Julie Cavanaugh

We had Design Matters (Julie Cavanaugh) design our kitchen and recommend contractors that fit our needs and personality. She narrowed down the ocean of materials and designs quickly for us which allowed us to move through the process quickly. We chose Paul Burton for our contractor based on the 3 different contractors that she recommended. Paul's crew was amazing to work with and they were very respectful of our home since we lived there during the construction. The entire kitchen remodel turned out great due to Julie and her staff presenting quality materials and designs for us. Unfortunately, we had to move from our San Jose home and settle in another state. I credit Julie's fantastic design work on our kitchen for the great price and quick sale of our home when it went on the market. Thanks Julie and we wish you the best.

Julie has been a gift to our remodeling project. Every part of our project which she "touched" is absolutely amazing; the beauty of her designs and her impeccable design sense is readily apparent from the moment you walk into our home.
Some particulars on why I love working with Julie:
-her design knowledge is deep and her design sense is inherent
-She knows color
-she knows architecture, even down to the minutiae
-she is flexible and will listen to clients' preferences and needs
When you hire a designer, you have to know that you are hiring that person's sensibilities for design; we had great success with Julie because we allowed her to guide us AND we communicated our own preferences and she listened, worked with us, helped us develop the design plan to be the best possible one.
-She has many resources and can help clients find the right people to get the job done
-She is energetic and tells you what she is thinking. Honest and clear.

Julie has helped us with multiple projects throughout our home. With simple updates like lighting, accessories, and paint, Julie has completely transformed our living room and kitchen areas. In our master bedroom, Julie has created for us a perfect retreat at the end of each day. Currently we are working with Design Matters on remodeling our master bathroom. We are in love with the design that Julie has come up with! Julie is a pleasure to work with, very professional and has great taste. She gets to know her clients and their style. And her instincts are spot on!

We put off remodeling/designing my home for almost 7 years because a) I didn't know where to start, b) We didn't know what we really wanted and c) Why get new stuff with kids?

Then I found Julie. She was exactly what I needed:
Julie has a love for decorating and was excited to take on my project.
Julie has a winning attitude and showed me the possibilities in a variety of durable (kid friendly!) layouts/structure.
Julie is extremely hard working and has a lot of drive. When faced with challenges, she was able to find a solution with my design needs in mind.
Julie multi-tasks effectively more than anyone I've ever met. At times I did wonder if she was listening ....then I'd meet with her the next time and bullseye, she nailed it both aesthetically and functionally. :)
Julie and her staff are all really creative and had knowledge of so many design styles I felt comfortable making choices with so many options in mind.

I will definitely hire Design Matters for my next project!

Julie and the Design Matters team are the best! Julie helped me design and build my dream orthodontic office about 2 years ago. She was an integral part of the project, from start to finish. I could not have done it with out her. Julie is incredibly detail oriented, making sure every element of the project is done to perfection. She works well with contractors, helping keep them on point and ensuring deadlines are met. She has a tremendous eye for design with boundless creativity, all keeping the clients' vision and wants in focus. I absolutely love my new office and look forward to coming to work everyday. We consistently get positive feedback from our patients on the design of our office. They always ask who we used to design our office, and we are happy to tell them about Julie and Design Matters, without reservation!!! I can't wait to work with Julie again on my next project.

We have been working with Julie since 2003 when she did a spectacular renovation on our 1985 kitchen. We're still in the same home and Julie is re-making areas one at a time. I love my office. Our family room is awesome. Lots left to do and we wouldn't work with anyone else. Her vision is incredible. Doesn't hurt that she's fun to work with.

Before working with Julie, we went through 3 - 4 designers, one at a time. One small project then start the search again. We feel very fortunate to have found her.

Julie and the Design Matters team are the best!

Julie helped me design and build my dream orthodontic office about 2 years ago. She was an integral part of the project, from start to finish. I could not have done it with out her.

Julie is incredibly detail oriented, making sure every element of the project is done to perfection. She works well with contractors, helping keep them on point and ensuring deadlines are met.

She has a tremendous eye for design with boundless creativity, all keeping the clients' vision and wants in focus.

I absolutely love my new office and look forward to coming to work everyday. We consistently get positive feedback from our patients on the design of our office. They always ask who we used to design our office, and we are happy to tell them about Julie and Design Matters, without reservations!!! I can't wait to work with Julie again on my next project.

I have worked with Julie on many projects over several years. Julie is awesome. She has a passion for what she does and has impeccable design idea's. I hired Julie for my own personal residence and she came up with idea's even i did not think of. Being in the construction business myself, this was really a big deal. What an improvement!
Thanks Julie!

