Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc.

I reached out to Kristin for assistance with my kitchen remodel. I didn’t know where to begin this daunting process. She provided suggestions and a few initial plans. Unfortunately, she was not in contact with a contractor while creating these plans. Her plans involved tearing down a wall that the majority of contractors we interviewed (including her recommended one), later said was unfeasible. It doesn’t matter how good her design is, if it can’t reasonably be executed, which was the opinion of the majority of contractors whom we interviewed.
Our next concern with Kristin was regarding the layout of her design plan. She initially located the oven in a place where the door couldn’t be opened with someone standing in front of it, due to a wall! My husband found this error, not the designer. It was subsequently changed. All the cabinet positions and kinds were eventually worked out ourselves, with the help of a cabinet company.
My biggest need for her services was regarding choices for colors, countertops, etc. This is reason I initially wanted the assistance of a designer, since I know these are not my strengths! I made that clear when I hired her. However, once it was clear that I was not buying cabinets through her preferred company, she became distant and hard to reach. When I emailed for color and style advice, she didn’t respond for 5 days. Previously she responded immediately. After that response, I asked additional questions. I never got further responses, just a bill.
I am frustrated that I paid $ 1500. In the end, all I received an initial vision, and a rough blueprint for the city and our chosen contractors. I did not get the advice or the services that I expected as part of our business relationship.
As an update– I voiced these concerns to her. She was very defensive in her responses. She responded that she provided me with 4 plans, one of which did not involve structural changes. She is correct; 75% of them involved structural changes that were not feasible– 1 did not involve structural changes. For my second concern, she responded that she did not remember this error, but that if the oven was in the doorway and we had to get items from the oven while standing on the side of the oven, not the front, it shouldn’t be a significant issue since that can be done. Does anyone who reads this review have an oven that you can’t stand in front of when open? Please correct me if I am wrong… For my last concern, she stated both that emails can get lost in her in basket, and she wasn’t really obligated to answer them anyways since it was not in her contract. However, that actually is not correct via the wording of her contract which stated additional work would be charged an hourly fee. Her contract did not say additional work/​questions would be ignored. Seems oddly coincidental that she did not respond several times after it was clear I would not buy cabinets from her. She always responded within hours on other occasions. I would not use her again or recommend her. I regret working with her.

Kristin and her team are the best! I have been working with Kristin for over 3 years and she has made my house into a beautiful home to enjoy and share. Our house was 4 years old when we bought it, and while we loved the bones of it, there were some finishes we didn’t love. I also had little to no vision for furnishing the space (we came from a much smaller, older home). Kristin first helped with our kitchen. She has amazing design sense, which of course, I would expect, but she is also very conscious of budget and helping people realize what they REALLY need. Our kitchen came out amazing, so of course we used KPI for our living and dining room.
For this project, we were helped by Melissa Tase of KPI. Again, their services were impeccable. They understood that we have two small boys and that our space needed to be livable, as well as lovely. I can’t tell you how many compliments we get on our living and dining and kitchen. If you want to see them, check out KPI’s website and look at the Contemporary Coastal Living and Dining Room under Portfolio.
We are now redoing our son’s room and family room and will be starting on our basement this summer. Who are we using? Kristin Petro, of course. We really would only trust KPI with our design projects. She just gets it and gets us.
And in reference to other comments, Kristin ALWAYS encourages us to get estimates from our own contractors. Of course she trusts her’s the most because she works with them the most so she knows their workmanship is top notch, but she’s totally open to other options and working with you to come to a plan that works for everyone.
Thanks, KPI. You’ve made my home my favorite place to be. Can’t wait to see what great things are to come.

I have hired Petro Interiors several times, from color consultations to kitchen and bathroom redesign. I have always found them to be professional, accessible and excellent at creating beautiful spaces. I will continue to hire Petro Interiors for all my design needs. I receive many complements on the work they have done in my home!

Kristin and her team helped me rehab/​gut my kitchen and two bathrooms. She immediately understood my vision for my 100+ year old victorian and transformed my space into my dream. She brought her experience, relationships, and straight up talent to the table. Things I was unsure of or doubted turned out to be the best decisions made and if anything went awry, she was the first one to make sure they were corrected. I will be hiring her again in the near future and would highly recommend you do the same.

It was a real pleasure working with Kristin on interior design for our home. She is not only very talented, but also very professional and seems to have endless supply of patience and good humor. She was very generous with her time, always ahead of schedule and very thorough in all aspects. At times the sheer scope of the project was overwhelming for us, but Kristin had everything written down and followed up on. She was a real guidance, and so diplomatic! She has also established very solid relationships with all the suppliers and followed up with them, taking the burden off our shoulders. Kristin has a great eye for color and detail. We live in a historic neighborhood (Oak Park area), and she was very conscious or our desire to reflect the Arts and Crafts traditions in our home design. She works throughout the western suburbs and beyond. I just can’t recommend her highly enough. A true professional!