Studio Bartleby

I recently worked with Studio Bartleby for a second time — this time on a bigger project — a complete renovation of our apartment. It went incredibly smoothly and we are thrilled with the results. Every decision Mary made from the floors, to the fixtures and appliances, to the dimensions of the new construction were perfect. After living here for a few weeks, Im appreciating all of the suggestions that she made (like bumping out a wall in the kitchen so we would have a little nook to hide aprons and such). Mary is honest and patient and had our best interests at heart. Even our contractor kept on remarking that she was one of the best and knowledgeable designers he has worked with.

Prior to finding Studio Bartleby, I contacted several full service interior design companies and found the process confusing and convoluted. No one seemed to have a straightforward answer to the renovation work that I needed done. Then, I read a NYT article, featuring Studio Bartleby’s work and I loved what was done in the article, so I contacted them. I found Studio Bartleby to be one of the more professional, knowledgeable and responsive firms. Mary, the owner, was patient, honest and helpful with my questions. As we worked through the initial estimate, they did a good job of balancing budget and timeline without sacrificing quality of work. While I was sometimes frustrated that the process was longer and more costly than originally imagined, Mary worked with me to help me understand the trade-​offs and make sound choices. She was also great about updating me on changes and keeping me in the loop as the project progressed. I hate making tiny detailed decisions and Mary handled all of those for me while keeping true to my overall budget. I have recommended Studio Bartleby to friends who have asked and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again!

Unfortunately, we were left incredibly disappointed and upset by the work done by Studio Bartleby. A lot of wasted time and money was spent on items such as flimsy curtains, a fabric bedroom headboard and a wooden console that were not up to basic retail, let alone custom design standards. Our pieces have either chipped too easily or not performed their basic function (the custom curtains were ill fitting and droopy, the custom console didn’t match our apt palette and had little storage). Were we not paying the designer by the hour we would have sent all this stuff back to be remade. When we did complain about our headboard we were told the company would accept that return but couldn’t absorb any other costs because of its size. We should have terminated the relationship far earlier than we did. Lesson learned — we now know there are many better options out there. Especially for the fees that we were charged. One of the biggest mistakes we’ve ever made.