Kelly Marino Designs

We were lucky to work with Kelly throughout most of 2023, and highly recommend her to anyone searching for a consummate professional and gifted designer. She helped us transform a comfortable but dated, 6,500 square foot home, into a beautiful sanctuary with no dead space. When we first connected with Kelly, our ask was scoped and time-bound: identifying materials for a few bathroom updates and providing some input on kitchen updates. As we worked with her however, we saw how well she balanced function with aesthetics, and quickly asked for more...and then more of her time. Nine months later, there wasn't a single inch inside the house that we hadn't discussed with Kelly. To her credit, she never advocated for more work (she had plenty of other clients!), and the updates she provided blended seamlessly into the existing space, so it never felt jarring to move from a "Kelly" area to a "non-Kelly" one. Simply put, we valued her eye on all things design and function. Her work on this project included: -Selecting materials for four bathrooms (ranging from light updates to full renovations), while providing valuable input to focus our resources on the most visible and utilized spaces. -Transforming a kitchen through targeted updates (selecting cabinet paint colors, designing a new island, etc.), in the absence of time or budget for a full renovation. -Finding and managing stunning solutions for smaller spaces (mudroom, laundry room, etc.), after other vendors like closet companies quoted prohibitively high prices. -Supporting our asks by sourcing low VOC and "green" materials across tiles, rugs, etc. -Integrating 95% of our former furniture into the new space, avoiding any waste and connecting us with donation pick-up services. -Sourcing beautiful, high-quality pieces in line with our budget, to round out our existing furniture. -Working alongside a team of other contractors and vendors that had been selected before we met her, as well as introducing us to local craftsmen. Kelly was a true partner in the process, and we're grateful to her for transforming our house into a home. We can't recommend her highly enough!

Kelly is phenomenal. We moved from a two bedroom apartment to a five bedroom house and Kelly has helped us customize our home over the past two years. I’m someone with a lot of ideas but need A LOT of editing. Kelly took in all my ideas, asked the right questions, shaped my vision, and then executed flawlessly - and within our budget! She has impeccable taste and her working style is organized, professional, and warm. Great person, great designer. I’d give her more stars if I could.

It was a wonderful experience working with Kelly on our renovated townhouse. Kelly was attentive to our preferences, while always providing a large range of options to expand our boundaries and find unique pieces that really made the house our own. Kelly also found some really wonderful elements across a range of prices, making it easy to stay within a budget while incorporating some really special items into the overall design. Whenever there were issues with deliveries, orders or unexpected problems, Kelly worked directly with vendors to resolve them. She was a creative problem solver and managed so many aspects for us, making it an incredibly easy process throughout. Communication was great throughout, and we love the final product. We’re already thinking up other projects we can work with Kelly on.

It was an absolute pleasure working with Kelly on my bathroom renovations. She listened to all of my ideas and fully grasped the look I was going for. With her keen eye for detail and her fresh take on design, she captured my vision leaving me with three bathrooms I am thrilled with. I enjoyed working Kelly so much that I am working her again in other areas of my home.

Kelly is amazing! I spent a very long time trying to find the right decorator. Kelly is definitely it. She’s patient, has a great sense of color and style, is budget conscience, and works with my schedule. She does a great job picking furniture and colors. I’m pretty much re-doing my entire house. She helped me pick flooring to replace carpet. She designed a kitchen island and a wet bar area for my basement. She re-configured my kids’ rooms. She picked paint colors and furniture for their rooms. She finds me good priced, good quality furniture. She passes along her trade discounts to me. She’s honest with her time and provides me with constant updates and cost projections. My house looks so much better since she started working with me. It’s more beautiful—but also do much more functional. The trades people she uses are great. I keep asking her for more help with different projects since everything she touches turns out amazing. The next projects for my house that she is helping me with will be re-doing an office and a master bathroom. Kelly really is the best!

Kelly was wonderful to work with on our kitchen remodel. She is collaborative, bringing her expert eye to make suggestions and providing important feedback on our starting ideas. She was very responsive, professional, and always willing to get on the phone to talk us through a set of design options with honest and constructive guidance. Highly recommend!

Kelly designed our master bedroom and is designing our kitchen now too. She is beyond talented and always professional. She takes the time to really know her clients so she can deliver exactly what you love. Her design ideas are functional, sophisticated, timeless and beautiful. She is always my first call on design and the first one I would recommend to friends and neighbors. She is the best!

Kelly has been a dream to work with. She has a fantastic eye for design, and helped me make choices for my kitchen that I am extremely happy with. She is a total pleasure to work with. She has her own ideas, but also really listens to what the client wants. She made great suggestions all along the way. She made my kitchen far more attractive and stylish (and functional) than I could have done on my own. Would strongly recommend, and would definitely work with her again.

