I've been working with Samantha for the past few months on revamping my entire apartment, and I've…read morebeen so impressed the whole time. She was able to to really listen to what my fiance and I liked, despite our differing taste, and find common themes that we both loved. She is that rare mix of creative and organized. She can think outside the box to solve complex design challenges, and she's also a true professional - responsive, patient, and flexible. In addition to helping arrange and select furniture and accessories, she connected me with a great contractor and project managed a number of additional changes to the apartment, including an absolutely fantastic custom bookshelf and desk and a number of other fixer-uppers. Since I've been working with her, my apartment has transformed. I feel like I live in a new place, and for the first time in my life, I feel like it actually reflects who I am and what I love. On this project, she worked with Cecilia Reboursin of Larebour as a partner. Cecilia, a former archictect, is also absolutely fantastic, and they make a great team!

Samantha did an amazing job of helping me rearrange the interior design of my apartment…read more Without having to buy anything new, I was able to greatly improve the look of my space. In other words, she kept my "safari theme" intact and only made it better. She also assessed my overflowing closets and helped me organize that disaster. Clothes were grouped by season, and a ton of stuff was earmarked for charity. Sam is a very creative and talented interior designer, and I would recommend her in a heartbeat.

I recently worked with Kate to refresh my Brooklyn apartment. She was amazing to work with! Kate is…read moreprofessional, punctual, patient, creative, and most importantly kind. She transformed my less-than-functional apartment with a serious identity crisis into a calm, inviting, functional home! She has a great eye and sourced some really unique pieces that I wouldn't have discovered on my own. Kate was super easy to work with and open to feedback, ensuring I was always 100% on board with design choices. I would highly recommend Kate to anyone looking for an interior designer and hope we get to work together again in the future!

I recently worked with Kate to re-design my apartment. I needed a complete overhaul, replacing…read morealmost every single item. Kate led this project with such grace and ease. She was so prompt with all item selections and made the process so easy. She truly transformed my space to be so serene and chic. She is fantastic at holding a vision and making sure all of the items work together. I most appreciated her focus on functionality - and her ability to stay within budget. She is creative and a true professional. I am so happy with how my space turned out!!!

After meeting with several other interior design firms, my partner and I settled on Decor Aid to…read morehelp us combine our furniture in our first home together. He's more laid back, and I'm more on the traditional side so we were at a loss on how to make everything work together. Even more so, we were combining two different apartments into one - not any easy task considering how small apartments in NYC are. Mindy, our designer, was great at taking cues from both of us and working around us when things would get too complicated. Not only was she extremely helpful in helping us edit, but she also had some genius storage solutions for our small home. In the end we made the right choice, and we also made a great friend in Mindy. I recommend her and Decor Aid to everyone who comes over after they stop gushing over how terrific everything looks. And in case we ever move to a larger spot, we're definitely bringing them back on!

STAY AWAY. I waited…read morea while to write this review since I wanted to let my anger abate and I was busy with other things. But months later I feel a moral obligation to warn people about this company. If like me, you will likely read the reviews and the owner's responses and suspect that they are a good company and that the bad reviews are just from impossible people. But they quell the bad reviews with small payouts and gag orders (see the photo). They use contract workers who may or may not be able to get the job done. The discounts they promise never come true. In fact they quoted more than I would pay as a regular retail customer, for every single item I asked them about. (notice that they don't list the specifics of their discounts on their website...) When asked to come through on what they promise, they are unhelpful at best and often nasty (read the owner's comments on bad reviews to get a taste). When your project has gone on way too long, they haven't come through on any promises and you are at wits end, they may offer you a small sum to not write a bad review. I suspect that many of us, on modest budgets, take the money just to cut some of our losses. Before you get taken in by the good reviews and the pretty pictures, read the reviews again. Notice there are almost no reviews in the middle, only really bad and really glowing ones. The good ones all start to sound the same. Go to a website where employees write reviews and note that many say the company writes their own good reviews. See that gag order and think of how many people they silenced. I am out a lot of money and hope this review saves someone else.

Charli is amazing. She helped me with a full apartment renovation, and I honestly couldn't have…read moredone it without her. She has an incredible eye for design, but just as importantly, she knows how to actually execute and bring everything together. From the big vision to the smallest details, she made the entire process feel manageable and seamless. I trusted her completely throughout the project, and the end result exceeded my expectations. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a designer who is both creative and incredibly capable.

Highly recommend August Black/Charli ! She is thorough, really great at understanding your needs…read moreand your own personal style. Doesn't flood you with options. She learns what you like and she curates options that makes it hard to choose! Amazing at balancing expensive vs less expensive (but not cheap looking) items. She knows trends that's for sure. She did our entire house basically, we love it.... and we get tons of compliments from friends/family, which is an added perk. Charli is incredibly responsive and easy to get a hold of. My contractor also loved working with her because she is so organized and as he said "she knows what she is doing." Just a seamless process. 5 stars!

