabeth Lane

My husband and I hired Annie for a complete remodel and furnishing of the first floor of our home. We could not be happier with the process and outcome.

I'll never forget the first time Annie visited our home in the early stages of planning. She toured the home, listened carefully to our goals and initial ideas, and then blew us away with a vision for the project that we had never imagined possible. By moving the location of a powder room, Annie helped us add tons of natural light and dramatically improved the flow of the first floor, transforming a previously unused living room into a favorite gathering place for our family. Annie also elevated the indoor/outdoor flow of the home by adding bifold doors to the patio. and she encouraged us to add a beautiful but functional mudroom that now keeps our daughters' clutter conveniently out of sight (priceless!).

In addition to the ideas she brought to the construction process, Annie developed a clear understanding of our design style and recommended furnishings that are exquisite but also honor the realities of our lifestyle with young children. As a mom herself, Annie understands the needs of families and selected pieces and fabrics that will stand up to the inevitable spills, footprints, and unexpected surprises of childhood. Annie's stated goal was for ALL members of our family to love, enjoy, and take pride in our new home -- and we do! Our daughter exclaimed "I never realized we could have a house like this!" when she first saw our new furnishings and I, too, still pinch myself when I look around our beautiful home.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of working with Annie is her ability to provide big ideas and creativity while also sticking to a clear timeline and budget. The entire ALI team is extremely organized, communicates seamlessly, and takes a process-driven approach to projects. If that's not enough, they're also some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

Thank you, Annie, for your vision, creativity, energy, optimism, and personal touch. I am so grateful for your guidance and friendship throughout this journey!

Ryan Brown

We just finished a multi-year, full house remodel and decorating project with Annie Lowengart and we couldn’t be more pleased. Our home is not only gorgeous, but also completely reflects our style and taste in the most elevated way. Although the physical result of our collaboration with Annie is wonderful, the time we had on our 2 1/2 your journey with her was equally fantastic.

We came to Annie with nothing more than a few ideas around how we could take our newly acquired, yet dated home and make it our own. Through her wonderful contacts and relationships Annie brought us an architect who was the perfect fit both in style and capacity. She introduced us to a contractor who surpassed our expectations both in terms of customer service and quality. And she connected us with a wide array of unparalleled resources to fulfill our specific vision. Annie’s network and resources were invaluable!

The collaboration between Annie and my wife resulted in not only an absolutely spectacular interior, but also a really special and fun journey for us both. We relied on Annie’s guidance for every level of detail and she did not disappoint! Her taste and style are superb, and she went out of her way to make sure the end-product was the right amalgamation of our collective vision. In addition to blessing us with her design prowess, Annie conducted business with high integrity, follow-through, accounting accuracy and transparency. Annie also exhibited nothing short of a constant can-do and adaptable attitude throughout the project that helped us through every stage.

It is without hesitation that I recommend Annie Lowengart Interiors. Now that our project has come to an end, it’s great to have an incredible final product, but it’s also wonderful to hold so many great memories of this significant stage in our lives. Thank you Annie.

Eric Wiesen

Annie is a true artist and a master of her craft.

Our project started with a desire to remodel two of our bathrooms. We’d lived in our house for about four years, and the list of “wouldn’t it be nice if…” items had grown pretty long. After finding Annie’s wonderfully colorful and resonant work online and through a shared connection, we went through an intake process. Annie encouraged us to think broadly about ways in which we might refresh and improve elements of the house.

In the end, we ended up doing a pretty full redesign and refurnishing, remodeled all of our bathrooms, and checked off a lengthy list of fixes and improvements that have resulted in a transformative feeling of space and ease when we move through the house. We are incredibly happy with how the project turned out.

Annie’s process is decision-intensive. She estimated that we had to make over 250 choices in connection with this process. This is not a matter of handing your house over and coming back to a magazine (although she could do that if you asked). We were active partners in a process that took close to two years (including the pandemic!) from first phone call to last little bit of detail coming in. She was very responsive to our design preferences (one of which was that we didn't want our house to look too "design-y"), and always made us feel comfortable speaking up when we didn't like something, as well as stretching us into a few decisions that were just slightly outside of our comfort zone.

Annie was extremely attentive to the budget and was continually transparent with us about where we were throughout the process. In the end, we ended up slightly under-budget on goods purchased for the project, which makes us very happy! (We did end up over-budget on design-time, but it's reasonable to assume this was very much pandemic-related. We had to reselect many things over several times when stock was unavailable because of Covid delays...)

One anecdote from our experience: our master bathroom design keys off a green tiled floor. After spending a lot of time selecting the hand made tiles that I assume were created by elves on the Moon based on their cost and availability, we finally got the tiles in. And … Annie sent them back. Why? Because they weren't right. There is enough variance between batches of handmade product that this batch had too much mottled brown and that wasn’t going to give us the bathroom we wanted. And this is the yin and yang of working with an artist. Annie had both the design expertise to know that the northern light coming into our bathroom would make the floor look wrong AND she had the willingness to delay the tile setter coming in to get it right. But in the end, we got what we wanted and that’s what counts.

We would happily work with Annie on future projects and absolutely LOVE the end-product of our collaboration!

Lisa Rendic

ALI is the best! I whole-heartedly recommend this talented and full service design company. It goes without saying that Annie’s design skills are second to none, what is harder to see is the lengths to which Annie and her team go to ensure your project is a top priority, unique in every way, and becomes the home of your dreams that you never even knew you had. Our finished product is above and beyond our initial expectations in every way. More beautiful, more comfortable, more timeless and more “us” than we ever imagined. Annie takes the time to get to know you and your lifestyle so well that your new design defines you better than you even knew yourself. Annie is part genius, part artist, part therapist and part magician! The ALI process is organized, transparent, on budget and so much fun. The team behind Annie is caring, thorough, communicative, savvy and incredibly talented. I am so glad we found these ladies that created our home with so much heart and brilliance – I pinch myself daily walking around my own house. Annie and her team are 100% amazing!