Denise Judge, a Smith & Noble In Home Designer

I am rating Denise with a 1 star review because of poor communication, false information, and a below bare minimum effort on her part. The product from Smith and Noble is fantastic and their quality is the only reason we tolerated Denise. We scheduled an appointment with Denise for measurements. Only after Denise had arrived at our home to take measurements did she inform us that she does not take the measurements herself and would need to schedule a third party. The third party was scheduled for a different date and time, but Denise did not convey that information to us, leading to an unexpected visit. Upon having the measurements, Denise then would not quote the product to us until we had a third appointment at our home. After jumping through the hoops we finally got our quote and authorized the order (again because of the product, not Denise). A couple days after authorizing the order we called Denise and asked if we could make a change order (offering to pay additional for the changes). Denise told us that we had "forfeited our right to make changes in our paperwork" and recommended we keep the product as originally ordered and if we were still unhappy after having received it, we could then place a new second order for the product we wanted. After reading our paperwork very carefully and not finding anything anywhere that remotely suggested we had forfeited anything, we called S&N directly. The employee at S&N was clear that the change order was easily implemented and processed it without any problems. Denise is the only sales rep in our area thus forcing us to have worked with her, but she was a major deterrent to us using S&Ns product. We absolutely love our shades, and the only blemish on our experience was having met Denise.

Denise was great. I talked with her first on the telephone and then met her at my house. We looked at samples and chose the window coverings. She measured all the windows quickly and figured my invoice amount. When I agreed with the amount, I was able to pay immediately. The whole process went smoothly and Denise was professional, helpful and delightful!

Denise worked with us and our busy schedule. She met with us twice because the amount of information was so overwhelming at first that we needed some time to process! Denise is straight-forward, matter-of-fact and has many years of experience. She provided us with all the options, pros and cons to each route and helped us hone in our final decisions. We are very happy with the end result and we highly recommend the installation as it was very quick and easy.

My project turned out just as I'd imagined. Denise helped whittle down my options and her expertise was very helpful. Her installer Vernon was calm and patient. Couldn't be happier. Lead times from selection to install were reasonable... About 6 weeks total. Really good compared to contractors today... Most are 10 weeks plus before a job can be completed.

Denise was wonderful to work with! She provided the perfect solution for my three large view windows. So happy with my roller shades!

Denise knows her stuff, and she's very helpful. they have lots of options and it's well worth it to spend 45 minutes with her going through the variety of goods!

We didn’t like the approach. As we were discussing plans, she said, “I drove an hour to be here,” as if a signal to say that we were wasting her time or a form of pressuring; and “most people have it figured out before I get here.” I disagree with that statement, because it is nice to dynamically discuss options. Another thing that was said related to my ability to pay, as if justification to decide right away. I think she could use some filtering in deciding what is appropriate to say in front of people and what is not. It made us feel a negative pressure. We worked with her before several years ago and she had done an excellent job. Her approach…we expect a service approach not an approach that we were putting her out.

We were so exceptionally happy with the service and experience we received from Denise! She made you feel right at home and gave us confidence we were making a great decision! Looking forward to getting our curtains in just 3 WEEKS! Wendy

Great insight. Friends who have viewed her work were grateful I quelled my strong opinions and finally listened to Denise’s superior skill, taste, and vision. And I agree w them.

Denise not only took the stress out of the process; she made it fun! Don't know what I would have done without her expert eye and patience throughout the process. My windows look wonderful! I highly recommend her!

I can't recommend Denise enough. This is her 3rd time assisting us in custom window coverings for our home. She is passionate about her job and is extremely knowledgeable about color schemes and how certain fabrics may not be an appropriate fit in overall design. Denise is also extremely personable and almost intuitively knows what I am looking for in terms of aesthetic. Every window she has helped customize is unique and fits the decor of each of our living spaces. I look forward to working with her again on some other future projects!

I have waited 1 month before writing this review because I hesitate to write negative reviews about a business person. I understand everyone makes mistakes. It's unclear to me why the reviews here are so polarizing but unfortunately I did not have a good experience with Denise. She was rude, condescending, and disrespectful. We just bought a new home and have had many of contractors, landscapers, designers, artists, etc providing bids and sharing their expertise. When I contacted Smith & Noble, they suggested an in-home designer could do exactly this. Somehow this was not communicated to Denise because she made it very clear from the beginning that she was put out. It was actually quite shocking to meet someone who was so comfortable insulting me in my own home. Such odd behavior! Hopefully she was just having another "off" day. For the price, I hope for a level of consistent professionalism.