Lane McNab Interiors, Inc

When we started working with Lane McNab in January, we said we’d like the rooms to be ready for our son’s graduation party in June. By breaking the project down into a series of written proposals, Lane kept us informed about costs. Because she worked around our schedule, both my husband and I were able to meet with her together several times, and that really helped move things along. I appreciated her prompt replies to email and phone messages. I also appreciated her interest in local sourcing and sustainability. She was patient when we couldn’t make up our minds or requested changes, and the tradespeople she recommended for the painting and electrical work were great. Both rooms are lovelier and more functional now than my husband and I could have made them on our own. We had the graduation party as planned, and what a treat it was to see the family comfortably settling into our beautiful new living room! Ready for the bottom line? Our project came in at 20% under budget. Terrific to work with and a talented professional, Lane gets my highest recommendation.

I had never worked with a decorator before and was a little scared going into it: What if she tried to talk me into stuff I didn’t want? What if she didn’t stay within our budget? What if our tastes didn’t really mesh? The reason I ultimately took the plunge is because I was worried about buying the wrong things and making costly mistakes and wanted an expert to help me think things through and pull everything together. Hiring Urban Orchard Interiors was the BEST decision! Lane totally worked with my husband and I to get a sense of our tastes and what would work for our lifestyle with two young kids– she integrated my husband’s love of modern design, my love of organic, rustic elements and incorporated nods to both of our cultural backgrounds. AND she stayed well within our not very large budget by helping us bargain hunt at flea markets, thrift stores and on-​line sales. We have a big, open plan ranch living room/​dining room– when we bought the house last summer, we’d sold off all of our «student furniture» and wanted something that reflected our adult taste (but not break the bank). The room had a number of issues– no foyer, doors in awkward places that could potentially mess up the flow of the dining area, poor lighting. Lane solved it all: we created an entrance area, re-​located the light fixtures and added new lights and positioned the dining room table to allow for good flow. Now the room is both sophisticated and homey, balanced, functional and beautiful without looking overly designed. We get compliments on our amazing living room all the time now! More importantly, we love being in the room– I can’t believe I get to live in such a beautiful space.

I”ve been the salon owner of La Tour Salon in Berkeley for over a decade, and working here with my fellow colleagues, we’ve always worked the normal lives as hair stylists here. One day while I was cutting Lane’s hair, she didn’t hesitate on giving me her ideas about how I should improve the salon by matching which color with which. I felt much more relieved after hearing what she said, and after all the remodeling and painting in my salon, I just felt something unique about La Tour Salon that Lane had helped me create. The salon just became a lot more lively, merry, and brighter! With Lane’s help on making La Tour look more professional and modern, it really gave customers a different perception of my salon. Are you still struggling about how to remodel your home or business? If you want to make the smart choice of hiring a smart, friendly, experienced, talented, and well-​educated interior designer here in Berkeley, then the best choice is to hire Lane! — She’s the BEST!

I hired Lane to help me update our master bedroom in our Berkeley craftsman home. I had a general idea of the «feeling» I wanted to have in the room and Lane brought all of my ideas to life. I absolutely LOVE what she helped me put together and our master bedroom is by far my favorite room in the house now. She’s a delight to work with, consistently providing fresh ideas and helping me limit my options so I could make sound decisions and move on. Her design aesthetic is spot on and I felt totally in sync with her throughout the whole process, from our trips to the Antiques Faire to many emails traded with website/​online product suggestions. I plan to have Lane help me update the rest of our house as timing and budget allows — she’s incredible!

Here’s my only gripe about Lane’s work — I can no longer read in our living room because I get distracted by how beautiful it is. I know, I know, you wish you had this problem too. Good news is that you can invite Lane’s brilliance into your home as well (just don’t say I didn’t warn you).
Never in a million years did I think I would work with an interior designer. Working with Lane has brought beauty and order into our home without the fighting or compromises that in the end feel like no one really got what they wanted. Who would have thought that my girlfriend and I could really have what we want?! She got the blue couch of her dreams and thanks to Lane I love it too!
Lane has a strong aesthetic sense and is not shy about sharing her opinion AND I have never felt pressured to do something. Lane does a great job with client participation whether you know just what you want or are a bit more vague «you know, it’s kinda like this thing I once saw, well sorta like…». Favorite pieces of furniture and artwork look more lovely against new paint colors, proper window coverings allow us to watch tv during the day without glare, and new pieces enliven the look of our home and make it more comfortable.
Of Lane’s many strengths I would like to highlight one in particular. We’ve been working with Lane for almost a year now. The project started with plans for some small upgrades in the living room and has grown into an overhaul of the room and varying degrees of changes throughout our home. Whether she is given tight parameters or a lot of latitude Lane delivers within the scope of our vision. For example, we are prepared to only make some smaller scale changes to our kitchen. We will not be replacing the granite that neither of us like, but Lane’s savvy eye immediately saw that if we changed the wall color we could bring forward our favorite color in the stone (a color that my eye was too overwhelmed to even notice was in the stone!).
We are delighted to have prioritized investing in our home and our relationship by creating a space that we love to share with friends and family. I can’t recommend working with Lane and Urban Orchard Interiors enough!

My partner and I are in our early 30’s and we finally agreed that our house needed to look like us. I hadn’t done anything to it since I moved in and my ex moved out. After a year of living together it was time to reclaim our home. I had a lot of feelings about hiring an interior designer. I grew up with plastic on couches. I could already hear my mother questioning why I needed a designer and why I didn’t just ask her to do it. I also had never tried to verbalize or manifest my sense of style or décor. I had no idea what I liked but I definitely wanted my home to be a reflection of the both of us.
I learned of Urban Orchards through a co-​worker who had just had his place done. My partner read the blog and loved it. After meeting with Lane I felt comfortable and felt this was someone I could try to fumble through my feelings about having a «nice» place, spending money, and figuring out what I liked. Lane, has been really understanding, listens, and is incredibly encouraging. With her guidance and direction we now have the beginnings of a home that I love, feel really proud to show off, and looks like the two of us. She’s made the experience so much fun that a project that started with the living room is taking over the whole house. Even better is that for the first time I think I have good taste and I know what I like more or less. I’ve got my own style. It’s a gift I never expected and worth every penny.

I can’t say enough good things about Lane. In late 2011 I started exploring my options for sprucing up my apartment in North Berkeley. I knew I didn’t have the time or experience designing interior spaces to do a great job so I finally decided to grow up and hire professional help. They assessed my space, helped me come up with a reasonable budget, and executed a plan that met and exceeded all of my expectations. I’m always getting compliments about what a great job they did from guests that come to visit. A+. Thank you.