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When we first moved into our new home, I was a bit overwhelmed with decorating.
I was especially overwhelmed by our Great Room. This room is the first thing people see when they enter the front door, and is half dining room, half living room, so I wanted it to be well done. Of course, I had my fair share of Pinterest boards brimming with inspiration, but I simply didn’t know where to start. To say I felt overwhelmed was an understatement.
Enter Havenly.
If you’re not familiar, Havenly is an online interior design service. I got to take a style quiz, select my own designer, and even got the chance to get on the phone with her to explain the overall design aesthetic I was seeking, and the significance of the furniture we were planning to keep that she would need to incorporate in the final designs (more on that later!). Everything was conducted online, which was a huge plus for me; it didn’t feel as high-pressure, and frankly, the price was right.
If you’re interested in the Havenly experience, read on…I’ll give you my honest review of the process I went through. And for the record, I have no ties with Havenly. (Tl;dr: I would do it all again in a heartbeat…it was so worth it!)
Getting Started
So how’d I arrive on Havenly? I started with some research, as there are a few online interior design companies out there. After reading reviews and seeing the sample designs, I felt that Havenly was a great fit for my needs. Mini packages start at $79, but I upgraded to the Full package, which starts at $129. The difference that tipped the scale for me? With the Full package, you get a 2D room rendering of your final space, which was perfect for me and my needs.
If you’re interested in signing up, this referral code is good for $50 off the Full package or $20 off the Mini. Take it or leave it, but either way, read on to see how our Great Room was transformed!
I began with my style quiz, which was an easy and welcoming way to start the process. In results that were surprising to exactly no one (lol), my main design style was Modern Farmhouse. My sub-styles included a fair dose of Midcentury Modern, Bohemian, and Coastal. I told myself that yes, that checked out, and on I went.
After a couple more questions, I was matched with a handful of designers. I was able to get a feel of their design style through past projects and portfolio links. I ended up going with a designer named Kelly, as I was impressed with the hundreds of Havenly projects she had under her belt. Of course since Kelly is so good, I had to wait a couple weeks until her schedule freed up, but I was okay with that! I filled out a profile with information to help get Kelly started, then sat back to wait for the magic to happen.
Working With The Designer
When the day finally came that Kelly’s schedule opened up, I was ecstatic! Over the next few days, Kelly and I had a few chats online, and I was even able to jump on the phone with her, too. I sent her some pictures of our space, including a dining set that I wanted her to incorporate into the designs. You see, the dining set belonged to Paul’s grandparents, who both passed away recently. The set contains a gorgeous table, six cane-backed chairs, a hutch, and a fold-out buffet. The family memories shared around this dining set makes it pretty sentimental to Paul’s family.
It’s a very well made set, but since it is from the 1970s, it’s a little dated compared to the style we were going for. I was willing to do the work to update the set to more of a Modern Farmhouse vibe, but needed the creative confidence and inspiration to get the job done. Kelly took this challenge on without batting an eye and wrapped it into her overall design plans.
In a few days, Kelly began by giving me some idea boards to react to, which was fun. After I gave her some feedback, she came back with an initial concept, which I could again react to. She took this all into account and came back with the final design, along with a clickable shopping list that I could buy as much from as I chose. To say I was in a permanent state of heart-eye emojis would be 100% accurate. I couldn’t believe the care and thought that had gone into the designs. Kelly even gave me suggestions on how to update the dining room set, by painting it white, removing the glass hutch doors, and adding black hardware.
The Final Result
So here’s how the room came out after we analyzed Kelly’s suggestions and selected what to buy. We couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out!
The before and after of our living space…
And the before and after of our dining space…
And some more closeups of our new space:
Candle holder: a Marshalls find…similar candle holder here & here | Candle (smells so good!) | Tobacco baskets, also a Marshalls find…similar tobacco baskets here
Similar pillows: colorblocked | braided | lumbar | zigzag | Coasters | Faux sheepskin throw | Side table | Lamp
Grey chairs | Small blue ottoman | Similar rugs: blue patterned | blue & white tassel
An Honest Review of Working with Havenly
So now that everything is said and done, what did we really think of working with Havenly? Check out our pros and cons list below.
The pros
Kelly was wonderful to work with — she was personable and I can’t wait to work with her again…our master bedroom is next!
The customer service is top-notch. Any time I had a question about upgrading my package or a return, there was an army of people ready to help.
The 2D room rendering and the shopping list are available to me for life. We didn’t buy every single thing that Kelly suggested, so the fact that we can always go back in to add a little more to the room is great.
They use well-known and highly-regarded companies to source their products from. On top of that, if you find a coupon code for one of the companies you can apply it through Havenly. For example, I was able to apply a West Elm coupon code when ordering the love seat through Havenly (because when isn't West Elm having a sale, right?!). Plus, everything I ordered through Havenly meant a well-deserved commission for Kelly!
The cons
The biggest con? Havenly is not a tech company, so I had to be understanding in some respects. For example, I found some limitations in the app, but I found if I went to their website instead, I was able to get what I needed (or vice versa).
We had a rug that just didn’t fit in our space, so I would recommend double measuring everything before purchasing. I still have that rug in my basement because taking it to the post office to return it (on my own dime) seemed like a lot of work. No big deal, I’m sure I’ll find another use for it, but lesson learned. Returns are company by company, not really a reflection on Havenly, by the way.
I would do your homework before ordering certain pieces, like overhead light fixtures. We hired someone to put our light fixture in for us because it ended up being a little more advanced that we thought, which was fine, but was not an additional expense we were expecting.
Like I mentioned above, this is an interior design company, and not a tech company. There were a couple of items that I couldn’t track a shipment from my order on very easily, which was a minor inconvenience, and in the end, worked out fine. If I had really found a problem, I’m sure I could have contacted customer service. Just know that this isn’t Amazon, and you won’t be getting clear shipping confirmations on everything…again, not necessarily Havenly’s fault, but something to know going in.
Overall, I had a lovely experience working with Havenly to create the Great Room we wanted. It was nice knowing that everything I was purchasing for this blank slate of a room came with the recommendation of a trained interior designer. It gave me the confidence knowing that I would be purchasing the right thing the first time. If you’re interested in using Havenly yourself, feel free to use my referral code for some savings! If you’ve got any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments!
I’ll likely continue to do write-ups about some of the diy updates that I did to this room, so stay tuned!