Fourteen years later, my curtains continue to be beautiful and durable! Recently, a minor fix was…read morerequired. Kim's installer came and fixed it right away. Thank you, Kim! (Photo from summer)

It was a true pleasure working with Kim. We installed curtains and blinds throughout our house…read more They look terrific and we receive compliments on the window treatments all the time. We would highly recommend Kim and Urban Environments.

I have worked with Nicole several times over the last few years. Nicole designed my daughter's room…read morefrom start to finish. I met with her a few times in the months before my daughter was due and she helped me craft a vision for her room. Then she worked with my husband and surprised me one weekend when we were out of town. He had given her a key and she completely transformed the room. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. A few months later we worked with Nicole to transform our formal dining room into a multi-purpose diningroom/playroom (gotta get creative in city living). She also updated our kitchen for us and changed our mudroom from a dumping zone into an organized, functional and modern extension of our home. Nicole has great taste, but doesn't just design your home in her taste. She really cares and takes the time to get to know your likes and personal style. She then polishes it and creates something that is you, yet better. Best of all, she finds the most amazing deals. She knows where money should be spent and where you can get away with spending less. She has an ability to make things feel custom without the custom price tag. I look forward to working with Nicole again soon.

Every time I walked into the family room in our new home I had a near panic attack. None of our…read morefurniture worked in the space and I had zero idea where to start with a new design. When I suggested calling a designer, I could just hear the instant regret in my husband's voice when he agreed to it. We couldn't have made a better decision. While I could list 100 things I loved about the experience, I'll give you the top 5: - Nicole listens. Too often you hear stories of designers who impose their preferences on a client and pay little heed to the client's desires. I never felt that way with Nicole. She solicited our input throughout the process and regularly checked in with not just me, but my husband as well, so both of our design preferences were reflected in the final product. - Her designs are timeless. The colors, pieces and flow of the room look amazing now and will continue to look good years down the road. - She's professional, but fun. As stressed as I was about the process, she made me feel at complete ease and made the selection process a lot of fun. She explained to me why certain pieces would or wouldn't work, so I felt like I also received a little education and became [slightly] more knowledgeable about the rules of design. - My husband loves the final product. I didn't think it was possible that he would be delighted with anything that didn't include a wall-sized poster of Walter Payton, but he has repeatedly told me how much he likes the space now. - We want more. We'll be having Nicole back to do our bedroom next.

London is a passionate individual who has a great deal of experience with interior design. Her…read moreexperience is not as important as her vision and ability to turn your vision into your dream! I am completely satisfied and hope you will also feel the same way after she works her magic!

This is one of those self-described "design" firms where marketing is paramount - actual product…read moredelivery is a far second (third or fourth). Our interactions with Michelle Jolas left us appalled. Michelle is one of those professionals who relies on flirting, excuses (lies), and name-dropping to get her way. And when those don't work, she resorts to intimidation (bullying). Her charm is superficial and falls away at the slightest resistance. Unprofessional at every step of the way; we will be sure to take steps away from her and her business whenever possible.

Working with Dawn was amazing! I reached out for help selecting a paint color for a tricky room in…read moreour house (the kitchen). During our 2-hour consultation, Dawn not only found a color that perfectly matched our style, counters, and backsplash but also spotted opportunities to refresh the colors in the dining room and entry to bring the whole design together. Her color savvy is fantastic, and she asked great questions and listened carefully to incorporate our preferences and ideas. She left us with paint swatches for all three rooms, and the new colors look incredible. Dawn's color consultation more than exceeded our expectations, but she didn't stop there! She also suggested ways to update the kitchen and dining room lighting to be more functional and coordinated. Her after-visit email summary included links to all of the ideas she had offered, including multiple options for fixtures that were very affordable and perfect for our spaces. We love the new lighting. To top it all off, when we told Dawn about our longer-term goal of renovating our kitchen, she offered fantastic ideas for reconfiguring the space to make it more functional and appealing. She followed up with detailed recommendations in her after-visit email summary and included rough drawings to help us visualize thew space. The 2-hour consultation with Dawn was an incredible value, and we definitely want to work with her on the kitchen renovation project!