I hired Kelly to help us with our new house. She helped us select hardwood floors finish, paint colors, light fixtures, furniture, rugs and everything really!! We enjoyed working with her, she is calm, responsive, and very creative. She definitely has an eye for great ideas. I'm actually not done with all of my projects and I'm calling her again to help us with some other items and spaces.

If I have a project big or small, my first call is to Kelly. As a realtor, she has helped me a number of times to do staging that has made my listing look beautiful and fly off of the market. As a homeowner, whenever I’m planning a remodeling project, she is indispensable. She has that unique eye that helps to make things pop. Absolutely love working with her too. She is such a professional and a total delight.

I'm a realtor that worked with Kelly to stage and upgrade a 3 bedroom condo. Kelly TOTALLY TRANSFORMED the condo with new paint, furniture and accessories. All of the elements worked together and really gave the entire property an updated sense of style. She was really easy to work with and enthusiastic to get the job done on time. We listed and sold the condo quickly for a high price. She's the best!

Kelly is amazing! She has a great eye for design that makes any space looks bigger, brighter and more cheerful. We chose Kelly to help us stage our house for sale. We had more than 50 showings in a weekend and sold for $100,000 over asking. Everyone who came through the house commented on how bright, sunny and open the house looked (even though the main living areas in the house faced North). Kelly knew just the right paint colors to use to brighten up the space. She also knew what furniture and finishing touches would look best to make the space appear both spacious and inviting at the same time. Could not recommend her enough!!!

I hired Kelly to help me redesign my kitchen. It was a total gut job and Kelly assisted in every step of the process, from choosing the new layout to cabinets (supplier, style and colors), and all the finishing touches, like tile and hardware that truly completed the look of the new kitchen. Kelly’s advice was invaluable in helping to decide on big items, like whether we should take down an extra wall to add more space to the kitchen, the size of island that would be perfect for the space, and where to place the appliances. She was also excellent at all of the small touches that really helped to make the final design. She recommended a small tile supplier in California, a company that I wouldn’t have found on my own, helped select the right colors for everything and even the finishing touches like blinds. She truly helped put everything together to make it perfect. Kelly was very patient throughout the process and willing to discuss all of my ideas and explain why some would work better than the others. She also has an army of wonderful professionals that she referred for the job (tile, painting, etc.). An excellent job overall! I am thinking about redoing my master bathroom next and I will definitely hire Kelly for the job.

I hired Kelly to help stage my condo in Shaw / Logan Circle. She did a fantastic job in staging the unit to accentuate the unit's highlights and to appeal to many buyers. She also thoughtfully incorporated a few of my own pieces to help make the unit look great! She was incredibly easy to work with and did exactly what she said she would do. Best of all--my unit sold immediately before we even went to market. I would highly recommend her and would work with her again.

Kelly designed the staging for my condo sale. She did a beautiful job. The apartment and photos looked light, beautiful and homey. Her design certainly impressed buyers The condo sold within 5 days of listing with 3 offers.

Kelly did an excellent job with the staging of our condo. She delivered exactly as promised. We were very pleased with her services and we highly recommend her to others.

Kelly is talented, dependable, professional, and likable. I first met her when I was a realtor— she staged a house I showed to buyers, first without staging, and a second time when she was putting finishing touches on her staging— and wow! The house was small and had an awkward floor plan; somehow she erased those characteristics. The house that had languished for a while on the market suddenly got multiple contacts. When I listed a vacant house with a different set of issues, our client recognized the need, but wanted to do keep costs to a minimum. Kelly left rooms empty that she thought less important to stage and did a fantastic job within the client’s budget. So naturally, when it came time to sell my own home, in April of this year, I called Kelly. In that instance I had a house full of furniture. She quickly determined what should stay and what should be sold or stored. Then she brought in a few of her own pieces. The house never looked so good, and we got SEVEN contracts in FIVE days, two with escalation clauses! I cannot recommend Kelly highly enough.

Kelly has a personal touch that made working with her so easy. She walked through the property with me and quickly submitted a proposal that was cost competitive. Her design delivered, showing off the property in a way that helped me towards a quick sale. Highly recommended!

Kelly Marino provided excellent staging services while I was in the process of selling my condo. Her work staging my unit was critical in creating eye-catching marketing materials that helped to sell my unit quickly. She was also able to completely stage my unit with a few days notice, as I was trying to list the property at an optimal time. I highly recommend working with Kelly.

Kelly did a great job staging our home in Capitol Hill. We got 3 offers in 5 days and closed higher than asking. She was responsive and everything was set up and then picked up right on time.

Kelly has an incredible eye for what works in a space and her attention detail is unparalleled. She is a joy to work with and I am grateful for her input on my whole house renovation. From helping to envision the full potential to the space to picking the exact color combinations throughout the house, she truly knows her stuff! I highly recommend her for your interior design projects.

