Did a no show at the appointment time she gave me. No explanation no rescheduling.
ToolBox Design
Licensed
- 83 hires
- Based in San Francisco, CA
- 11 years in business
- 5 employees
- Background checked
- License verified
About ToolBox Design
ToolBox Design is a women-owned, full-service design and construction firm based in San Francisco, founded in 2015. We transform outdoor spaces, interiors, and entire properties into places people love, from concept through construction. Led by founder Sanem Surel, our team handles every phase of your project so you don't have to manage multiple contractors: What we do: Outdoor & landscape design and construction General contracting and home remodels Architecture and interior design ADUs, additions, and structural work Permitting, construction documents, and project management Ongoing maintenance We work on high-end residential and commercial projects throughout the Bay Area. Every project gets our full attention, thoughtful design, careful execution, and clear communication from start to finish. If you're ready to make the most of your space, we'd love to talk.
Reviews
Sanem and her team helped us turn our backyard from an unkempt bush into a small-big garden where both adults and kids love spending time outdoors. We found Sanem's Toolbox company via Thumbtack and we had initial conversations with a few companies but we liked Sanem's one the best. Looking back, we are very happy about the decision. We appreciated her professionalism, experienced eye, overall communication and of course the result - delivered within the budget and agreed on timeline. Not that everything was just smooth sailing all the time - there were moments when we felt like things could be moving faster - as a working from home homeowner, you notice every day when people are NOT working at your backyard and that can make you antsy - but apparently that was all part of the bigger plan because the project was delivered exactly within the timeframe we agreed on (5 weeks). That included us deciding mid-project we wanted one particular type of turf that was not readily available, she managed to magically get it for us from somewhere else and still make the overall schedule work. Sanem was very helpful throughout the process striking a good balance between listening to and helping us clarify our vision AND offering her suggestions on what she knows from her experience will look good & be functional. The same applies to changes we did vs the original plan - she did offer some fancy upgrades which were outside of our budget but she was also very constructive towards finding a solution which fits both our budget and preferences. She is a fun and pleasant person to interact with and she could keep her calm/ cool even under pressure. So 5 star experience for us and would recommend her to anyone esp when looking to give their backyard/ garden a new life (adding our BEFORE/ AFTER pics for reference - yes, it is the same place, picture taken from the same spot).
Awful. I needed old retaining walls removed, and new ones installed with proper drainage. Her 5-week estimate took over 4 months, and she wasn't able to deliver on even half of what she promised. Her designs looked nice on paper, but weren't practical once they started building - everything had to change. I went with her for the designs, but I ended up with 3 straight walls. Worse is, I watched them fill in the dirt without connecting the drainage pipes to the bottom of my hill, which was discussed. After pointing that out, I never heard from her again - I had to finish it myself, nearly 60 grand down. Her payment plan plus estimate does NOT line up with the work that gets done. We were stuck, having paid over the original estimate with maybe 35 % of the work completed and her wanting to charge more. On a good week, we'd get maybe 2 days of work out of her crew. She'd show up, demand like 7 grand to continue, promise they would finish x, y, z, deliver 1/2 of x and when I see them next, the process would repeat. Sometimes weeks without seeing them and no word about it.
Hired Sanem for designing my front yard. She is a pro, understands customer needs and flexible to accommodate quick turnaround for design. Had a great experience working with her and recommend for similar jobs. I did try to work with her for landscaping also but due to schedule I could not work but given an opportunity I will work with her in future.
Sanem is a bright light. She was a pleasure to work with and came up with a beautiful design for our small yard.
Worked with Sanem to get a design for our yard project. Sanem is delight to work with. She brings refreshing ideas to the table and that at a good value. She is extremely professional and flexible at the same time. I would definitely recommend Sanem!
Sanem and her team transformed my unusable backyard into a beautiful area for entertaining. She provided creative ideas to use the space, and executed on a shorter timeframe than anticipated. She was responsive to my requests and suggestions, and her crew was great to work with. Would highly recommend!
The person who gave me the estimate was very professional and seemed to know exactly what I wanted.
Sanem was fantastic! Super flexible, on time, helped us design an absolutely amazing back yard at a totally reasonable price. Would definitely work with her and ToolBox again.
Sanem is great! Project came out nice and all within budget. She considered functions important for me and used a lot of my existing items. We definitely call her again.
Services
ToolBox Design★ 4.3
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