We hired Park & Oak to furnish our newly purchased house while we continued to stay in our current house. We shared our design preferences (coastal, transitional, light and airy) and provided a Pinterest board reflecting our design preferences. P-Oak reviewed everything we shared over a new client screening call and indicated they could deliver on what we wanted. We signed up as a new client, and after three months, we were called in to review their Rev-1 designs. The only touchpoints we received between signing up and seeing the Rev-1 designs were requests for measurements of various spaces (we are a remote client). This should have been our first warning sign.
We arrived in Chicago excited and enthusiastic. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm faded fast. The designs, although true to Park & Oak's brand, were not what we asked for. We made the mistake of assuming that P-Oak would flex to meet our design preferences and put their spin on our style and the style of our house--they did not. We asked for revisions and provided specific feedback about what we didn't like in the current design. They came back with a Rev-2 that was...pretty much the same thing--true to their brand but not what we asked for.
We were beyond frustrated. At this point, it became clear that we could keep asking for revisions but it's unlikely we would get what we were looking for. We were stuck. We could buy $150-$200k of furniture we don't like, or we could walk away entirely with over 5 months of lost time and having to start all over. Neither scenario sounded good, but we didn't want to compromise on the aesthetics of our house, so we terminated the service.
If you have a 100-year-old house (Victorian, Colonial, Prairie style, etc.) and you're looking to preserve the old-time charm of your house, Park & Oak will perform true to its brand. In our case, we have a 20-year-old house built in the Hamptons style, and we're not looking to make it feel older. We shared very specifically what we wanted. Why didn't they tell us we weren't a fit during our screening? Why didn't they validate the designs were directionally correct by sharing even just a single room's design? Why not collaborate with your client and calibrate your work before doing a waterfall dump on them, only to find out it's all wrong?
If you are considering this service, know that P-Oak will not stray from the pictures you see online. If you can't see yourself buying those exact pieces for your house (not the house you see in the photos--your house!), I recommend you look elsewhere.
The final and most frustrating part of this: after we terminated our services, our bill spontaneously tripled what all of the prior invoices combined added up to. Although the project was nowhere near completion, the total amount we were invoiced had clearly been accelerated, and it was now just shy of what they estimated the entire project would cost.
Final, final bit: without going into the details, I don't recommend hiring them for remote work. There will be errors. If they can't drive to your place from their office, you will likely experience some pains--furniture too big for the space, wrong placement, etc. They won't be able to really connect with your place. read more