Kelly recently staged two homes for me. Actually, she transformed them. They both flew off the market in under a week and I give her all the credit. Kelly is extremely professional and talented, and she’s also really helpful and friendly. I recommend her in a heartbeat for your staging and interior design needs!

Kelly staged our empty DC condo and did an amazing job. Communication was great throughout the process and we got a lot of compliments on the final product. We sold after one open house and 4 days on market for full ask -- thank you Kelly!

I hired Kelly to stage a small one bedroom condo and the owners and I were both very happy with the end result! The condo received multiple offeres and sold in record time! I knew this was one that would definitely benefit form staging!

My home was vacant when I put it on the market and I originally did not have it staged because I thought it would sell quickly. Well I was wrong. Finally after 3 months on the market with no strong offers I decided to use Kelly to have my home staged. I was hesitant to spend the extra money but it was well worth it. I got 3x as many viewings and got 3 offers within the first week of having it staged. Staging made a huge difference for my townhouse. They moved everything in quickly...in 1 day and without incident. I highly recommend this staging company! Just wish I would have hired them sooner.

Kelly was great to work with. She had great ideas for how to present each space, and her elegant yet earthy aesthetic was just what the property needed. We sold the house in the first weekend. I would definitely hire her again!

Exceptional staging services. After taking a few pictures, Kelly staged our home in a way that made it look sophisticated and modern. The listing pictures made the difference in drawing attention and creating traffic. We sold our house in a week in large part due to the staging. Thank you KMD.

Kelly was a true delight to work with. She worked with me on a home library project and helped think through the organization of the space, colors that would work for upholstery, draperies, cushions etc and styled the room. She's highly professional, has an excellent and refined eye, is extremely responsive and just fun to work with. She really made an impactful difference. I highly recommend Kelly, whether for regular staging (holidays are coming!) or for home sale.

Kelly Marino, owner/designer of Kelly Marino Designs, was the perfect answer to all my anxiety with regard to my move. She chose my paint colors, light fixtures and helped me arrange my art. She is calm, creative, thoughtful and an absolute delight to be around. My house is a beautiful place to come home to because of Kelly's touch and talent!

My wife and I embarked on a whole-house remodel in November 2016, and we hired Kelly to help us select everything: plumbing fixtures; toilets; electrical fixtures; wall tile; floor tile; sinks; doors; door hardware; medicine cabinets; towel bars; counter tops; cabinets; vanities; mirrors; paint colors; … everything! We even adopted a few of her design/architectural suggestions in order to improve room layouts, lighting, and resale value. There was hardly a decision that we didn’t run past Kelly. Things we really like about working with Kelly: 1. Kelly was laser-focused on both our style preferences and the character of the house. She tied these two things together beautifully. 2. Kelly kept a sharp eye on the budget. When some selections were coming on more expensive than they needed to be, Kelly was able to suggest alternatives that still looked great, but … 3. … sometimes we ignored Kelly and she was perfectly ok with that and/or let us know if our off-trail decisions would affect other aspects of the project (i.e. if you want that item, we should re-think this other item we already selected). If you really want something, really love something, then Kelly makes it work. 4. Kelly was flexible with the process. Sometimes we picked out items and we'd ask Kelly to confirm our choices were fashionably aligned with our goals, and sometimes Kelly would source items and present them to us (digitally) for a final selection. 5. Kelly was available and responsive. It was so easy to collaborate with her through calls and messaging. 6. Kelly worked directly with our kitchen designer and builder when we were overloaded with some aspects of the project. 7. Kelly regularly visited the house during construction to get a feel for the space and make sure the design and selections continued to make sense. 8. Kelly had a copy of the construction schedule and she made sure we made selections in time to get the items on the job site. 9. Kelly exceeded our expectations many times, like when she offered to show up on tile installation day to make sure all the tile was oriented properly and that the tile guys followed the special prep instructions for the tile we selected. 10. Kelly helped us make better choices. When we were tired and ready to settle on selections that "we liked," or we thought were "ok," Kelly would set those selections aside and continue searching because she wanted us to “love it!” not just “like it.” We hope this helps with your decision to hire Kelly, and good luck with your project. David & Emily

Kelly was awesome to work with. She was super enthusiastic, accommodating and did a wonderful job staging my condo. Would highly recommend to anyone needing staging services!

Kelly Marino recently staged my condo in Washington DC for sale. We were working on a tight deadline and Kelly was incredibly professional, efficient and provided seamless, stress-free service. Her beautiful works speaks for itself--my condo was sold within 30 days. Kelly has a great eye for design and sense of style. I will use Kelly again for staging and also design in my new house!

Kelly is incredibly creative and made our house look beautiful! She is attentive to every detail and we thank you so much!

