  Design. Delivered. offers what you might call complete home decor in a box – a customized kit full of information, drawings and samples for executing your decorating plan. |
You can do just about anything over the Internet these days. You can even get your home decorated by a professional.
Conceived by Toronto-based accredited interior decorator Laura M. Stein and launched last December, Design. Delivered. is a remote decorating service that’s tailored to an individual’s own taste, lifestyle and space – and provided at a fraction of the cost.
“There’s a whole group of people who appreciate good quality and want beautiful homes, but for budget reasons or because they live in a remote area, full-service interior decorating is out of their reach. This is designed for them,” says Stein of her service, which can be accessed from anywhere in Canada.
Unlike similar services in which homeowners may receive PDF images of decor ideas from designers, Design. Delivered. offers what you might call complete home decor in a box – a customized kit full of information, drawings and samples for executing your decorating plan.
View the gallery of rooms designed by Laura Stein.
A project starts with clients completing the questionnaire at Design-Delivered.com, giving details on things like their profession, whether they have children or pets, their decor likes and dislikes, their favourite colours and their preferred fabrics.
Clients also provide digital photos and dimensions of the rooms they want to decorate.
As well, clients provide what Stein refers to as “inspiration” materials – photos, magazine clippings, fabric samples and so on that reflect the style they want to achieve.
Stein then begins developing a personalized decor scheme for the room or rooms a client has chosen, drawing on her wide-ranging experience, which has included consulting on home design projects for HGTV’s Designer Guys and Style Dept. shows, photo styling and set designing for Canadian House & Home magazine and working as an advertising art director and magazine graphic designer.
“My look is always clean and fresh, but I don’t work in a specific style,” she says. “I take my client’s style, whether that’s traditional or contemporary or anything in between, and make it work in the best way possible.”
Four to six weeks later, clients get delivered right to their door a personalized home decorating package that includes an inspiration board with magazine pictures, sketches, colours and samples to give an overall look and feel for the room; a detailed floor plan drawn to scale with notes and descriptions; photos, descriptions and measurements of each furniture piece; and drawings of any custom window treatments and built-ins.
“This service is designed for someone who’s interested in a DIY type of project but who wants some guidance,” Stein says. “I’m not suggesting they build their own built-ins, but I would offer advice on how to find good millworker, and what the millworker needs to know to get the built-ins done properly.”
Also provided are samples of materials needed to complete the project – fabric and wallpaper swatches, paint chips, flooring and countertop samples.
Clients receive a shopping checklist with names and contact information for local furniture suppliers operating nationally – Stein typically favours retailers such as Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and Restoration Hardware – or online furniture vendors that ship to the client’s area.
Detailed instructions on how to execute the design are also provided to help homeowners throughout the process. One year of e-mail support is included with the package.
Design. Delivered. costs, on the low end, $895 for a single design of a small space such as a foyer or powder room, and at the high end, $2,295 for two design options for a more design-intensive space such as a kitchen or bathroom.
“This service allows people the flexibility to follow the plan exactly as it’s laid out or use it as a guide,” Stein says. “You can also take your time and do it in six months or piece by piece – whatever suits your timeline and budget.”
View the gallery of rooms designed by Laura Stein.
Sharon Aschaiek writes about home decorating, entertaining and lifestyle trends and can be reached at sharon@cocoamedia.ca.
