FIORE HOME (Fiore Interiors LLC))

"I purchased an amazing piece of furniture (an iron and marble bookshelf) from Vanessa for my office. She is super knowledgeable about the product lines she represents and works with top-tier manufacturers, which I appreciate. I highly recommend using her and her company if you like stylish and high quality pieces for your home."

"Vanessa is a gem! I used her services for a virtual design consultation on my kitchen and master bathroom renovation. She has an eye for re-inventing a space and gave me multiple ideas to discuss with my contractor. Would highly recommend Fiore Interiors and her services. The online shop is also great. They have super cute jewelry and candles."

"Vanessa has a great eye and has created some beautiful spaces, but our experience was that she did not communicate well and she repeatedly missed self-imposed deadlines. When we asked questions, she quit via e-mail because we didn't understand and trust her design process rather than explaining it to us. This put us even further behind schedule while we tried to figure out whether we could make anything out of her idea boards and fabric samples or needed to start over three months after we'd signed the contract. She may still be a wonderful designer for you to work with; there were underlying factors like the fact that she was relocating her office at the same time she was working on our project and that we had our initial meeting several months before she began design work. The past few years have had a lot of extra challenges for designers who face manufacturing delays, shortage of labor issues that impact finding contractors for installations etc., and the strain from living through the pandemic in general. Vanessa demonstrated a lot of knowledge when it came to products and materials and ordering something from her store would likely be a great experience. Addition to review Sept 2022 (above is original) In response to Vanessa's reply, the miscommunication I mentioned is clearly evident. We were not upset about a custom woodworker rescheduling, we were worried about having a custom woodworker spending time measuring the space for built in cushioned seating when we hadn't decided on a layout and weren't sure we wanted built-ins in the space at all. We thought based on our consultation in the space in September that Vanessa was going to come up with some rough floor plan ideas and we would choose one before proceeding with detailed design work. Miscommunication - we didn't understand her process, and then we were worried that she was using Tim Hill's time to measure for custom items (specifically a built in cushioned seating area) for a floor plan we might not even choose - it felt uncomfortable to have him dedicate time to it, and like it wasn't the best use of Vanessa's design time since the project was behind schedule. We had been told in September that we could work together in October and order items by the end of October, and November 2nd I received an e-mail promising we would have designs soon. We had been anticipating that there would be more collaboration along the way. I realize now that it was frustrating to Vanessa to have us need to see layouts that wouldn't work for ourselves so we could let go of an original idea we had for the space, we were shocked that she would leave a project because our desire to really understand something was seen as micromanaging. "Forcing us to redraw the floor plan on a zoom call" involved us asking if she could use the computer program to slide a piece of furniture to a different location in the 3D model, a process that took seconds, so we could understand better for ourselves why she wasn't recommending a layout we had initially discussed as possible when we met together in the space in September. In terms of the table, we never, ever wanted anyone to carry a huge table up seven flights of stairs. This is the real reason I'm updating my review, having finally noticed the response naming us in full and falsely accusing us of this behavior. We definitely did want a large table for family gatherings, an extension table that fit in the elevator was very much discussed. Anyone who knows us knows we would never, ever want or expect anyone to carry a giant piece of furniture up seven flights of stairs. I tried to be as positive as possible while sharing our experience, because I know Vanessa designs beautiful spaces and might be a great designer for someone else. Someone with a flexible timeline who does not want to collaborate but hopes to be presented with a cohesive plan might still be a good fit."

"It is a pleasure to collaborate with Vanessa on home interior design projects. We put our heads together and always come up with something awesome and inspired! The first photo is from a recent Portland ME West End project. The owner wanted a wall of bookcases for their library to match the historic casework of their home. The other two are from an East End new construction condo penthouse. Vanessa has range in her designs to suit the needs of any homeowner. Always a treat to work with!"

"Vanessa is an absolute joy to do business with. As a designer I have purchased countless pieces from her, and the attention to detail and customer service that she and her team provide is top notch. Recently I sent a client in to her store to grab some last-minute items in person for a new home purchase, and she took such great care of him. He called me the minute he left to thank me for sending him there. I wish I could buy everything through Fiore!"