Anne Lubner Designs

Growing up, I was fascinated with how moving the furniture around to make the rooms feel new. My mom taught me to sew and I started out with Halloween costumes, then taught myself French sewing by machine then I learned how to make draperies. I'd have friends over and when they saw my house, they asked me to help them decorate their homes. That's how I got started in my interior design business. Then I took courses, went to trade shows, and now it's been 19 years making homes beautiful!

I've designed for couples from 20's to 80's, singles, widows and widowers and even a tweenager. We all deserve to have our surroundings support us.

I gutted a 41 year old house, moving walls, new floors, new windows, new kitchen and bathrooms, new furniture and window treatments. Afterward, my client, a single man, told me he loved it so much he just loved coming home. Originally he said he wasn't going to be entertaining but once he moved in, he's become quite the host entertaining his friends. The smile on his face made my heart happy.

First, look for experience. Most residential interior design is learned through experience. While you may have bought or built and furnished several houses, and learned from those experiences, I've designed hundreds of homes over the past 19 years. There's good reason why my business has weathered a recession and the pandemic while many others went out of business. Second, make sure you click with the designer. You'll be working closely together so it's important you like each other. The unexpected always happens in life and design, especially with remodels, and the design process is much more enjoyable when you like and trust each other. Third, look at their portfolios. You may not like the style of the furnishings in all the photos, as the best designers create surroundings that support, nurture, and express their clients. But the spaces should look well balanced and harmonious.

Really think through how much you want to invest in your project. Best is to know both the minimum and maximum you can afford. Why? Because it lets the designer know, first if what you want can be accomplished for that amount, and second, how much to spend on each item. For example, if you want to redo your kitchen, your budget will tell me how much should be spent on appliances, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, lighting, etc. Knowing the budget also enables the designer to know the level of quality and where to source furnishings. For example, a sofa can run anywhere from $999 all the way up to $10,000+. (No, I've never specified a sofa that expensive--but I have the resources to do so!) Having a total investment amount allows the designer to allocate your resources wisely to get you the most "bang for the buck." I typically allocate decorating dollars so some furnishings are lower-priced while others are higher because I know which furnishings really need to be higher quality and which can be lower but still give a high end look.