Away with White

Not worth the cost.

I haven?t worked with a designer before my experience with Away with White and wouldn?t have, except for an Amazon Local coupon for a "Comprehensive Color Consultation," which was one hour of color consulting and $100.00 worth of painting time. I hadn?t planned to ask Ms. Amos to do painting, and so I have no opinion on her painting abilities. I had only planned for the one hour, but ended up paying for two more hours, at full price. After working with Cindy Amos I can say her color sense is good, and she is experienced and well-organized. Before we met, Ms. Amos asked about my goals and expectations. We met for three hours while I pointed out things I liked (and didn't like) in her portfolio of color plans, identified the furniture I was keeping, what I had done to the house, what I liked, and so on. While we discussed those things, she worked her way through the house with color chips considering palettes. Eventually she arrived at a palette I generally like. Up to this point, the experience was good, and I was planning to use Away with White for more work in the future. Unfortunately, Ms. Amos became argumentative and angry when I didn't accept her bid for exterior painting. She knew I'd already decided to use another contractor when she asked me to let her bid, even though that's not what I contacted her about. When I did select the other contractor, Ms. Amos became defensive, going so far as to imply insults about the other contractor (I didn't tell her who that is). Privately, I explained to her what the experience was like from my point of view as a customer, but she was unable to accept, much less discuss, any criticism. She was unwilling to accept that someone might prefer another company over hers. I told Ms. Amos that I liked her design sense and hoped to use more of that skill in the future with the interior. She took umbrage at even that implying it was unfair of me to propose it. She wrote ?I normally do not do any consulting that I do not execute.? This assumed that I wasn?t going to ask her to execute the design--I hadn't even gotten that far. In any case, her brochure and website (as of this writing) do not, in my opinion, make this clear. The Away with White website says ?Whether you are looking for color consulting, faux finishes or full service painting, Away with White can help you design and execute your interior or exterior color and paint needs.? The company?s brochure says ?regardless of the type of service you need, we will harmonize with the execution phase with your time and budget considerations.? This says to me that design is a separate service, as are painting and faux finishes. When I mentioned this to Ms. Amos, she disagreed and made it plain she wasn't going to consider my feedback. I don't care how Ms. Amos structures her business, although it affects whether I would use her. The way Ms. Amos responds to conflict is important since conflict is inevitable in remodeling or refinishing projects. I would find it hard to work with a contractor who is takes things personally. I believe it's more than just a conflict of personalities--I like Ms. Amos, actually--but it seems to be a pattern given the way she reacted to the negative Angie's List report. There were things I liked about working with Ms. Amos, as follows: - She has a bold, but not outlandish, color sense, which is helpful for clients wanting that. However, she also seems to be capable with a variety of different types of color schemes. - Ms. Amos is organized and experienced. The pre-interview gave her an idea of what I was looking for beforehand. Ms. Amos effectively uses her portfolio of color plans, divided into groups, to learn about her clients. I didn't felt rushed, nor did I feel like we wasted time during the consultation. - She is thorough. The three hour appointment was exhaustive. - Ms. Amos met with me when my house was in an uproar because of some work being done on the house. She was able to see past the disarray. These are qualities a good designer should have. Things potential clients might want to consider when deciding to use Away with White: - Ms. Amos seems to only, or prefers to only, consult on design for projects for which she is doing the work. A project like a faux finish fireplace might work for this arrangement. For larger, more complex projects, I would separate design from execution so that I can get competitive bids and stagger the work. Maybe all designers work this way, though. - Her promotional materials mention free consultations, but I am not sure she offers them, so clients might want to check that. - Ms. Amos subcontracts exterior painting. That will probably, and understandably, make her prices higher than if one contracts directly with a painting company. However, using her as a contractor for painting can be beneficial, too, if she is the contractor for several aspects of a project. - She reacted defensively and aggressively to even slight criticisms and comparisons to another company as if I attacked her. This makes raising any issue difficult. She was argumentative about everything that came up between us that she didn?t agree with. She was dismissive when I reported there were mistakes on the final color plan that she sent me. Communication may be more difficult than need be if a project has complications. - Ms. Amos freely voices contemptuous opinions of companies and people, needlessly so.

