20 years. Every angle of the project. One agenda: yours.
Hi, I’m Kirsten Elliott Rich.
I built my career on the inside of this industry. Remodel Doula is what I wished existed on the outside.
For twenty years, I worked from the inside of this industry on job sites, in contracts, and through every phase of construction. And for twenty years I watched homeowners miss the opportunity to fully understand their documents, hiring architects before they had realistic budgets, or discovering mid-project that the estimate was missing half the scope.
I knew what good looked like. I knew what bad felt like. And I knew that most homeowners had no way of telling the difference.
That's why I started Remodel Doula. Not to run your project, but to make sure you can.
I'll tell you when something isn't right. I'll also tell you when everything looks fine and you don't need more help. That's what it means to have someone with no agenda but yours.
I've called the Bay Area home since 1998, drawn from the California central coast by a love of architecture and design that eventually became a career. I now live in Berkeley with my wife, son, and our perfect dogs.
I've been in remodeling since 2003 and licensed as a General Contractor in the Bay Area since 2009. I've remodeled homes across San Francisco, Marin, the East Bay, and beyond, developing the hands-on expertise that only comes from being on the job site.
I know what a well-written estimate looks like. I know whether an architect understands your budget. And I know the specific moments in every project — the ones most homeowners don't know to watch for — where things can go sideways before anyone says a word. I've reviewed contracts written on two pages with no plans and found scope so vague it would have cost the homeowner thousands to clarify. I've caught missing line items in six-figure estimates that nobody else mentioned. And I've walked job sites after hours and come back with a list of exactly what needed to be addressed so you can walk the site and present information informed.
While everyone else on the project represents their own focus, from the architect to the contractor or the engineer, my job is to make sure your interests never get lost in the middle. That's what twenty years on the inside of this industry looks like when it's working entirely for you.
I've been in every room you're about to walk into. Here's how I help homeowners today.
How I Work
What it looks like to have someone with no agenda but yours:
I do the homework. I show up having read your documents, reviewed your plans, ready to tell you plainly what I see, including things nobody else in the room will volunteer.
I have no agenda but yours. I'm not here to tell you what you should want. I'm here to make sure you understand every decision you're making and that you're getting what you're paying for.
Nothing slips through. While everyone else is focused on their piece of the project, I'm watching the whole picture so the important things don't get lost.
Without Remodel Doula, you're relying on the people in the room to tell you what you need to know. With Remodel Doula, you already know before the conversation starts.
