Tracy de Shazo is a dream designer. We needed help in refining a few rooms in our new home -- that was 18 months ago. We were thrilled with her work on those few rooms and now happily have her "refinements" throughout our home. Her work is exquisite, and her "eye" for color and proportion are second to none.
Tracy is not a formula, cookie-cutter designer. She knows what is beautiful and she creates spaces that are special, comfortable, and livable. She intuitively understands balance and somehow can create spaces in her mind's eye. She loves unexpected pieces that take your breath away. The end result, your room or rooms or entire home, will truly be yours (not hers), but a result you could never have accomplished on your own.
Tracy enjoys the collaborative process with her clients. She is not a "top down" designer, but one who listens carefully to her clients and then brings her expertise to your dream. Still, she will not let you make awful design mistakes and will tell you (nicely and with good humor) when one of your bone-headed ideas would be a disaster. That is, you can trust her and her design sense. Tracy will also patiently nudge you out of your comfort zone, when needed; you may not be ready to be nudged, which she understands and respects; eventually, you will probably come around and be glad you did!
Tracy loves the process of finding just the right piece and will take her time in the search, rather than settle. I enjoyed engaging in this part of the process and never felt rushed. Tracy will say "don't worry, the right piece (or fabric, or wallpaper) will come to us." And it always did. So, each room in our home "evolved" over time, where one set of choices led to the next set of choices.
Tracy is honest to a fault. Trustworthiness is in her DNA and she cannot be otherwise. So, in the event that a particular selection simply does not work, she's the first to say so. There's no awkward period where you, the client, are afraid to mention that the chosen lamp is too tall for the space. She says it before you do and whisks it away with no cost to you. Not to worry, though, this kind "glitch" is the rarest exception and 99% of her choices are spot on, gasp-worthy perfect.
Tracy is quality-oriented. She loves and respects good materials that will last and you should too! She is creating investments for your home. So, the money you spend with Tracy will be worth every penny.
Tracy's "people" are all top-notch, without exception. She has curated the best of the best upholsterers, window-treatment fabricators, installers, painters, and wallpaper hangers in Central Virginia. And these wonderful people stand by their work to a fault. For example, when a drapery panel in our home was 1/2 inch "off" when installed, the fabricator drove to our home to pick up the panel, took it back to her studio, fixed it, and brought it back to our home within 4 hours. Above and beyond!
Finally, Tracy is a down-to-earth, genuine person. There is not a whiff of pretention or snobbishness. She is not above hauling boxes, lugging rugs, getting up on ladders to try wallpaper samples on a ceiling, steaming a new duvet herself. You get the picture! She has a marvelous sense of humor, which lubricates the good work she will do with you.
In the process, Tracy has become a dear friend. Our work is winding down now, only because we have run out of rooms to decorate. This is a sad thought, since it means we won't see her as often. Unless......oh, just one more thing!:)
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