Taylored Spaces

We live in a house built in the 1950s. The kitchen in the house was not functional at all, so we knew we needed a kitchen designer that had experience in older houses. A co-worker suggested Ruth Ann. I emailed her about getting an appointment set and Ruth Ann responded within a couple of hours with a couple of times that she could come to the house to take a look at the kitchen. Ruth Ann explained quite clearly that her design services are $50/hour and if I order cabinets or other products from her, this amount will be credited. A couple of days later, Ruth Ann came to the house to look at the kitchen. She took many measurements and discussed ideas about moving appliances, etc... A few days later, we met with Ruth Ann and she went over 6 different designs with us. She listened thoroughly during the initial design consultation and implemented the things that were important for us. We chose a design and actually decided to use the cabinets from her as well. They were very high quality and reasonably priced. She knew exactly what we were looking for and she found a design that fit us perfectly. After the cabinets were ordered, Ruth Ann provided regular updates of delivery schedule. The cabinets arrived when she said they would have. Her cabinet installer was very professional and did a fantastic job. In summary, we are absolutely thrilled with our kitchen. The old kitchen was not functional and it was not enjoyable to cook in, and the remodeled kitchen is a dream. Ruth Ann did a great job with providing recommendations along the way. Every decision we had to make, we consulted with Ruth Ann and she provided great guidance.

Ruth Ann was nice enough. She seemed to have some ok ideas. She was the first of 5 designers that we spoke with and got designs from. She explained to us before starting anything, that she charges $50/hr and that would be applied back to the project. So, we knew this going into it, however the other 4 designers did not charge us anything. Her work was not any different or better than the others. In fact, the others all had better ideas. A few months after talking to her she sent an invoice for $330.00 for the work that she had done. I was shocked. This made our decision much easier after getting this about who we would go with. So I am paying $330.00 for nothing. Yes, I am paying for her time, but no one else needed to be paid for their time. Again, she DID tell us this in the beginning so this is more of a lesson learned for me but I felt like I needed to write this review to warn others that this can happen.