Julie Orr Design

We love our pergola. Julie arranged for us to visit the "show-pergola" and worked with us and with the installers. I'm in it every day from May-October. We entertain guests in it (it's especially useful for guests concerned about health issues in indoor spaces, as it's outside), we eat meals in it. It has definitely enhanced our quality of life. Thanks Julie.

Julie helped us take our pool landscape design from just “okay” to spectacular. She enthusiastically picked up where another landscape architect had left off, immediately honing in on our needs in a way that translated into a stunning new seating area with fire pit adjacent the pool deck that has become a favorite gathering spot. Julie took a list of my favorite plants and was able to extrapolate to include many exciting new choices that complimented the familiar ones. She respected my taste while encouraging me to branch out. Our property is magazine worthy thanks to Julie’s knowledge and artistic eye! Thank you, Julie!!

Julie was recommended to me by my mother and my sister. As I really liked the yard transformations done at their houses, I also scheduled time with Julie and I am very glad I did. Julie created a wonderful design to completely redo my front yard and driveway. Julie worked with me to understand what elements I knew I wanted and helped complete the vision by providing insight and guidance on the details for which I was clueless. To see the final result is amazing. The designs on paper and photos do not do justice to seeing it in real life. The transformation from a gopher riddled lawn, tired brick flower beds with peeling paint and out of control geraniums to a beautifully clean paver patio and walkways and driveway, new lawn, wonderful assorted plants, trees, accent lighting with a smart phone app, and an irrigation system that adjusts watering based on temperature and weather (it checks the local forecast) is truly wonderful. I would not hesitate to work with Julie again.

Julie was terrific in helping us plan our new backyard. She clearly has a mastery of understanding of plants, and additionally has an architectural eye for the designing the hardscaping and lighting. I highly recommend Julie.

We highly recommend Julie Orr Design. With our kids getting older, we were ready to transition our backyard into a more adult-focused socializing space. We had specific ideas and goals, but were unsure of how to realize them. Julie was adept at guiding us through the design process, honoring our ideas but also providing essential course-correction based on her expertise. We particularly love the StruXure pergola (with heaters) that she recommended, as it's made it possible to enjoy the backyard all year long. Julie is very professional, and is prompt in both communication and for appointments. In addition, her father is an expert woodworker and he ended up helping out with several projects -- and added bonus!

We hired Julie to design the plant layout for our front yard and were not at all impressed by her plant design skills and selection. For example, she selected plants requiring full sun for shady areas and randomly scattered a bunch of plants and grasses all over our front yard filling up the whole yard when we specifically told her we wanted enough room to walk between plants. Her design looked as though it was done haphazardly without much care or thought in what the yard would look like when mature. It was a waste of time and money, and after paying her $1800 for an unusable drawing, we ended up re-designing the yard ourselves. We do not recommend her for plant landscaping.

After a recent home expansion, our backyard was in shambles and small. Julie was recommended to us by a long-time friend whose backyard was as practical as it was beautiful. Their design was something they said they'd never would have come up with themselves - exactly the help we needed. Our space was small and our wish list long: table seating for eight, full outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, fire pit, and fruit trees. Julie made it happen. Conscientious of our budget (it was one of her first questions), she routinely made recommendations to keep costs down but also highlighted areas where it was worth splurging. Our favorite recommendation was for the Brustor pergola with moveable louvers - it auto closes in the rain and keeps out afternoon heat so our family room remains comfortable. The structure also has lights and sound which is excellent for dinners and entertaining. Julie walked alongside us in working with 3rd party suppliers (pergola, outdoor kitchen vendors, and landscaping company), so we never felt alone. We loved Julie's work so much that we also worked with her on our front yard. She gave us a design that expanded the front porch making it a much more usable space than before, preserved a 60 year old camphor tree that other designers said should go, and recommended plants to enhance curb appeal. We cannot recommend Julie enough - we are so thankful our friends suggested her, and we got to know her.

Julie was great to work with, and a consummate professional. We appreciated her expertise and flexibility as we iterated on a design that fit in with the existing landscaping. The result is a beautiful and functional outdoor room that makes the most of a small backyard, including fire pit, dining area, water feature, and planting beds. We use the space all the time, especially these days when we cannot leave the house! Julie's contacts with landscapers and nurseries helped us to keep our project on budget. It was a breeze to work with her from plans to payment, all managed via online portal. We enjoyed working with Julie so much, that we asked her to redesign our front yard also, which is currently in process.

Julie gave us 5-Star service in helping us design a new front yard in 2019 and a year later we can truly say it was a success. Julie did a great job understanding what we were looking for and then providing fantastic ideas to make it come to light. First off with the hardscape she provided really outstanding ideas that we could use to bring not only our yard to life, but our house and driveway as well. For the landscaping she really focused on keeping a nice blend of trees and plants that complemented each other and there was not too many plants/trees to close to each other. It was easy to follow Julie's process with some being in face to face meetings and some just being through email and her website. Also she helped coordinate with the landscapers to make sure the installation process ran smooth. We were just talking again today about how much we love our yard!

Julie Orr recently designed and oversaw the complete re-landscaping of our home in Mountain View. A close friend had recommended Julie to us for the project, as they had just used her for their landscaping project. Our initial meeting with Julie started with an interview, as she wanted to know how we use our yard in terms of barbequing, entertaining, vegetable and flower growing, and the like. She also wanted to know our thoughts were on the balance between landscape and hardscape. Julie took all that she learned from us as to our goals, and likes and dislikes, and created plans for our front, back, and side yards that included landscaping, hardscape, a pergola, outdoor kitchen, raised beds, and walkways. What we found especially creative about Julie’s work was her approach to define different areas of the yard with long graceful curves as well as her unique palette of trees, shrubs, and groundcovers to use. Julie also had great insight into the options for hardscape materials, and outdoor kitchen appliances. Julie worked closely with both South Bay Design & Landscaping and Leasure Concepts (her recommended landscaping contractors and outdoor kitchen specialists) to make sure that our project was executed in accordance with her plans. We are very pleased with how our project turned out under Julie’s leadership and highly recommend her.

We hired Julie for a complete redesign of our back yard, which involved substantial hardscape, plants, and turf. We couldn't be happier with the results. Julie is extremely professional, knowledgeable, and experienced. She uses a very well thought out workflow which greatly helped keep the design project on track. From the start, you get the impression that you're in good hands. Julie produced a design that met all of our functional needs and fit our style, and beautifully incorporated the existing elements of the space and our house. She was able to help us solve some big design challenges and never ran out of ideas or options in the process. She's upfront and honest, and endeavors to steer you in the right direction in making the best possible choices for your project. We highly recommend working with her.

Julie is extremely creative and professional. She shows up on time, ready to work, with everything she needs. She listens well and adapts to fit your style. She is great at explorations and thinking outside the box/sketching things out so you can visualize before committing to a path for design. I felt she provides a great combination of consultation with listening to my needs/wants.