Nicole Lanteri Design

(1/2) Nicole and her assistant, Katharine, transformed our newly renovated, sterile DC row home into a cozy, yet stylish space that felt like home. We can’t recommend their work enough. We were impressed with them on so many levels that it’s tough to know where to start. My husband and I had a lot of design ideas for how to decorate, but we were paralyzed. We didn’t know where to start and what ideas were too much. Nicole took our half-baked thoughts, edited them and then give us a detailed implementation plan for how to decorate our open concept first floor. The result was a blueprint for a relaxed mid century modern living room, a gorgeous gallery wall in the dining space and eye-catching wallpaper throughout the kitchen and mudroom. The areas of our home flow together, yet each area still feels like it has its own moment. Nicole and Katharine’s thoughtfulness made this happen. Nicole knew when to push us beyond our comfort levels and when to comply with our inexplicable preferences, such as our aversion to tan. She handled several curveballs masterfully. Example: we aren’t “art” people, yet Nicole knew our style enough to recommend several art print sites that had crowd pleaser designs for people like us. Perhaps the most forward design element is the wallpaper she found. Our appreciation for that wallpaper grew as we looked forward alternatives when we initially thought the pattern was too much and too funky. We were wrong. No other pattern achieved what she had found.

Nicole's kind presence, communication, vision, creativity, flexibility, problem-solving, spatial awareness, fine aesthetic sense, and incredible expertise in design, were all amply demonstrated in every, thoroughly enjoyable interaction. She enabled me to see countless new possibilities, negotiate and/or overcome constraints, and achieve everything that I wanted to and more in my desire to renovate my living space. Without her amazing insights, contributions and support, I would not have been able to accomplish what we have.

I hired Nicole to do my entire house. I am now moving out and am taking almost nothing that she advised me to purchase with me. Although at the time I thought she was giving me good advice, and might have posted similar reviews to the ones here, after living with the pieces that Nicole recommended, I am constantly and continuously disappointed. I was able to consign a few of the things that I purchased, but many things have broken or were poorly installed and have had to be replaced entirely or given away. Ultimately, a word of caution, it might look pretty at the outset, but it doesn't last. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Ask more questions, probe about quality, and really think about how you are going to use the pieces and the space rather than just whether it could look cool or whether Nicole likes it. I didn't do this as much as I should have and I regret it.

I love Nicole! I just really enjoyed working with her. This was the first time I had used a designer and I'll never go back. Nicole saved me so much time. We bought our house and a year later, we are able to enjoy it to the fullest. Almost everything has been touched by Nicole. She has made it so much easier to make decisions. I would have been working on this project for years had it not been for her! Not to mention, our home is kid-friendly and also so much fun. Thanks, hon!

Nicole is The Best! She is creative, thoughtful, and incredibly well-organized. She's a fantastic listener with a unique ability to take a set of impressionistic ideas and turn them into a coherent design that truly reflects her clients' tastes. Her taste is impeccable, and she is able to come up with beautiful, functional, personalized solutions -- including kids' rooms and family areas (kitchens, entryways, family rooms). She works with contractors/builders/painters/wallpaper experts/etc.) who are all delightful and truly exceptional at what they do, which means that she's able to not only come up with brilliant plans, but also sees them through to completion. She's exceptional at design-on-a-budget, as well as high-end work, and does a great job working with clients everywhere along this spectrum. On top of all of that, she's an absolute delight to spend time with, and wizard-like in her efficiency. I couldn't recommend her more highly, and look forward to working with her again in the future.

Working with Nicole has been a wonderful experience! My husband and I moved into a large townhouse from a small condo last summer and we looked to Nicole for help in both designing our space and making recommendations on "investment" furniture for our now larger space that we can keep with us for years (decades?) to come. We are thrilled with the final product and love our chic and personalized home! Plus, working with Nicole is such a treat! She is creative and pushed us to move past our "West Elm comfort zone" and embrace a personalized design that isn't ripped straight from a catalogue - while also understanding our budget. I especially appreciated her help in talking through budget tradeoffs; for example - investing in a living room sofa the will stay with us for many, many years to come while at the same time recommending an Ikea dining table, knowing that our next home will likely have a larger dining area - so wait to invest in a dining set. I can't recommend working with Nicole highly enough! She is truly a joy to work with on designing your home.

We worked with Nicole to decorate several spaces in our town house. Her work matched our vision precisely (colorful mid-century) and she was great with respect to negotiating and refining her design ideas. Very knowledgeable, fun to work with, and always accessible.

5 stars !!!! Nicole designed my condo in a way that is beautiful and functional! She understood my vision and delivered on budget and on time. She is a top designer , a rare and wonderful person and a complete professional. All the companies/ workmen who implemented the design were highly qualified and it was clear they wanted to do an excellent job " for Nicole". I cannot recommend this gifted Designer enough.

Nicole came to my house for a 1-hour consultation for which she charged me $250. After that, I did not hear from her for several weeks. When i finally got in touch with her, she said she'd been sick, which was a perfectly fine excuse. I looked forward to working with her, but the next thing that happened is that she emailed me saying our "styles" we're "incompatible," & that she wouldn't charge me for the time she'd spent looking for pieces for me. Essentially, she took $250 to look at my house, then gave me no services whatsoever for my money. Must designers give an initial consultation for free. My advice: do not give this woman any money until she's performed a service for you.

We can’t recommend Nicole highly enough! We embarked upon a three story addition after some large trees fell on our house, and so we had a lot of decisions to make quickly and felt overwhelmed by where to start. After years of putting off getting “nice” furniture and really investing time and money in our living space, we were suddenly rethinking everything! A friend referred Nicole to us, and her guidance as we picked out paint colors, light fixtures, tile patterns and created a design plan for the first floor (both old and new spaces) was invaluable. She listened to what we wanted out of the space, and helped us create family, dining and kitchen spaces that are comfortable, stylish, functional, flexible and inviting. We love spending time in our new house and entertaining now! Nicole’s crack design sensibility, patience, responsiveness, listening skills and relationships with vendors and tradespeople made the process easy and fun!

I had a great experience working with Nicole over the last year. I moved into a DC condo that was pretty much a blank slate. Nicole was flexible with scheduling, even working with me on an hourly basis as we addressed different areas from picking paint colors to furniture and accessories. Nicole helped me make decisions about key pieces with the right guidance on scale and style. She showed an incredible knack for understanding my more classic taste while adding some much-needed flare. I love what Nicole did and highly recommend her!

We contacted Nicole at the end of August, near the end of a gut renovation and addition on our house. The renovation was scheduled to be completed at the beginning of November, and I asked Nicole to help us get enough furniture in there for us to host Thanksgiving for our families. Nicole did that and more; except for a couple of wall hangings, our first floor living areas were basically complete by the time our families came to visit. We asked Nicole to first help us choose paint colors, and she unerringly did so. We have received many compliments on the colors, as well as on the wallpaper for the dining room. Nicole also helped us with our first floor design plan, as we were basically starting from scratch, and we are thrilled with what she chose. She put together a binder with suggestions, a couple of alternatives, and photographs, along with a to-scale layout that really helped us to visualize what it would all look like together. She suggested only in-stock items that were able to be shipped almost immediately, so we were able successfully to host our Thanksgiving visitors in our new (and now-furnished!) house. Nicole was responsive to our needs and preferences, and had great suggestions for alternatives when necessary. We love the results, and will likely hire her again as we work to complete the rest of the house!