"I had an absolutely amazing experience working with Dawn Bach on my apartment layout and design. I…read morereached out to her before moving from Colorado to Illinois, and she took the time to schedule a call and clearly explain her role as an interior decorator and how she could help based on my space and preferences. Dawn provided detailed layout plans along with furniture, bedding, electronics, and artwork recommendations--all of which perfectly matched my style and lifestyle. Her guidance not only made the process easy, but it also saved me over $900. I truly got everything I asked for and more. Thank you, Dawn! I will absolutely recommend you to anyone looking for an interior decorator."

Kandy helped me create a layout and mood board for my very large/oddly shaped living room in my new…read moreapartment. She did a fantastic job! The place looks great. I had a limited budget and she found amazing options within my budget and linked me up with several online and physical stores to find deals. She was timely and responsive and fun to be with. I recommend her highly!

From the owner: My design philosophy is strongly driven by the need to incorporate sustainable, thoughtfully made,…read morelocal and handmade products into the home. I search for treasures, sometimes within your own home, that fit your needs, your design style, who you are, how you live your life and how you want the space to function. I avidly support local artists, artisans, makers and the maker movement. I firmly believe that it is possible to incorporate sustainable practices in design without sacrificing style and while staying on budget. From hanging art, moving furniture around, creating a design plan so you can do it yourself, styling, finding the perfect color or the right armchair, to decorating your home, there are multiple ways I can assist you with making a house feel like your home.

Adina has helped me renovate and remodel several properties. The last one was a quick renovation…read morein August 2020 for one of my investment rental properties. When you look at the "before-and-after" pictures, it is clear that the results of her work are impressive, even with the extremely tight budget and schedule that we had to work with. Adina's designs show her passion and creativity for developing living universes, that people want to immerse and surround themselves with, as soon as they see them. When you see one of her designs, you immediately feel the desire to be in that space. She has an impressive gift to transform spaces in ways you cannot imagine beforehand, with color combinations you would have not imagined, but when you see the finished product, you love them because it is absolutely superb and pleasing. It simply feels good... I enjoy working with Adina as she is very talented, creative, honest and daring. She is direct and confident in her radical ideas, clear on expectations, and punctual. I was surprised a few times by some suggestions she made, that I thought would not look good (...what do I know?), but I trusted her, went with it, and found out they were the best solutions for the spaces we were renovating. I LOVED the outcome. I learned not to second-guess her ever again, and to fully trust her. Whatever she creates, is going to look and feel great in the end! She is a perfectionist with a budget in mind. Adina's designs are "out-of-the-box", on the leading edge of creativity in art, they are modern, daring, and well balanced. The color schemes she chooses are always exquisite, delightful to the eye, attractive to the mind, and relaxing to the heart and soul. Adina's portfolio is surprisingly vast with projects such as Village Market in Chicago, Google and Leo Burnett offices, ISI Headquarters as well as various residential and hospitality renovations. She led the design and implementation for the Village Market - a large commercial complex in the heart of Chicago. I saw it first in a pencil sketch, then in 2D. She continued to work and I saw the first 3 Dimensional rendering, and ... 3 years later, when I visited Chicago, she took me to a location that gave me the same exact view of the Village Market as I saw last time in her portfolio picture, only this time... it was the real thing (brick & mortar), beautifully executed by her to match the original vision. Adina is highly conscious and efficient when it comes to cost. She has hands-on knowledge of materials & costs, and she has developed a network of strategic partners in the industry, who can provide you promotional discounted prices and/or expedited deliveries to her clients. She is a pleasure to work with, she is well organized and always listens well to her clients, understanding their needs and wants. She told me that her main objective in business is to make sure -in any project- the end results will meet her client's goals: architectural, financial, and timeline. With a well-controlled and tight budget, she is making wonders. I highly recommend her and her work to anyone needing assistance with an architectural project. Whether is a simple garage addition, a Media Room, or more complex project that requires an artful & attractive (art-tractive) design, an interior face-lift, or something done in a cost-efficient way, and done quickly, Adina always has the best (and usually most unexpected!) solution. It is worth mentioning that you will still have money in the bank at the end of the project she designs for you! You will be happy to see how much life Adina will bring into your project. Adina's work is an enchanting mixture of harmony, balance, and creativity that meet in absolute beauty. I hope you get an opportunity to work with Adina on your next project so you can enjoy one of her truly uplifting transformations. Call her / write now!

Adina helped with design and furniture selections for our new home build. She has amazing taste and…read moretook our vision and applied it throughout the entire house. Guests always remark how beautiful our place is. I love that the entire house feels cohesive with the design and has an elevated light/airy feel. She also selected great materials when it comes to the stones and woods throughout. I appreciate the small details she helped with like the stones on our shower floor and the elongated cabinet pulls that are the perfect scale. Thank you for making our dream home come to life!

