Bleu Leman Design

Dee is fantastic. She not only has an outstanding sense of style (expected), she is FAST and can multitask a project like nobody's business. I've never been stumped putting a living space together, but this small house just about did me in. Dee swept in and within three hours had placed every item that needed to be hung on the walls in almost every room, including a small gallery wall of mirrors; she'd approved and amended my plan for floor-to-ceiling dining room bookshelves for our boxes of homeless books after listening to what I like, how we live and then looking at images I'd collected; styled multiple areas; found a creative home for another pile of beloved art books; helped me choose which pieces of furniture had to go for lack of room and moved other pieces around to VASTLY improve the functionality (and look) of the living room; given me links to a slew of interesting (and affordable) items from towel hooks to dining room chairs to multi-purpose stools/side tables to solve more functionality problems. We found fantastic solutions for hanging juggling clubs (three brass rabbit heads with hanging twine), storing yoga mats, placing what-the-heck-do-I-do-with-this-when-I-walk-in-the-door items (large basket on an old inlaid wood church pew), where to put a child's coats (my childhood totem pole), and so on. There's more I'm not listing. She went with my moving brain, sweeping from room to room and area to area in a completely non-linear fashion because that's where my attention was going, never missing a beat, never getting overwhelmed by the mass of it. She kept up with me at every step, and when she left the house was transformed: beautifully designed, interesting and in line with our style and lives, and in our budget. Update: I had Dee back. We reconfigured my child's room (child loves it), and began to consider the black sheep room of the house. She'll be back again to finish that up. I can only imagine what she can do with permission to go off with a hardy budget. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Dee is professional, knows all the best ways to meet your budget and still get the style and quality you want. She can meet deadlines and budgets. She has a wonderful style, but really takes the time and figures out your style. It was a really transformative experience working with Dee. I have the home I always dreamed of. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Dee is great to work with ! She works with your style, budget, and timeline. Dee has a great eye and understands the importance of integrating existing family heirlooms with new furniture. We typically do not engage designers and Dee helped us to understand the process and was very patient with us through-out. We are extremely happy with her design services and would highly recommend Bleu Leman Design. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I had such a wonderful experience working with bleu leman design. Diane listened to what I wanted and was able to bridge the gap between what I had existing in our home versus what I really wanted. She presented amazing options and helped me make my home something I am excited to walk into. She was respectful of my budget and was so on point with deciding on where to splurge and where to find a bargain that fit in seamlessly. She designed our dining room & outdoor patio and helped style and finish our family room, living room hallway, as well as paint color for our kitchen. She will absolutely be the first one I call when it's time to do our bedroom! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Cecilia Gunning Interior Design contracted Plum Designs and Blinds to provide window treatments throughout the home of a newly renovated home that we designed for a client. Plum also provided a custom bench cushion for the entry. Valerie Akcam, the owner of Plum Designs and Blinds, and her installer were both very customer service-oriented. She took the time to meet with the client and myself a few times to understand what we wanted. She was very knowledgeable about products and solutions available, and was able to provide exactly what the client wanted for a reasonable cost. The window treatments and the bench cushion, as well as the installation, are beautiful. I highly recommend Plum Designs and Blinds. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I highly recommend Diane Leifer (Dee) of Bleu Leman Design. After several attempts to decorate on my own, I accepted that my design skills and creativity were not my strong suit and contacted Diane. Her trained eye and attuned ears contributed to a fun, productive working relationship. She's got an intuitive knack for color and room arrangements and the pieces she suggested for purchase added flair to the spaces without making them showy. The local design specialists she works with are terrific (and if I ever move I'll have to figure out how to bring the beautiful built-in cabinets and decorative floors with me.) If you want to reduce stress and add beauty to your life, contact Diane. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to begin a private psychotherapy practice in Berkeley. I found the perfect office in the perfect location, but then had NO idea where to begin in terms of decorating it. I found Diane of Bleu Leman Design on a Google search, and it was the best thing that could've happened for my new business. She worked with me from the very beginning to figure out what my style is, what kind of experience I wanted my clients to have, what colors and textures I was going for. We ended up doing the whole thing quite collaboratively, but then she would just make some really big decisions for me (e.g., as I became overwhelmed with the thousands of colors to choose from, she just handed me a swatch for the wall color, and had me go ahead and buy it).

