Tobysart

Not a good experience. It wasn’t very professional. For me it took me forever to be able to come out to give me an estimate. When they did come out and gave the estimate they gave me a ridiculous amount of money for work that was not I mean just ridiculous.

Working with a very limited budget for house #1, Toby was able to spruce up both front and back yards which had been somewhat neglected for several years. She drew out designs to show us her ideas, went hunting for inexpensive materials and quickly began the transformation. She used old bricks to border one yard, repurposed wood from the old fence to build a bench in the other yard, transplanted irises we were unaware we even had and used an antique brass bowl to make a unique birdbath. Material for those additions along with flagstone for a small sitting area and a few well placed boulders from the quarry totaled less than $500 and was instrumental in our ability to rent the house the very first day it was advertised. The bigger challenge that we threw Toby?s way was to help us transform a 3,000 foot completely white canvas of a house into one with character and warmth that we could really call our home. Toby worked on our house for nearly three months the first summer. Part of her time was spent helping my husband and I come to agreement on colors while Toby showed us samples of various wall textures and faux designs that were unique and met our taste to a tea. Once decisions had been made, the paint and wall design of the house came to life. Having just moved, we asked Toby to get a feel for our furniture and decorative items and then go room by room to help arrange and decorate each in any way that pleased her sensibilities. It is amazing what the creative eye can do to find those hidden treasures of yours and use them to create a very personalized, wonderfully comfortable, inviting environment. Toby and I went together to both first and second hand stores where her eye captured just the right pieces of furniture to fill our remaining needs.We called on Toby the next summer to help with our yard design and to finally deal with window coverings, no easy task considering we have seven French doors! I struggled with the challenge of getting window coverings for the entire first year thinking that this was something that I should be able to do myself and that I might even be able to make one or two of them with my brand new sewing machine. After 12 months I realized I was delusional and asked for Toby?s help. We had two to three consultations following which Toby presented various sketches on which we quickly came to agreement. Toby measured all of our windows and together we went to JC Penney to see what they could do for us. We picked out all of the fabric in one day and placed our order the very next day. All of the measurements were perfect and the coverings were exactly what we had envisioned.After windows, we began work on the front yard which had a beautiful lawn but no other vegetation. Toby provided various sketches for a flagstone patio, shapes for flower beds and other points of interest in the yard. Again, we worked together to remove sod making room for the patio. Toby laid out the patio with a combination of broken flagstone and bricks in a wonderful pattern that blended with the balcony above and the vision of the rod iron fence footprint that would be completed later. Now that the fence has been created and installed, the patio area looks as though it was part of the original house design. Flowers and trees will be planted in the fall.Toby will again play a big part in the next phase of our house?s transformation. My husband and I are very much looking forward to it!