Designed Smart - Laila Ferri Johnson

Laila helped us with designs for a new downstairs bathroom with shower, a utility room conversion from a powder room and a complete remodel and enlargement of the upstairs master bathroom. She listened and incorporated our ideas while including design elements we would not have considered without her expertise. The final design documents made an easy transition to construction stage.

Laila was highly recommended to us. She is a fantastic designer and we couldn't be more pleased. We had a very narrow galley kitchen and wanted more cabinets and counter space with extra room to move around. Laila listened to what we wanted and came up with a very creative design to give us what we needed for our new kitchen. She thought outside of the box and made suggestions we would have never considered or have even been suggested to us before. She communicated with us through out the whole process and provided continually updates. She has an eagle eye for detail that we have never experienced before and somehow without expanding the existing walls, she enlarged our narrow galley kitchen into something we had previously could only have imagined. We now have the prefect kitchen of our dreams.

Laila worked with us through a complete renovation of both our master bath and kitchen. I presented a bit of a challenge for her because I knew exactly what I wanted and presented her with complete sketches of precisely what I wanted where. I needed someone to pull the pieces together and that’s exactly what Laila did. She made suggestions so the designs could actually work and she brought countless samples to the house and took me to showrooms guiding my choices along the way. She told me when something I wanted wouldn’t work and why, but she always listened to my ideas and deferred to my choices when they were workable. The end results are 2 amazing rooms that have gotten countless raves from all who have seen them. They are “us” all the way and truly reflect our ideas and tastes, but have come together beautifully thanks to Laila’s patient and professional guidance. We definitely give her the highest recommendation!

Laila helped us to redesign our entire downstairs floor. She helped us to realize an incredible vision. We moved walls and created entirely new spaces, updating a once tired floor plan into one that is modern and very functional. Laila had great suggestions at every juncture of the project and helped to keep us on track- wether that meant picking new tile late one weekend afternoon when our first choice had sold out or responding to emails in a prompt and professional manner. Laila always made us feel supported during this process and made wonderful design choices with our ideas in mind. I would not hesitate to recommend Laila and we feel very lucky to have been able to work with such a design genius!

Laila and her team were absolutely wonderful to work with. Professional, competent and creative, they made our kitchen remodel so much less stressful. They went out of their way to help during some unforeseen circumstances (out of their control) which made all the difference in the world to us. We are SO happy with the result - our kitchen looks fantastic and everything they suggested has turned out to be exactly right for us. We can't recommend them highly enough!

Laila was great to work with, even through some unfortunate delays out of her control. She was resourceful and focused on finding solutions and working with vendors to keep things moving. She was great with communication and worked really well with the contractor performing the renovation. I would highly recommend.

I highly recommend Designed Smart. Laila, the design manager is incredibly knowledgeable and encouraging. I had a vision of what I wanted my bathroom to look like. She worked with me to make it a reality. Some of the things I wanted were unusual and kind of tricky, but she made it happen! Anytime I had a question or concern she was very responsive and happy to answer my questions. Jacob was the contractor, Laila hired to do the work. He treated my home as if it were his own. He vacuumed and cleaned up every evening I couldn't even tell he had been there. I completely trust him and enjoyed having him in my home. I love my new bathroom! And I'm so thankful I put my trust in Laila!

Lila was great to work with. She walked me through my bathroom remodel and the results were more than I could have hoped for. She was responsive to my questions. The contractors professional and qualified.

Lila is the best. She is very creative and pushes you to explore new ideas. She really listens to you and helps you realize the perfect creation and at your price point. Her design is stunning and we have been asked to consider our new kitchen as an applicant for a home tour by our contractor. Lila exceeded our expectations in design and service.

We worked with Lila to remodel our master bath. She had a great sense of style and was able to see our vision and help bring it to reality. She worked with several different vendors to get the custom pieces we needed and provided excellent communication at every phase of the planning. The end result was amazing and we really appreciated Lila’s contributions. Highly recommend!

Lila designed for our 1930s kitchen remodel and we're thrilled: it's the favorite part of our house now! She took care of designing layout, materials, colors, hardware, and finding appliances. When we came into the project we already had layout and materials in mind, but she steered us towards a design that we ended up liking even more and it still incorporated the things that really mattered to us. I also liked Lila's energy and how she'd keep meetings pleasant and moving. We both work 9-5 jobs so that made a difference when we'd see her in the evenings!

2-27-2018 Lila was the Lowe’s project lead and main customer focal point for our bathroom remodel. I had filled out a questionnaire on Lowe’s website, and Lila followed-up with a phone call to schedule an appointment to discuss. At the in-store appointment, it was immediately clear that she understood all aspects of remodeling, both labor and material (she has done some remodeling on her own home, and showed me photos to give me ideas for tile choices). I had never done a bathroom remodel and was very uncertain about what to do. Lila was pleasant and patient, and based on photos of the bathroom was able to make all kinds of sensible suggestions even prior to the in-home consultation, which made the project much less intimidating. I already had multiple bids for the bathroom remodel, but choose Lowe's primarily because of Lila. As we looked at various material options for the bathroom in the Lowes store, she would flag down her various colleagues for additional information--it was clear that she had a great relationship with the people that she worked with, including the contractors that were doing the actual work (who were terrific). Lila was active during the entire remodel. She and her team were organized, conscientious, and polite. Lila also did a number of things that were above and beyond what you’d expect. For example, I had chosen a paint color for the walls based on those small samples. Just before the painter started on the walls, Lila called and said that she didn’t think the particular shade of blue I chose was something that I would like. So, she had the painter do a wall test and she was absolutely correct—it would have been a poor choice as it clashed with other chosen materials, and simply didn’t look right. So, between Lila, the painter, and myself, we chose a different blue hue that matches everything perfectly. This was a huge catch. This was the most positive experience I’ve ever had for any kind of home remodeling—we will return to Lila for future projects. Lila is friendly, professional, knowledgeable, conscientious, and a pleasure to work with.

Lila did a great job. She was responsive and communicative. Lila tracked down hard to find things and kept my vision in mind.

Lila is amazing! She was able to understand our requirements and taste very quickly. She truly owned our project and drove it like a champ. At the same time, she was a team player and took all our feedback and wish lists. She was passionate and went beyond her scope to deliver. I would recommend her to anyone looking to design and creat/remodel a home space.