I was seeking a professional to assist me with taking my townhome to the next level in terms of…read moredecor. Having done quite a few upgrades (kitchen, baths, basement, etc.) and some minor do-it-yourself projects (painting, refinishing furniture, etc.), I thought it was time to reach out to an expert. I looked for a while and decided to try Mary's services since the pictures available on her Yelp page looked like she had a good eye.
It was easy to schedule an appointment with Mary and she readily accommodated my schedule. She arrived early for my appointment and was very professional. Since I have never worked with a designer, I really expected her to lead the process and tell me how to maximize her time and expertise. However, it seemed like I was leading the process. While she was very, very nice, I simply didn't feel like I gained much more than I already knew. She charges $60 an hour and when we were close to an hour, I said "ok, we're almost at an hour" and she said "I really just want to help you." At that point, I assumed that anytime thereafter was just her being nice and trying to add some value vs. her continuing another half an hour and ultimately indicating that I owed her $90...to which we negotiated to $70.
She was very energetic, we moved furniture and art around, and she tried really hard to help. However, I simply can't say I found her that informative or creative. For example, my basement is oddly shaped and she didn't really have any innovative ideas for the space...whereas I had one friend suggest to use part of the basement for a bar, another friend suggest that I purchase two bistro sets, etc. So, I was really expecting Mary to help me re-envision my spaces and bring some great new ideas that I hadn't considered. Even offering some color ideas would have been helpful. For example, my master bedroom is currently all white. She noted that I needed some color, but when I asked her what colors would she recommend (based on my current wall colors, the colors in the master bath, etc.) -- she said "what colors do you like?" I said "I like most colors...purple, blue, anything." She never provided any actual color suggestions. Then when it came to my master bathroom, I was thinking that she might suggest adding a bright accent color that would complement my earth tones to make the room "pop" -- but all she said was to use more browns (which I'd already tried).
So, while I think she's a professional, nice person, my friends who charge nothing offered more than what I felt I gained from her expert consultation. Perhaps if you are someone who has a lot of junk in your house and need help with decluttering and rearranging your furniture, she would be great. Or if you have some very basic needs (like those bright lime green walls that no one thinks are cute except you) she can offer you some assistance. But for more advanced situations like in my case, I just didn't feel like she offered much value and I felt like I wasted my $70. If she weren't such a nice person and working for herself, I'd actually contact her for a refund. But, I guess I can chalk it up to a good lesson learned. I should spend more time watching HGTV and consulting with my friends...