We hired Erin to help us in remodeling the whole house. I had never done a project this large on my…read moreown before and really wanted to make sure to get the finishes right, within our budget. We are in San Francisco Bay Area, so we worked remotely through weekly design sessions on zoom and used a 3D model to brainstorm ideas. She made recommendations for what to look for at the store and what to ask the contractors, and helped me refine which options to go with. Unlike some of the designers I met before, who always try to educate me about what is good and bad, Erin always tries to understand what I like and want first, and then help me search for the best options for my home. With her I feel totally safe about sharing what I really think, any ideas and concerns. And the most important thing is, she has such a great taste and extremely professional in design. Before working with her, I never know there are so many details need to pay attention to, and how different colors can have such a big impact on the whole look. And she can always come up with great ideas and solutions based on different situations and totally save my life during this project. I am so thankful to have Erin as a consultant on my remodel and I have learnt so much from her. It has been a great experience and I can't thank her enough!

I've had the pleasure of working with Erin on several interior photoshoots. She possesses great…read moredesign insight and an amazing eye for detail. Communicative and organized, she brings you in on her vision for the project and makes you feel like you're working with a true professional. I've also watched and learned a lot from her pleasant and respectful manners while interacting with clients. She's a true gem of a designer!

Fan-tastic. I kinda…read morefelt weird about hiring a designer for my space, but I'm glad I did. Use What You Have basically helps you rearrange what you have into a better layout, then offers options for further customization on your own. They'll help you move furniture, go through catalogs, look online, and just be really collaborative in the design process. I pretty much hated all of my furniture, so we didn't do too much rearranging (besides for placeholding purposes), but we spent a ton of time going over purchasing options. In the end, we put together a full design plan for each area of the space, with specific pieces to model against or just buy right out. I worked with Tracy, one of their senior designers, but they only charged me the junior designer rate, which was nice. She was great to work with, and even dealt with my large, overly-nosy pit bull like a champ. And she bought me lunch. Price-wise, expect $350 for a standard sized room, $700 for a "double" room. I did almost my entire loft for about $1200 including travel fees to Brooklyn. I was hoping to get lucky and do the whole thing for $350, but they do measure, and they stick to their fee schedule pretty closely. Whatever though, it was well worth it for what I wanted.

I used these decorating services 15 years ago and was thrilled with the outcome. Designer Lauri…read moreWard gave me fantastic referrals to upholsterers, cabinet makers, window treatments, lighting, etc. The best part was the quality of the people doing the work as well as their prices. When my husband and I recently moved into a new apartment it was a no brainer to contact Lauri Ward again. Two weeks ago, Lauri came to my apartment and created a plan for each room. Her suggestions were simple, practical and elegant, which was just what we wanted. I am implementing the plan confidently and am so grateful for being able to let go of the stress of redesigning on a limited budget. Being a novice in the world of interior design requires assistance and Lauri Ward's has been invaluable! I unconditionally recommend Lauri's firm for any redecorating project. The clearly written costs stated upfront will ease any concern about getting in over your head. Decorating mistakes can be costly, so it's worth consulting an expert upfront. Good luck on your project!

Sharon helped us reimagine the entire first floor of our new home...taking it from a 90s era space…read morefull of wood and wallpaper and transforming it into more modern rooms that perfectly suit our style and flow seamlessly together. She was incredibly responsive, professional and really listened to our needs. We couldn't be more thrilled with the results!

Sharon is terrific, I'd highly recommend her. Sharon redesigned a family room in our new row home…read more I found her to be highly organized and very responsive. She listened closely to our needs, offered us a variety of designs and color/style schemes for the space, and executed flawlessly on the concept we chose. She picked beautiful pieces for us that I wouldn't have been able to find on my own, and arranged for delivery and installation. She also worked closely with us on budget, making adjustments where we needed, and helping us manage a combination of contractors and DIY to achieve the look we wanted at a price that worked for us. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her and would highly recommend her.

Working with Jenna was amazing! She has style and taste. Definitely knows what her clients need. I…read morewould highly recommend Jenna for your interior design needs.

I can't say enough about Jenna... She's a pleasure to work with!…read more She was on top of every little detail.. leaving us to deal with no worries. An office move is tedious and time consuming.. But Jenna made the experience so much better. She answered every question, every concern.. and uniquely catered every office to each individual's taste and personal need, while the overall design and appearance flowed together for a professional, polished, yet inviting and relaxed look, which defines our company perfectly... She's a true Jem! Would use AND HIGHLY recommend for any future design projects! -Terri Hewes Communications