Julie is currently helping my wife and I design a remodel for our house. If you are doubtful about your ideas or nervous about getting a project going, she is the designer for you. Give her a rough idea of what you are thinking and her energy and creativity take over. Even with a wide range of clients she seems able to figure out your style and works within it - but she isn't scared to push you out of your comfort zone. Her huge showroom almost can't keep up with her new ideas, she has secret boxes of new tile and a scrap of wood with new colors that might be just the right fit. It's a fun process to be involved in.

The design is awesome, she has transformed our 1948 house into a modern floorplan while keeping the original flavor of the house. We probably did 4 or 5 major revisions of the design and she kept hanging in there to get it right. She wasn't done until we were convinced it was right. Now we are finalizing our finishing materials with her (color, tile, kitchen stuff), getting close to seeing rough construction turn into a new house! I'll have to update this once we finish.

One other important note, she has great references for architects and contractors which has turned out to be a big deal both for cost and quality.

I hired Julie from Design Matters to design my remodel - kitchen, 2 1/2 baths, all cabinetry and countertops throughout the house, as well as window treatments throughout. Julie spent time getting to know me and a sense for the style I was looking for. When she presented me with my choices, I was so happy and amazed that she completely understood what I wanted, was able to give me options in different price ranges,- from 'over the top' materials, to choices that were modest but still very stylish. We chose things across the board. She also assisted with the selection of the contractor. I can honestly say at the end of my project, I still liked my contractor and would hire him again! He was communicative and professional.

Julie is creative, professional and a ton of fun to work with. I couldn't be happier with how my remodel came together, and I'd hire her in a minute for whatever home project I may have.

Julie is currently helping my wife and I design a remodel for our house. If you are doubtful about your ideas or nervous about getting a project going, she is the designer for you. Give her a rough idea of what you are thinking and her energy and creativity take over. Even with a wide range of clients she seems able to figure out your style and works within it - but she isn't scared to push you out of your comfort zone. Her huge showroom almost can't keep up with her new ideas, she has secret boxes of new tile and a scrap of wood with new colors that might be just the right fit. It's a fun process to be involved in.

The design is awesome, she has transformed our 1948 house into a modern floorplan while keeping the original flavor of the house. We probably did 4 or 5 major revisions of the design and she kept hanging in there to get it right. She wasn't done until we were convinced it was right. Now we are finalizing our finishing materials with her (color, tile, kitchen stuff), getting close to seeing rough construction turn into a new house! I'll have to update this once we finish.

One other important note, she has great references for architects and contractors which has turned out to be a big deal both for cost and quality.

“In the twelve years that I have known Julie, I have always been impressed with her enthusiasm, professionalism, knowledge, vision and her follow-through, If Julie says that she will do something, consider it done! I would highly recommend Julie and her design services for anyone in need of a first class designer.”

“It is with great pleasure I recommend Julie, from Design Matters. Here’s what I like about her style and quality of work: 1. She was extremely responsive, both by email & by phone 2. Very accommodating to my schedule, when scheduling design meetings, for design finalization. 3. Knowledgeable about the product quality, design and attention to detail. 4. Very good at listening for what the customer wants, with awareness of customers bottom line. 5. Extremely aware of deadline, 6. Professional, friendly and very pleasant to work with. 7. She has a strong work ethic, which I admire & respect. Give her a try! I did and I’m very happy with the results so far. Just waiting for my cabinet delivery in the next few weeks. I’m so excited. ”

“We worked with Julie at Design Matters for a remodel of our home. She very quickly assessed our living style and created plans to fit it. She was great about showing us a couple options on materials. If we didn't like them, she suggested a couple more. This was helpful because we would have been completely overwhelmed if we had to look at everything. We loved the home she created for us and enjoyed working with her.

I just needed some advice on placement of furniture on outdoor decks, so called Julie. She was more than responsive, and not only chose great looking and functional furniture for our type of lifestyle, but she better utilized the space we had. Flow of traffic (i.e., kids and pets) is much better and the space seems twice as large because of the layout. Who knew rearranging furniture could accomplish so much?!

I have worked with Julie on several projects ranging from different types of needs; interior design, i.e. drapers, pillow and fabrics as well as kitchen cabinets, layout colors and product selection. I have also worked with many others, in the past. I currently direct all my design needs to Julie.

She is calm, helpful, experienced and gets it right. Her ability to get things right the first time has saved me money and time. In an age when execution is often times a premium, I have total confidence in Julie executing on my needs.

“We hired Julie to do a full remodel of the public spaces in our home. It meant she had to have a strong understanding of how we live and what our hopes for the final product were - as well as being able to look at the current space and envision changes that would deliver on our vision of a peaceful home with a touch of drama. Julie delivered magnificently! The design won awards, but more importantly the final product exceeded all our expectations and continues to do so. She is unbelievably creative - coming up with ideas like a backsplash that draws ooohs and aaahs from anyone who sees it. I love her creativity, her passion and excitement for what she does - and her ability to come up with original ideas that you won't see anywhere else. Most importantly, she always kept our preferences, our needs, our vision at the forefront. I never really knew what her own design aesthetic is. It was all about us. I highly recommend Julie and continue to use her for projects in our home. In fact, she is working on a redo of our master bedroom and bath right now.”

