Sturman & Co.

It was fabulous to work with Sturman & Co on the redesign of our downstairs space, including living room and family room/kitchen. Our aim was to make a kitchen and separate dining room into a brighter and more useable space, and to give the adjoining lounge a different, cosier feel. Bess took time to get to know us, our style and what we wanted to achieve from the space. She fully understood the need to balance beautiful design with the functions required of a busy family home, suggesting changes in the internal layout of the house to ensure the building works didn't just create a big open space, but created a well designed, individual and functional family home.

By using Bess, we avoided the need for architects, and although we managed the build ourselves, we were able to follow her detailed design and seek guidance on any element of the design, including kitchen design, cabinetry and furnishings, as well as benefiting from her excellent contacts in those areas. She responded quickly to all queries, always providing really helpful advice and often suggesting items we may never have thought of, but were completely 'us'.

Bess' experience and eye for design and detail were evident throughout. She gave us the confidence to make the right choices and we felt that we were in very safe hands. We now have a downstairs space that the whole family can enjoy and we absolutely love. Most importantly though, Bess' collaberative approach has meant that the finished design feels totally 'us' and reflective of our personalities and tastes, which I imagine is the mark of a great interior designer. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Having used Sturman & Co at our previous home and husbands office, Bess was the first call I made when I secured new business premises.
Giving the interior design brief to Bess at a busy time in my life - moving work and home meant that I knew I had someone that would make all the right decisions for me. Bess completed the work within the tight time frame and on budget so that it didn't impact on my business. Her interpretation of my requirements exceeded my expectations and has resulted as in an increase of student retention as my studio is so well thought out. Her professionalism extended to liaising with my landlord and decorator to ensure that the end result was harmonious and to everyones satisfaction. I cannot wait to work with Bess again on our next project. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I hired Bess to advise me when renovating my new house because I wanted to avoid expensive mistakes. It proved to be a wise investment.

Bess was careful to assess my requirements and taste at the outset and as a result her initial designs were an accurate reflection of the spaces I was comfortable with and excited to live in.

Bess supported me throughout the renovation project and the trade contacts she recommended were invaluable as I was new to the area. She was quick to respond to any queries I had - and I had several as the project progressed.

Bess put together colours and shapes in a way I would never have thought of on my own and they work brilliantly - allowing me to keep the furniture, paintings and objects that I loved from my old house and really enhancing them. She made new purchases easy - doing all the hard work for me, allowing me to select furnishings from sources I would never have found on my own, and encouraging me to keep furnishings I liked and target my spending on elements that made a real difference.

Bess has been professional throughout - reliable, punctual, supportive and tactful. I am so glad I chose her. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Bess transformed two rooms in our house in record time, on budget and with the most professional hassle free (for us) service. She spent a lot of time with us listening to our likes and dislikes, set us up on Houzz and Pinterest and asked us to get pinning so that she could build up an image of what we liked. This paid huge dividends as we loved the first mood boards she produced on sight. Both rooms were completely redone ( painted, new flooring, new curtains and she blinds and furniture, art work, lamps etc) within around 4 weeks of seeing the mood board. The works were carried out in a 2 week period when we were on holiday using Bess' recommended tradesmen under her supervision. We came home to a big reveal, the house had been carefully cleaned and there were flowers waiting from Bess. It was just the most amazing surprise. Best money we have ever spent on the house and looking forward to working with Bess on our kitchen next year. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We had Bess recommended by friends to help us with the design, layout and décor of a new extension to our 1930’s house. We were adding a large kitchen diner and really needed some help to agree the best layout and get some inspiration for the décor. We’d never used an interior designer before but it was brilliant. We are so pleased with the end result where we have a beautiful room that functions well and looks amazing. The process was fun where we spent time making sure the basic layout was going to function, agreed a detailed lighting plan and then narrowed down our tastes and style to what we wanted and would work well to get to a final design. As we were designing mid-build we needed some flexibility in timing which was no problem. Bess recommended colours, flooring and furniture from various sources and had great contacts with local suppliers that we would never have found ourselves. All in all it saved us loads of time and delivered a modern look and feel that we would never have created ourselves. We’d definitely recommend to others. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We've worked with Sturman and Co on a couple of projects for our house and cannot recommend them enough.

Our first project was to completely transform a dated lounge into a warm, comfortable space. This involved not just the overall design / feel of the room, but structural changes (removal of beams, false chimney breast, new stone fireplace) and bespoke cabinetry. To accommodate electronics a new lighting and electric scheme was required.

Our second was somewhat more challenging - creating a new kitchen / dining / living area, incorporating combining several new and existing areas of the house. Accommodating multiple different kinds of use, in one space, with a single coherent design was no small task, especially with construction work yet to start.

In both instances, Bess has been a joy to work with, developing smart thinking and design ideas we wouldn't stumble across in a thousand days staring at Google! Perhaps more importantly, Bess was able to (tactfully!) mediate differences in opinion between the pair of us and help us find a sensible way to balance everyone's requirements.

We chose to draw on Sturman and Co's expertise for the entirety of the design, which involved multiple consultations, room plans, schematics, examining sample materials and recommendations of specific items / tradespeople. The only downside of this is that by stretching our thinking we always ended up stretching the budget slightly - but to a much better overall result!

Highly recommended if your house is a home and you want to get the best of your time there. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Sturman & Co. have done a fantastic job of helping us work through our schemes for each room. They have suggested new ideas within our budget and they are a pleasure to work with. They covered every area and helped us with the smaller details of the project. They suggested new ways of doing things and alternative ways of pulling schemes together. They are wonderfully creative, very efficient and they made the whole process very enjoyable. After working with Bess at Sturman & Co. we feel really focused and clear about how our rooms will look and what we would like to achieve. We would thoroughly recommend them! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Sturman & Co have just completed the re-styling of our lounge and dining room and we are delighted with the results! They have completely transformed the rooms, which now look so much more inviting, make much better use of the space and just make us happier to be in them.

I knew the look and feel that I wanted for the rooms but didn't really know how to achieve it. Bess was brilliant at transforming my Pinterest boards of various rooms I liked into a scheme that would work in our home. She was really easy to work with and was great at presenting different options until we were happy with the design and furnishings (she has a great suppliers list and knowledge of different products available).

Sturman & Co provided great design ideas and just the right amount of guidance so we felt we definitely made the decisions on the project but just with expert design advice and a nudge in the right direction when appropriate!

The project management service Bess and her team provided was invaluable as they co-ordinated all the suppliers and, best of all, dealt with any problems that arose along the way so we had no headaches at all. They use first-rate suppliers, communicated well with these and with us so we were updated about any snags that they were sorting and ensured that everything was completed on schedule.

We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Sturman & Co’s services - they are very approachable, lovely to work with - very creative designers but also pragmatic and professional so the project was completed on time and on budget. More...

Reviewed on Houzz