Tess Leeds Redesign

Tess is delightful to work with, she brings a fresh perspective to the spaces she’s designing, and she offers stunning designs to ensure your space is not only beautiful but also functional. I initially hired Tess to help me redesign only one room, my dining room, since I had never worked with a designer before and wasn’t sure what to expect. Once we nailed down my style, Tess put together an absolutely gorgeous design, helping me choose furniture that was expressed who I am in a way I didn’t know furniture could. After my dining room, I hired Tess to redesign three additional rooms. The process for the additional rooms went very smoothly because Tess really understood what I was looking for and was able to present me with ideas I loved immediately. Tess genuinely listens to what you want and need, she’s there to support you throughout the whole process, and she’s just really fun to work with. I highly recommend hiring Tess for your redesign needs!

Tess did a wonderful job of listening to my needs and then constructing a thoughtful plan to redesign my living room that worked with my family's lifestyle and budget. She provided links and descriptions of what I needed to do as next steps.

Tess is wonderful and exactly what I wanted. Over the years we've collected lots of "things" - oriental rugs, artwork, travel finds, etc. And I love the outdoors, indoor plants, and lots of greenery. I've shied away from interior designers,, having heard tales of total makeovers with new everything, budget overruns and personal bias. I really wanted someone who could work with precious things I have or need, and at the same time could help me part with some things I thought I couldn't get rid of. I also needed a serious jolt of creativity and color. Tess to the rescue! She listens and has the patience of a saint. She came equipped with all kinds of samples to help me hone the "look". She was realistic about my budget, sensitive to my needs. Her talent defies description. I immediately signed on for a second project, the master bedroom. I will return to her again for more specific treatments around the house. I can't recommend her highly enough.

Tess was great, she was incredibly helpful and creative at working in a small space and making the most of it. She understood my aesthetic and was instrumental at finding pieces and recommending options for my space. I couldn't be happier with he outcome.

Tess is excellent. We moved to a house that is much larger than our house before. The rooms needed help in terms of paint color, light fixtures, flooring. We needed furniture, curtains, rugs. It was overwhelming. Tess helped every step of the way. She has a gift with color. She chose paint colors for the whole house that are in harmony with each other. She somehow knows innately how to put different fabrics together in terms of furniture, curtains, rugs so that one is left feeling inspired to sit in the room. When I went to the various stores to make purchases, she always had a contact there who I could deal with directly. Sometimes she even went to the stores for me. I find her extremely reliable in terms of communication and delivery of service. She is so knowledgeable about design. She truly has a gift for this. I am still working on the house and I keep her contact information handy.

By way of very brief background: the original part of our house was built in 1846, and subsequent additions have retained the antique feel to the home. We don't have low ceilings but we do have wide floorboards, some smallish rooms, and the usual quirks that older houses tend to have. We were aspiring to create a modern farmhouse vibe in the house which we communicated to Tess, and we're very happy with the rooms she helped transform. Some of the furniture ended up being of the mid-modern style - which we originally didn't think would fit but the pieces she suggested really worked. Also, it was very much a collaborative effort, where she would show us some ideas for a light fixture or a rug, and we would then riff off that idea to hone in on something that we felt was perfect. One of the added bonuses was that she knows a LOT about where to source pieces based on your budget - we were sort of stuck in a Pottery Barn rut so it was nice to expand our options on that front. Lastly, we love the colors she chose for the rooms - they look so much better, and she spent considerable time playing with paint swatches to select the best option. Overall, it was a very positive experience, and we would definitely use her services again for future projects.

Tess was great. She helped us (a couple with two differing viewpoints) come up with a plan for our living and dining areas. What I most appreciate is that she gave us guidelines and suggestions, rather than just telling us what to do. She explained the how and why of making choices about furnishings (this color chair might blend in too much with your paint choice, you have a lot of texture in your rug pattern so you may want to not have so much of it elsewhere, etc). We had a great list of possible furnishings and guidance on what to buy first and what to wait and see on. We are in the process of implementing it and Tess has been patiently answered questions as they come up. Great value, completely reasonable rates. We will definitely use her services again!

Great! It was so easy to make decisions about carpet, upholstery, and windows because Tess picked out items I loved and that complemented the rest of the first floor. I really appreciated that she set reasonable deadlines and met them. And her design sense is superb.

Tess has transformed my home, one room at a time, into a gorgeous (and functional) oasis. Visitors are always impressed with our home decor--a few of them now realize that Tess is the mastermind. She takes an overwhelming process and makes it manageable and fun. I love that she works with any budget and style, helps shape the vision start to finish, and allows for just the right amount of risk-taking. As a new mom myself, I especially appreciate that she can make spaces hard-working as well as beautiful. In addition to talented, she's just a lovely person to spend a morning with.

