Napoleon At Home

I have used Napoleon At Home to stage a number of my listings over the last few years. Maria Caldwell has a great eye and a good sense for how to bring out the best in each home she stages. She knows that first impressions are critical and has knocked it out of the ball park for me a number of times! There is no question that my clients have received higher prices and multiple offers because of how great Maria and her team at Napoleon at Home have made their home look and feel. There are a number of stagers in the market today who have used a «Copy Cat» approach to try to capture the elegant understated style that Maria has created – her signature look. As they say, imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery! Maria and her team at Napoleon at Home are on my short list of Must Use providers :-)

We used Napoleon at Home to stage our condo when it was up for sale. Our real estate agent recommended Maria (the owner), and she did not disappoint. She surveyed the property and immediately had a plan for creating an inviting, dramatic, yet neutral space. The whole concept of staging is to create an environment that will appeal to a wide variety of people and allow them to project their lifestyle onto it. Anything too personal or «specific» is avoided. Maria recommended that the condo be repainted and named the exact colors and paint brand that should be used for each room. These colors worked perfectly with the furniture and décor she provided. During the open houses that we held, nearly all the visitors commented on how beautiful the place looked. We had a contract on the condo 10 days after it was placed on the market. Maria’s services are highly recommended.

I’ve worked with Maria and Napoleon at Home for over 8 years. I was introduced to her when she had a store in Mountain View. Her shop had the most unique and beautiful items and I was excited when she started to offer design services. Since that time I have worked with Maria on a number of projects throughout my home. Maria has always been extremely professional, and the results have been amazing.
Maria has represented several vendors for me (Oly, Cisco, Chelsea Designs, Tara Shaw. etc). These pieces are not always stocked like items at a Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn. However, Maria always sets accurate expectations on when the pieces will arrive and works directly with the vendors to insure everything goes smoothly. More than 50% of my pieces came almost immediately and pieces that took longer were always worth the wait for their unique finishes. If we ever had a problem with a vendors piece, Maria worked with them to resolve the issue immediately.
Maria and her team are extremely professional. When she is in your home, she is focused and dedicated to getting every project perfect. She has a wonderful eye for design and can accomplish amazing things with varied budgets. She leverages an excellent network of local resources (upholstery people, painters, window covering etc), and the results speak for themselves. I’m happy every time I walk through the door.
I have recommended Maria with great success to other friends and know she is one of the top designers in the Bay Area.

I should have listened to my instincts about giving this Maria Caldwell a check for over $ 10K for my order at a dusty park and ride in Palo Alto … where she was over 15 minutes late. Watch out for this business outfit. In my experience, her business practices are suspect. I asked for an order form to the manufacturer, a receipt of the money I had just given her. but was told that is not their business practices. She claimed that her «sales order» is what is a valid receipt… this was not signed by her nor me. We have been talking to a lawyer who says we have grounds for litigation.
We are still waiting on pieces of furniture from Oly and it has been over a year since we put in the order. Basically there has been a problem with every piece of furniture we order. It appears to me that she takes pieces of furniture in her «staged» furniture business and reupholsters them and charges full price for her «design» business. This happened with my Sophie chair from Oly… for which I am still waiting on. She actually delivered the chair I saw in her studio with the finish that I did not like. And then tried to deny it when I called her on it. This happened to my Jonathon Round table. The finish that came was different from finish I agreed on.
I believe she did this with my Frederico chairs from Cisco also. First it was. the fabric you choose is no longer available. Then when it came, it was unfinished without tubing and nail heads. When I look under the chair the finishing looks like it was reupholstered. This fabric thing also happened to another client of hers. Prices were not adjusted for the lower grade fabrics in either case. My $ 5K chairs look like a flea market make over. Maybe she thinks her clients have no eye for design and quality? She squeezes every penny where possible.
When it would be time to make another payment, she would inevitably give a higher, sometimes double of what she had said before that was owed. So if you weren’t keeping track, there is another few hundred bucks in her pocket.
So watch out and make sure you get sales orders to the manufacturers, don’t assume she will send you an email of the things you picked out with the options you had in mind. Get EVERYTHING in writing.