Sloan Polish Design

In March 2024, I posted an inquiry on Sloan’s website asking about her services to help me with redoing the first floor of my home in Chapel Hill. In the inquiry I clearly stated that I was looking for someone to provide advisory services. I noted that if this was not a job she was interested in because of the scope, that she simply shouldn’t respond. She responded by saying she was interested, and I signed a contract with Sloan on March 28th. In the contract, it states that there will be a “mutually beneficial arrangement”. I paid her a $3,000 deposit on service to be provided and an additional $575 for the consultation during which we talked about my preference for furniture, rugs, etc. and she took pictures and measurements to start the design process. In May, she recommended a paint color and charged me $375 for the advice, along with charges primary for administrative work, answering emails and responding to my request to have her deliver the service that was described in the contract. She repeatedly told me that if I was patient, she would be available. For four months, I called and emailed her repeatedly. On 6/25/24 she contacted me to say that she was too busy with larger jobs to continue my project. We all know this means she could make more money with other clients and wanted me to go away. She deducted $663.90 from the $3,000 deposit which she claims reimburses her for writing emails (who needs ½ hour to write a 10-sentence email) and creating a boilerplate contract. I have an MBA from HBS, and I never heard of a vendor charging a client for writing a boilerplate contract. In total, she charged me $1,111.10 for work that I thought would lead to her providing professional services, that she never provided. If you consider using Sloan, I strongly recommend that you are prepared to spend a lot of money with her because if she doesn’t consider your job worth her time, she’ll blow you off like she blew me off. $1,100 won't have any impact on my finances, but I object to being treated so poorly by a supposed professional. This application requires a completion date, but obviously, the job was never completed, in fact it was never really started.

Allison helped us to completely transform our primary living /entertaining space. After 16 years in our custom, modern home, we were badly in need of a "refresh". Allison expanded/greatly improved the initial concept we had, and we could not be happier. She has a phenomenal design eye but is also organized and proactive!

The smartest and most important decision we made in designing, building, and furnishing our new home was to hire Allison Sloan Polish as our interior designer. We literally couldn’t have done this without her. Among the many skills and gifts that Allison brings to a design project is that she: - Listens to how you want your home to feel and translates that into rooms and a home that you’ll love. - Thinks about the whole and not just the pieces. - Doesn’t try to make you go with her style; she brings out your style. - Has a great eye for color. - Pushes you when you need to be pushed, but knows when to back off if it’s a non-negotiable. - Listens to you on your must-have pieces and features and incorporates them into an overall holistic design. - Is amazing at picking out lights and the little touches that complete the look. - Is a highly skilled written and spoken communicator. She knows how to run a meeting and also knows when it’s not her role to run the meeting. - Is on top of the details more than anyone else involved in your project. - Is your totally committed advocate with the many vendors and contractors that are involved in a project like building and furnishing a new home. - Has world class project management and tracking skills. - Keeps you sane. Now that we’re in our new home, we are so grateful for the experiences and spaces that Allison helped us create.We couldn’t have built and furnished our home without her.

Allison had an amazing eye and her use of color is always spot on! She helped us furnish a modern new build and we’re thrilled with how everything turned out. She’s also so much fun to work with. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her!

Allison has an amazing eye for design. We engaged her to redesign our primary bedroom and bath, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. She is very easy to work with and brings a lot of fresh ideas to the table. There is simply no way I could have managed the bathroom remodel without her – she has handled all the project management by answering design questions, scheduling appointments with vendors, checking progress and generally keeping the project moving on schedule. She has worked within our budget and communicated every step of the way so there have been no surprises. I highly recommend working with Allison and putting faith in her design judgment – you will not be disappointed!

We built a custom aluminum pergola for one of Allison's projects and had a great experience working as a sub-contractor. Allison's taste is dialed in, thoughtful, and pragmatic.

I have known and worked with Allison for around 4 years now. I have been the chief photographer for the company Spoonflower where she served as president of the company. I own my own production company and during the time working with her I witnessed a true art director who does not settle for the mediocre. Her attention to detail and ability to see all the small parts of a scene was not only refreshing but impressive. I know people leave reviews all the time and they are mostly boasting a persons capabilities beyond the truth. I promise you this is not that type of review. I can not put into words how brilliant this woman is. It blows me away and I know it will you too. Griffin Hart Davis