This is the second time that we’ve engaged Tess to help us with interior design. She’s done room redesigns as well as color consultations for us. Both times, she was wonderful. Tess has a unique talent for taking people’s design ideas and impressions and turning that into reality. She’s thoughtful about both her clients desires as well as the realities of their situation and uses this information to create spaces that are inviting and functional. We’d absolutely recommend her again.

Tess is amazing. She asks thoughtful questions to get a sense of your style, and then she's able to make a ton of really good recommendations. She's got a good network of area professionals she referred us to for things like lighting, custom woodworking, and custom fabrics. She's a breeze to work with- super responsive, and with a great optimistic attitude to any challenges that come up. We would (and have!) do business with her again.

Tess was great at helping us figure out our furniture needs and placement as well as color scheme and other furnishings. She recommended several changes to our current design, which drastically improved the flow of the room. She was very knowledgeable about physical and online stores with products in our budget range. She was very respectful of our budget and did not try to upsell or make a plan outside of our budget. We were very happy with her work.

I was overwhelmed trying to decide on all new furniture, rugs, drapes and paint colors for 3 rooms, so hired Tess to help. She is great, absolutely worth every penny! By having me complete her initial intake forms she was able to come to our first meeting fully prepared with suggestions, so we could quickly narrow down to 2 or 3 options for each item for me to go check out and shop for. Once I had my samples and selections she came back to approve and finalize fabrics and paints. If you're going to spend a lot of money overhauling your design, you want to make sure it's going to all work so it is a very good investment to hire Tess! Can't recommend her highly enough.

Working with Tess was absolutely the right thing to do for me and my husband. We had been living with our oversized living room for 6 years without being able to figure out how to set it up. We had spent hours at stores and looking around the internet, but no one else seemed to have a room like ours that we could model, and we didn't want to put ourselves at the mercy of a salesperson at any one store. This is how Tess helped us: --she listened to me and my husband and helped reconcile our very different tastes (muted versus LOUD). --she knew what size rug/sofa/lamps etc were appropriate for our space, showed us what they would look like, and created a map for us to follow. --she explained the order in which we should purchase the elements so that we wouldn't go wrong with the final look --she made a couple different suggestions for palettes, and how the different pieces would work with each other --she recommended which pieces we should invest it, and where we could go cheaper --she shared the names of reputable workers and specific suggestions for kinds of sofas/chairs that would meet our needs. And then she left it up to us! We are the kind of people who don't want our space to look like an anonymous showroom, so after we had our "map" it took us quite a bit of time before we traveled all around town and agreed on what was beautiful. We couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Working with Tess was absolutely the right thing to do for me and my husband. We had been living with our oversized living room for 6 years without being able to figure out how to set it up. We had spent hours at stores and looking around the internet, but no one else seemed to have a room like ours that we could model, and we didn't want to put ourselves at the mercy of a salesperson at any one store. This is how Tess helped us: --she listened to me and my husband and helped reconcile our very different tastes (muted versus LOUD). --she knew what size rug/sofa/lamps etc were appropriate for our space, showed us what they would look like, and created a map for us to follow. --she explained the order in which we should purchase the elements so that we wouldn't go wrong with the final look --she made a couple different suggestions for palettes, and how the different pieces would work with each other --she recommended which pieces we should invest it, and where we could go cheaper --she shared the names of reputable workers and specific suggestions for kinds of sofas/chairs that would meet our needs. And then she left it up to us! We are the kind of people who don't want our space to look like an anonymous showroom, so after we had our "map" it took us quite a bit of time before we traveled all around town and agreed on what was beautiful. We couldn't be happier with the outcome.

We LOVED working with Tess and were thrilled with the final result of her redesigns! She took our dark, disorganized, depressing family room and made it light, airy and completely useful. Our dark wood & old linoleum floor front hall/bathroom combo were transformed in a welcoming entryway with grey slate flooring, white woodwork & unity in all details. From first contact to finishing our projects, Tess was uber-professional, and she thought of things that wouldn't have even been on my radar. She walked us through each step, from figuring out what styles we liked, creating a Pinterest board of ideas, spending a day with her talking about what we liked and what could change, deciding on color/decor and actually completing the projects. She even gave us a step-by-step plan with everything we needed to purchase or do clearly spelled out. We will hire her again when we redo our kitchen or any other part of our home. The spaces in our home that she redesigned could be in a magazine they are so beautiful!