We had a fabulous experience using Kelly Marino Designs. Kelly was extremely responsive throughout the entire process and had a competitive quote, proposal and timeline to us in 24 hours. She then staged the home into the early hours of the morning so we could have it prepared for photos and a weekend listing the next day. The staging was impeccably done for the space and the condo Sold within 2 weeks. I would highly recommend Kelly Marino Designs.

Kelly came highly recommended to me, and she exceeded my expectations! We received 5 offers in only 4 days on the market, and the house sold for over list price! She was extremely professional and communicated with me during the whole process. Her moving crew was also exceptional. She even brought over fresh flowers for the open house, which was a very nice touch. I couldn't be happier with the service.

I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Kelly's service. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for staging services in the DC Metro area. Before going into details, it is important to note that our house sold before it went onto the market and the first thing the buyers said upon entering is, "this is exactly the style we are looking for - a mix of comfortable family living and simplicity." Since our home is a traditional 1940s Colonial found throughout northern Virginia, have no doubt that Kelly's staging services made this impact possible. In developing the style for our house: Kelly had her work cut out for her - we have two preschoolers and their play area is our living room. Kelly walked through the entire house and assured me, all hope was not lost. We would be able to work with most of the furniture and artwork we already had in the house and she would be able to fill in the holes, while maintaining our agreed upon budget. Working with Kelly was by far the easiest and most stress free aspect of selling our home. She showed up promptly, stayed until the job was done, worked independently and spoke up when she had questions. She was upfront about her rates and what she thought she would be able to accomplish within my stated budget. She was very easy to communicate with, happily answered my questions and was very responsive to emails. I would highly recommend Kelly's services. She is professional, has a great eye, is responsive, and, most importantly, her services created the 'wow' impact I was hoping for with the first interested buyers that walked through our door.

We sold two properties recently with Kelly Marino Designs. From the initial conversation to the home being sold, we knew what to expect and Kelly Marino Designs delivered. We got both homes sold tens of thousands above asking price after multiple offers and in less than a week each. We couldn't be happier! Kelly Marino Designs did a thorough walk-through consultation, listened to our specific needs and came up with a beautiful staging design to fit our budget and the specific spaces. We had invoices up front and we knew what to expect in terms of cost and timeline. The biggest piece of the puzzle with staging and design work is whether it will match with expectation. We are happy to report that Kelly Marino Designs beat expectations on both listings. There were hiccups along the way with other work crews, but Kelly Marino Designs took everything in stride as we dealt with the scheduling overlap with professionalism and grace. The furniture made it in and out of the house and we didn't notice that it had even been there. No clean up or follow through required on our part prior to settlement made for a very happy real estate agent and ecstatic owners. Not every piece of furniture fit our style, but taken as a whole each room looked great and each home worked as a cohesive unit. One set of buyers even commented that they would be interested in keeping the furniture! We would love the opportunity to work together again, especially with the same results!

Kelly Marino is THE reason my house sold in less than 4 days. And, even better, the money I spent on her services I made back many times over! Kelly was a dream to work with from the very start. She took into consideration my unique set of needs including an accelerated timeline, a cluttered home and toddlers under foot, and turned my home into a stylish property. Kelly is rare in that she takes an individual approach to each home she stages. In my case, Kelly had to deal with a quick timeline and a host of mismatched items that seemed like they would never complement each other. Working in thoughtful stages, Kelly mapped out a plan for our home. First, she helped me pick out the perfect paint colors to neutralize the space and prepare it for sale. Next, we worked together to eliminate all of the clutter and extraneous furnishings and décor, while maintaining my family’s ability to live comfortably in our home. Kelly then rearranged all of the existing furniture to reveal how spacious the rooms could be. If I had only known! Finally, with a judicious eye on the budget we had set, Kelly meticulously selected decorative items (that I will definitely use in our new home) to accentuate the home’s beauty. I only wish I had hired Kelly as an interior designer years ago when I had originally bought the house! I cannot recommend Kelly Marino more highly. In a world where HGTV has changed the way we buy and sell homes, Kelly knows exactly how to amp up your home’s appeal to add value and reduce your time on the market.

Working in Real Estate for almost 20 years allows most agents to build a trusted vendor list. A list that rarely adds new talent to the network. Kelly Marino Designs was no where near my radar when my listing in Alexandria came to be, but I will say this without a doubt... it was her level of expertise, professionalism, and tireless work ethic that got this home into the beautiful show piece it is today....and under contract within 3 days!! If you haven't heard of Kelly, don't worry, you will. If you haven't used her before, I urge you not to waste any more time and HIRE HER IMMEDIATELY...The results are there and proven! She is now a friend and trusted advisor. I am supremely confident that you'll feel the same way.