Cindy is a truly gifted color consultant and faux painter. The project we did was big, and she did an amazing job of helping me pick out colors and color combinations for 3 bedrooms, 2 hallways, living room, dining room and kitchen. My house looks amazing! She contracted with a painter, who did a good job as well, and was very personable. She is particularly skillful at fireplace brick work. The job she did is beyond what I imagined! My only problems I had with her were when I wanted to change the contract the day after signing it. When Cindy gave me the estimate for the job, she knew my overall budget. She did not include the tax in the estimate, and I did not ask if tax was included. We did this over the phone and by email, so there was no formal written estimate. With tax, the job became almost $1000 more expensive, so I had to remove one room from the painting contract. My budget was firm, and I was trying to be responsible. I let her know within 24 hours of signing the contract, and though I knew she wasn't pleased, I didn't think it would be a problem. Our communication after that became, well, bizarre. At one point she accused me of not wanting to pay taxes.....which was absurd. Essentially, we got into a he says/she says email exchange that went nowhere. It ended when I let Cindy have the last word. At the end of the project, the hourly charges by the painter were not documented in any way. He had two very nice men working with him, but when he was not on the job, they worked pretty slowly. I have a feeling I was charged for their overall hours....but have no way to prove it. I also was charged for "extra materials". When I questioned the charge, she promised to send me receipts. I haven't received them yet....but it's only been a week since the job ended. If you want an excellent looking product, Cindy is definitely a person to look into. My advice is be careful about the contract you sign, and be very precise in negotiating around issues of pricing. Overall, I can't say the extra $1000 I ended up paying wasn't "worth it", because the house looks so great. But I felt a little "taken".

She did not complete the project ?Due to Weather? (her words), telling us it would be better to do the master bedroom windows in the summer when the window casings would have fully dried out. She had not contacted us at any time after December when the weather had warmed up. When we contacted her in the summer to come back and complete the project, she stated that we would need a new contract. The statement on her final December invoice read "Temporary hold on master bedroom windows Due to the weather - Hold on balance $200." We held the $200 balance. She stated that this ? the ?Temporary hold?,? -- constituted an amendment of the contract, concluding that agreement, and that we would have to enter into a new contract with her for the windows for $370. The total project was for $9887.85, including the windows which she valued at $200. We felt that we were entitled to have the project completed from its ?Temporary hold?? status for the original contract price of $200 that was held by us ??on balance,? per her agreement as set forth in her final December invoice. She insisted that we needed a new contract, asserting that her ?price guarantees are offered for 30 days, not 9 months.? We declined to enter into a new contract and pay the additional money. She did not do the windows. If you make any modifications, or changes, to the agreement with her, you should make sure that you understand what the effect of those changes are and have that understanding reduced to writing.

We've been wanting to have a color consultation and some rooms painted for quite some time. Her consultation was professional and well done. The crew she hired to do the painting was friendly and did a quality job painting. I would use this service again, but I would hang my own shades back up. I did ask Cindy to come back and give us another consultation and estimate. Also, these services cost more than the other estimates I received, but the work was quality work.

Fantastic! Cindy is very talented. She painted the fireplace tile to coordinate with the new mantle color. People think I have slate around the fireplace and are amazed when I tell them it is latex paint.

OMG! Cindy nailed my personality completely. By asking questions and observing my surroundings she came up with colors I would never have thought to put together, but the end result is amazing and I LOVE it! The room looks more spacious with the new colors. It's warm and inviting and has a "WOW" factor. And, it's NOT gold, beige, or tan! She truly understands how to use color to create a wonderful environment.

I enjoyed it. I like decorating anyway and was envious of her ability to connect colors to the person. It took more than a year to execute the actual paint job mostly having to due with my availability to be here while painters were here. She does faux painting and provided a bid for the proposed dining room wall and coving in my kitchen. There was what I call a wild card color used on one wall in my living area and I wasn't too sure about it. All of my friends like it the most. The colors are dark which make my place darker so I added lighting. I love my purple walls. The colors brought everything together. I did the faux finish myself. I wasn t too sure about it but the painters liked it and my friends all like it. I did not use the technique she quoted due to my limited ability.

Cindy was polite and professional. She was a big help to us in assisting us with a paint scheme for our home and interior painting tips. Prices could have been a bit lower, especially considering how much paint and all of the tools cost if you elect to do the painting yourself.