Tess has been invaluable to me. We moved 4 months ago and my furniture, pictures, and rugs looked completely wrong in the new house. With the kids and the job, I don’t have time (or talent!) for home decorating. Tess patiently gathered information about my family’s needs and lifestyle. She made note of my color and style preferences. She took into account the furniture and stuff I already have. She considered the feel of the house itself and what would be appropriate for the rooms given their walls, flooring, windows, appliances, fixtures, size, shape...etc..— factors not always pleasing, but often unable to change. Like the bathroom situated in the middle of my family room. Or the dark slate floor, black appliances, and black counter in my kitchen. Tess took it all into consideration. I watched as she lined up fabrics, wall colors, rugs, curtains, lamps, tables, sofas, chairs...etc..that were literally astounding in terms of harmony. She emailed me a plan showing all the websites and the stores I needed to access. A straightforward plan, easy to follow. I am starting to receive my new furniture and accessories now. I can’t wait to see it all come together. Tess has a gift. She is an artist. Your rooms will become an experience. In the past, I tried to do it myself. All that happened was me ordering things and then sending things back. So much wasted time and money. Tess saves you time and saves you money. She is not expensive as most decorators. And the money you pay will be less than the money you would waste on poor design choices if you did not have her help. She’s making my house dreams come true within my budget. I’m putting the finishing touches on my rooms and I will be posting photos when I am done. Thank you, Tess!

Working with Tess was amazing. She transformed a somewhat drab room into an entirely new space that is bright and cheerful and exactly what I had imagined. She was easy to work with and responsive and has a great eye and amazing taste. And I am not an easy customer :) In addition to coming up with ideas for what would work well in my room and sending me links and listening to my comfort level with boldness and price point, we were able to go shopping together and at one point I was ready to throw in the towel. I just didn't feel like I could find the right fabric for our vision. She told me to take a break and let her mull it over and 5 minutes came over to me holding exactly what the room needed and saved the day! So I would recommend her unhesitatingly. One last comment: The "After" picture I posted below is not the final staged version. We still having an outstanding shopping date scheduled to get the proper accessories and get it looking perfect. But still, what an amazing transformation!

It was absolutely wonderful. I was stuck between my 11 year old son's vision of what would look good and my own vision of what would look good. Tess came in and struck the perfect balance; both of us are thrilled. This is not the first time I've worked with Tess...every design challenge I've presented her with has been unique, and she has done a brilliant job every time. She really listens, but she'll also make suggestions that never would have occurred to you, sometimes with a total re-think. If she suggests something, *trust her*...she is amazing. WELL worth the money- a few hundred to design a gorgeous space you and others will appreciate for years! PS Tess can help not only with things like paint color, furniture, textiles, decor, and spatial arrangements, but also with thinking about the form, function, and dimensions of custom furniture pieces or built-ins made by a woodworker she can suggest...

Fantastic. She is amazing at picking out colors and coming up with simple ways to transform a space. She is thoughtful about staying within budget and very creative with her ideas. I can't say enough about how gifted Tess is and how grateful my whole family is for her help! My 16 year old son is begging for her to work on his room! That says a lot!!

Tess helped transform our pink and black tile embarrassment of a bathroom - to a beautiful and serene retreat. Her additions of crown molding, wainscoting, and green/grey and cream color scheme fits with our house and lifts our spirits whenever we open the door. Working with Tess is a pleasure. She makes the process fun. We are so happy with the results. We will work with her on all our design projects!

It was an amazing experience. She really knows her business!

I am very pleased with the results of my consultation with Tess. She was easy to work with, both in her personable style but also in her efficient use of the information she asks you to provide beforehand. I like that she tailors her design plans to your wishes, offering but not imposing her ideas. She was very adaptive to my input once we sat down to go over the plans in detail, easily integrating new information into the evolving design while adding her own professional vision. The end result was more cohesive and sophisticated than I was able to envision on my own. I would recommend Tess to anyone – she made the process fun and easy!

On the cost, I would say like $400 or $500 per room. It was two rooms. On the pricing, that's fine. Probably I would not use them again. This is only fair to her than to other people. She did give me a full disclaimer of this. It's just that she just kind of sits with you while you go online and pick out designs versus it being more of a full design service and if I were to do it again, I would want a full design service. She did tell me upfront that, that's not what she provided. So, it's mostly because I would want something different if I wanted to do it again. I wanted to give the full disclaimer to say she didn't actually order the things and put them up, it's more than a template that she gives you. I don't want it to come across negative for her because she told me in advance.

Still in process, but I have a good plan.