“Our designer did an amazing job of understanding what we wanted and what would work best for us. She put together an incredible set of options- full of creative ideas that I’ve never seen in any other home, TV show or magazine. She worked closely with our contractor and made the process as pain free as possible. I don’t think a day went by without a phone call, email, or a face- to – face meeting. And the best thing is, we LOVE our kitchen. Not only is it fabulous looking (the usual reaction when someone first sees it is “WOW, this is amazing”!), but it works amazingly well for us. I can’t think of anything we would have done differently and I’d work with the Design Matters team again without a second thought”

Julies incredible talent for beautiful design and her enthusiastic personality make her the ideal interior designer for all your needs. She has a beautiful showroom for you to explore ; and can accommodate a variety of different budgets and time tables. As a Realtor, I take great care in referring those who will add value to my clients homes and their lives. Julie is one of those gems, and I endorse her wholeheartedly.

Julie is helping us get our dream home with a limited budget while taking the stress out of the process! We just bought a house, that with the right TLC, could be stunning. It was a 60’s custom home with a really funky floor plan. We had a designer and architect draw-up plans. but we are on a budget and the house still felt funky. We were 2 months into planning and not making much progress. Thankfully, we found Julie Cavanaugh, owner of Design Matters. In 12 days, Julie gave us a significantly improved floor plan that gives the house an elegance and casual simplicity we want. In that time, Julie also had recommendations for cabinets, flooring, tile, counter, and grout we absolutely love! Before Julie, we couldn't articulate what we wanted. My biggest concerns were continuity of look and liking what we got. I was really worried about this because I just remodeled our current bathroom, without help, and am not thrilled with the result. When I have to select anything, such as paint, granite, or tile, I go to many stores, get lots of samples, and spend many agonizing days doing it. Julie took the agony out of the process. When I walked in Julie’s store, I didn't think we could afford her service. I was so relieved to find out we could. I was amazed at her expertise in designing to our style and taste. She even gave us things I wanted but hadn't thought to ask for. Julie has integrity, experience ,and is a pleasure to work with. She helped us save money on those things that wouldn’t matter so we could use our limited budget on those that did. Julie also saved us enough time in the process to make-up for the cost of her service. We will get into our house a lot sooner than we would’ve without her. We are so grateful to have found Julie. With her skills at interior design and space planning, our dream home is becoming a reality. She has a great team of people who are also a pleasure to work with.

“We were a couple new to California who wanted to live in our idea of a “California contemporary” style home. We found a house that met some of the criteria – it enabled “bringing the outside in”, and it had “good bones” for creating a space with “casual elegance”. But, it had a lot of issues when we bought it. We found someone who we thought could manage the transformation for us. Julie Cavanaugh of Design Matters was able to describe how we might do this after walking through our house. She seemed to have a great sense of space and design. So we created a designer/client partnership to see it through. Anyone who has done a house renovation knows what a long and difficult journey it can be. Julie led us down a path toward a home that blends peace, beauty and comfort. This was the result of her blend of capabilities and process. We found that Julie was able to see what our house could look like when walls were removed, colors were blended, cabinets and shelves were in place, lighting was installed, and furniture was moved in. She speaks of “layering” when implementing a design. This started with revising room structures, deciding on the textures/materials/color schemes, changing lighting, finding the right cabinets and counters for the functionality we wanted, and then adding the rugs, furniture and artwork. We had a lot of artwork from our years of living overseas, so this was a challenge. Along the way, there were the inevitable “bumps” that came from things like “surprises” about the existing structure, installation glitches, and our (client) preferences coming into view as progress was made on implementing the design. Throughout it all, she was firm on design issues where she needed to be, accommodating with the changes that we wanted, and helped guide installers to get it right. She showed an ability to strongly convey her thoughts to the contractor and installers. The result was better than I ever dreamed possible. Our themes of “moving the outside in” and “casual elegance” were achieved. We had the “flow” through the house that we wanted with rooms that fit together. We have a home that is smart, sumptuous, and serene. This would not have been possible without Julie and her Design Matters team.....Thanks, Julie!”

"“Julie designed our kitchen a few years back and we have thoroughly enjoyed the work she has done for us. Now our home is perfectly designed for the entertaining that we do on a regular basis. Thank you Julie for all that you have done!”"

“I have had a very positive experience with Julie. She is very intelligent, efficient, organized and presents her ideas and materials beautifully. She has definitely made my life easier. My home is perfect. Thank you Julie. ”