Fredman Design Group

I totally agree with Megan. Susan Fredman group is quick to present ideas and take a large retainer but they are very poor when it comes to returning phone calls and or follow up. They justify spending your retainer quickly. I spent multiple months chasing them down and leaving several messages for the designer as well as Susan herself. She never bothered to return my call. Do your homework. There are plenty of other designers out there who are just as capable!

I would not recommend Susan Fredman Design Group. At the onset, they’re very attentive and come to the table with neat/​creative ideas. We started to see major flaws once we had already put in a significant investment. The biggest issues were with communication and transparency. We felt misled on several fronts. Here are a few examples:
— We had our entire home painted. Our designers had us pick from Benjamin Moore colors. The painter completed work while we were away on vacation. When we got home, we found Behr cans hidden in closets. When we confronted Fredman (and they finally got back to us after several emails), they said Behr was «better» for our walls. It’s also half the price, though I’m sure we didn’t realize those cost savings.
— We have a great deal of trim in our home and gave Fredman the green light to have the painter repaint it, only to find after the work had been completed their estimate only covered «ceiling trim» and not baseboards, door trims, etc. So we paid a large fee and only ¹⁄₃ of our trim was addressed.
— They were not forthcoming about where furniture was sourced or brand names. When we did some digging, we were able to find many of the pieces for the same or slightly higher prices. When a large part of the value of working with a designer is supposed to be in discounts that come through, this was very disappointing.
These are only a few examples; there are many more. If you do decide to work with Fredman, I’d encourage you to get EVERYTHING in writing. Take nothing for granted or as «obvious» or you will be caught by surprise as they cut corners and try to make a larger margin for themselves.
I will say that, in general, I love what they did to our house (hence they’re getting two stars instead of one). But the poor communication, transparency and general lack of client service did not make it worth it.