Definition of eclectic design:
an unusual and original style in the interior of the house
incorporating a mixture of styles, a combination of different directions,
freedom, imagination and creativity.
The most important aspect of your home should be the feeling you get every time you walk through the door. It should bring comfort and contentment along with happiness and joy. The pieces should complement each other and mirror your personality and lifestyle. The lights should highlight the furniture and accessories. There should be purpose and beauty in everything you see. This is the feeling we get when we walk into our house.
Like many couples, we constantly delayed renovating our house because of other, more critical needs – like 3 college educations and additional family issues. When the time finally arrived after all the kids had departed, we were then confronted with what to do and how to do it.
Our house redesign was a very challenging project with an open floor plan, cathedral ceilings and several 1970ish features that couldn’t be changed. We were integrating 4 areas, including a complete kitchen renovation, dining and living rooms plus a loft.
When you’re looking at a renovation project - whether its large or small, you have many options. You can do the work yourself, be your own subcontractor or hire someone to oversee the entire project. The same options are available when you are looking to simply redecorate. You can do the legwork yourself by going to Home Depot, Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel and find pieces that fit or match your space, color scheme and intended use. And you can hope you make the right choices and everything works exactly as you planned. And if it doesn’t look good or fit or work, you can try again and again, hoping it works better the second, or third, time or live with your choices. Due to these concerns and unsure of what would work and what wouldn’t, we finally decided that we needed another option - a 3rd party to not only settle our differing thoughts, but to provide the answers that fit the space and existing structure, not just our taste and budget.
Enter Laurene and Eclectic Design. She came to our rescue and we have been absolutely satisfied with the experience! She will not only do the legwork and the background searching, BUT she will also ask you the questions that you ultimately need to ask yourself. Ones that you don’t get from big box stores or on the internet. Like, what do I need for this space, how am I going to use this piece, how will it support my lifestyle, how does it fit with my existing pieces and long-term intentions?
When we first met, she not only recognized our challenges but also understood the complexity of our undertaking, the extent of our budget and overall time frame. She was able to provide insights that incorporated both the intricacies of the space but also the wishes of both of us and our accompanying doubts on how to proceed.
Laurene was able to blend our needs while, at the same time, ensuring the results complemented what the space itself demanded. Laurene was indispensable during the 2+ years (yes 2+ years!) it took for the redecorating to be completed. We wanted to be sure that each piece of furniture, lamp or mirror fit the space and that we would still love it 2 or 3 months or years down the road. Laurene was very comfortable moving at our pace and letting things ‘settle’ before we moved on. She always offered several options for each room or piece of furniture or accessory, while also being able, and unafraid, to say specifically which one was the best fit. We deferred to her recommendations more often than not, but she was also flexible enough to accept our preferences when we dug in.
Laurene’s experience and contacts allowed her to find not only specific pieces unavailable in stores or catalogs, but she utilizes many highly professional tradespeople to help with installation and delivery, including painting, flooring, carpentry, reupholstering and tiling. In addition, she was present for each piece of furniture or accessory that was delivered and inspected each one before accepting the item. Several pieces did not meet her approval and were sent back to the manufacturer, with no questions asked. This is a service that cannot be underestimated.
In short, we have been extremely happy with our decision to use a professional interior decorator, and specifically, Eclectic Design. Laurene has been a pleasure to work with and has helped turn our house into a place of happiness, joy and comfort that we never felt before. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her practice and, most importantly, listens to her clients’ ideas, wishes and thoughts. Laurene will turn your hopes and dreams into a solution that will last a lifetime, just like she did for us.