Deb Y.
Yelp
I would like to give this company zero stars however, that is not an option hence, the one star. Ellinor is pleasant when you meet her but it doesn't take long to discover that she lacks emotional intelligence and has no empathy for her clients. One example being, when the project was laid out it was decided the upstairs would be completed first then the downstairs. This was to have as little disruption to the family members living downstairs as possible. Ellinor specifically said that the property would need to be vacated for two weeks, three at the max. When the plans were received they showed the downstairs being vacated for four months. When asked about it Ellinor's reply was, "you said you were flexible." This was at the height of the rental shortage and when rent was sky-high. Since their didn't seem to be a choice, we had four adults, two working from home, and four dogs living in a two-bedroom house. It ended up that an Airbnb had to be rented for our teenager while he completed the school year.
Most of the work completed on the house was sub-par to what Ellinor promised. In the beginning she and Rand Armstrong, the General Contractor, constantly talked about all their work being above code however, when push came to shove they would say the project met code and implied that was all they were required to do. There are still electrical switches that the electrician installed but could not say what they controlled and a paint job that friends say is the "worst" job they have ever seen. We have kitchen cabinets that costed $25,000 but still do not align, open properly or close properly. Rand informed me that "cabinet installation isn't rocket science." If that's the case, then the cabinets should be perfect.
The demolition work started in December 2021 and the project was not completed until May 2023. Some of the delay was due to a leak we experienced however, that was a six-week delay. When the project was first discussed with Ellinor she said the project would take approximately nine months. She will say that delays were due to covid however, delays were also due to lost items (one example, a mirror was ordered and couldn't be found by Ellinor's staff, when it was found they tried to charge a $75. storage fee.), the wrong items being ordered and having to be reordered, contractors not showing up on time or at all and the list goes on. Neighbors informed us that days and sometimes more than a week would go by without anyone showing up to do any work.
The icing on the cake was when Ellinor's email was hacked and she didn't know it "because I get so many emails each day that I can't keep track." Because of this hack over $67,000. was lost. Ellinor did nothing to help in trying to recover the funds and when asked about her insurance she simply said that fraud wasn't covered. It took her over a week to make contact after the loss.
We started this project with a $250,000 budget but when we received the first budget from Elle Interiors it was over $400,000. We trimmed back and the budget came to $368,435. When talking with Ellinor it seemed she had little interest in trying to cut back on the cost. If anything was cut back it was because we found less expensive items to replace the items that were chosen by Elle Interiors. When all was said and done the project ended up being over budget by $150,000 for a total cost of over $500,000. In addition to the lack of staying within budget, Ellinor seldom came to the property to check on progress. She said that Rand was overseeing the project but she is the owner of the company and should be ultimately responsible for the finished product. So many compromises were made on our part and it is sad that such a large sum of money was spent for what ended up being a very unpleasant and stressful experience.
I am sure there are excellent interior design companies available but Elle Interiors is not one of them.
Ellinor is aware of everything listed above and more. Below is her reply.
Deb, Andrew, Whitney and Phil,
We received the check and your note, thank you. Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are truly sorry to not have lived up to your expectations. Your project experienced some challenges and we completely understand how frustrating this can be. Our designers, project managers, Jeff and Rand work hard to ensure details are taken care of, that sub-contractors are doing their best work, chasing information, trying to note all conversations that are being had, etc. We always strive to give ongoing information about what to expect in regard to timelines, delays, etc. while keeping a positive outlook. We sincerely apologize that you felt disappointed in the process, as we always strive to maintain the high standard of excellence that we are known for.
Best regards,
Ellinor Ellefson
Principal Interior Designer
Elle Interiors LLC
602-751-1178
Allied ASID, NKBA
ROC#320294