We were in London when Martins did the rennovations on our home. We didn't know exactly what we…read morewere coming back to. We opened the door . . . and walked into paradise. We felt like we were in someone else's home. Someone who had a lot more money than us! Martins isn't just a builder, or a designer. He's an artist. When you bring someone into your home to change it forever, you have to trust that person. When Martins came by for our first free consultation (something other people had charged us for), he stayed for two hours. He wanted to get to know us, and figure out exactly what kind of home we wanted. To say he cares about his work is an understatement! Other people we looked at charged us for that first visit, came in, took measurements, were out in 30 minutes, and then provided some cookie-cutter recommendations. Besides his off-the-charts talent, he is honest, flexible, responsive and easy and fun to work with... not to mention reasonable. He even provided us with guidance and recommendations to bring the overall costs down. If you're looking to do renovations on your home, that not only are beautiful, but also unique and specific to you and your family, your search is over. Martins Buka will not only deliver, but exceed your expectations!

My family hired the Martin family to do some work on my aunt's house in the suburbs. They were a…read morepleasure to deal with. Reliable and honest. Phone calls were returned and we always felt we were in the best hands. We remodeled our aunt's basement down to the studs and when the job was done, it was AMAZING. Highly recommended for remodeling jobs!

We hired Carly to help us design multiple rooms in our house about a year after we moved in. After…read moreliving with blank walls for over a year and no real character to any of the spaces, we felt inspired but also stuck and overwhelmed with doing it ourselves. Ultimately, we decided to hire a professional to help us out and it was one of the best decisions we've made! When looking at designers to work with, I loved Carly's aesthetic. She made me feel comfortable with the timeline of the projects and the scope depending on my budget and desire to be involved. Carly helped design our living room, extra dining area space (we decided we wanted to repurpose the area as a conversation/cocktail sitting area), master bedroom, guest room/office, and daughter's room. We split up the projects based on priority and gave Carly clear direction when she provided inspiration boards. She picked some design elements that I never would have picked (dark blue accent wall, antelope carpet runner, a bold chandelier for our entryway, etc) but once she showed us, I immediately loved it and felt it fit! The experience with Carly at Unpatterned was fantastic because she really listened and understood the aesthetic we were going for and knew how and when to push for elements that she felt were important. Now, more than ever while we are quarantining at home, we LOVE that our home is colorful, reflects our personality, and is also way more sophisticated than we could've done on our own. For anyone at home right now with design projects in mind, call Carly!

I'm quite disappointed in my experience with Carly and Unpatterned. I reached out to Carly because…read moreLOVED her style and requested some help on a house remodel. I have pinterest boards galore and know pretty much what I want, but I don't necessarily trust my contractor on telling me what tile goes with the cabinets, or what counters are the best for bathrooms vs. the kitchen, etc. After speaking with Carly, I thought we were both on the same page, however she came back with a quote for 70+ hours of work. Which would be completely understandable if I just wanted her to take over the design of my entire house. But I didn't. I let her know I was looking more for guidance of certain decisions, and 10-20 hours was what I had budget for. I even asked if she could just prioritize the kitchen or master bath. She then said she could just do a 1-day/6-hour day with me where we went to two showrooms, and this would be $1,600. I told her, I really just needed some guidance and visiting showrooms didn't make sense (I had already picked out cabinets/plumbing fixtures) and I mentioned that I was disappointed she would not work with me. I never received a response. Her website claims that Unpatterned is "founded on the principle that there isn't a singular approach to design (or life)," that the "process is customized to each client," and that they "are committed to adapting to a variety of budgets." Apparently that is all talk. Unless you plan on spending tens of thousands of dollars on design, you are not worth their time.

Because it's so sustainable and made in America, we chose Gilasi for a bathroom vanity top and…read morecoffee table over 10 years ago. They have both held up well. Since then, Gilasi has gone through modifications to provide added durability, so last year we purchased another bathroom vanity top using their new product in our Chicago condo and we are extremely satisfied with the appearance and resilience. When looking at www.gilasi.com I noticed a new fused table line they are producing and now I plan to replace one of my coffee tables with one of their Gilasi Fused products. The owners encourage personalized requests.

Update -6/25/17 Still super happy 7 years on. What a great…read moredecision to go with this countertop