Diane is professional, passionate, caring, fun, and extremely talented. My clients, friends, subletters, and colleagues all love the space she helped create. I am so grateful! I would recommend her for any design needs. Her website photos show her simple, beautiful, clean, and lively style. And she's affordable, too! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I have had the pleasure of working with Diane on several projects, and it is such a pleasure every time! She has an amazing eye for design, is enthusiastic about each project, keeps things moving along very efficiently ( in keeping with her Swiss genes :-) ), is very professional, and the result is always stunning! As a professional in the design world I get to work with a lot of designers and vendors, and I am always so pleased to work with Diane every chance I get. Hire her, you won't regret it!! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I'm remodeling a house and Dee picked all the wall colors for me and it made the house look fantastic. It looks better than I could have imagined. She also designed my closets and furniture layout among other things and I couldn't be happier. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Bleu Leman's Dee Leifer is a truly exceptional interior designer. Maybe it is because of her european perspective, but her sense for colors and style is simply impeccable. Upon starting my living room and basement projects, I was wearily optimistic that I could find someone who would help me create a space in my home that was exactly what I envisioned. Dee did just that. After our consultations, she would come back to me with design options that had just the right amount of variation, but were all spot on. I have worked with other designers before with relative satisfaction but was not happy enough to return to them for future projects. I will definitely use Dee for my future projects. Dee is extremely warm-hearted and creative and she made the design process fun and relatively easy.  She responds to emails and other forms of communication promptly and effectively.  Her knowledge of the best stores, manufacturers and styles for my vision and budget ended up saving me a lot of money and headaches in the long run. I highly recommend her. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

My wife and I engage Dee to help us decorate our living room and entry way.   She did a *fantastic* job.   She not only has a great design sense but also listened and observed intently to understand our style.   We wound up with rooms that had accents, colors and textures that we never would have arrived at but at the same time seem like "ours".  In addition to her excellent design sense she is also amazingly organized, efficient and delivers the highest level of service (I worked in the service sector for years - she's really, really good).   She has a great network of professionals that she can draw upon or refer to and she turns from being a sole proprietor with that personal touch to being a one stop shop for everything you may need.   If that all wasn't enough she was also very sensitive to our checkbook and when we felt like we needed to watch the bottom line she was unhesitatingly helpful, didn't miss a beat and came up with great solutions that kept us in our budget.  We're going to continue working with her and if you need design help you are making a mistake if you don't talk to her. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

As an interior designer working in the East Bay, I have collaborated with Plum Designs on countless projects. The process is always positive and enjoyable and the result always a success. Valerie is professional, meticulous, reliable and a pleasure to work with. She has a great sense of style and a valuable opinion; I always enjoy having her meet my clients and work with me on selecting the right style of window covering.
Plum Designs and Blinds is a key element of my interior design services. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

It was easy to set up an appointment with Valerie and she was very timely. She was also timely with a price quote and accurate with timing the product's arrival. Installation scheduling is prompt. And having worked with Plum Designs and Blinds before, I feel I can trust that installation will be as professional as the rest of the experience. Perfection! My friends who have worked with Plum Designs and Blinds concur. : )
Valerie makes selecting the right window treatment easy and pleasurable! It is an art form the way she smoothly took into account the many details to respond to my personal needs in the setting I have. I am so very happy the way that Valerie helped me pull together the different window types in my home to function well with the sunlight, make the most of beautiful views, and create an eye pleasing flow in an open floor plan. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I highly recommend Diane Leifer (Dee) of Bleu Leman Design. After several attempts to decorate on my own, I accepted that my design skills and creativity were not my strong suit and so contacted Diane. Her trained eye and attuned ears(!) contributed to a fun, productive working relationship that yielded wonderful results. She's got a terrific knack for color and room arrangements and her suggested pieces added flair to the spaces but steered them clear of showy. She's well connected to local design specialists. (I now have a beautiful built-in cabinet and decorative floor, which if I ever leave, I'll have to figure out how to bring them with me.) If you want to reduce stress and add beauty to your life, contact Diane. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I have had the pleasure of working with Diane on several projects, and it is such a pleasure every time! She has an amazing eye for design, is enthusiastic about each project, keeps things moving along very efficiently ( in keeping with her Swiss genes  :-) ), is very professional, and the result is always stunning! As a professional in the design world I get to work with a lot of designers and vendors, and I am always so pleased to work with Diane every chance I get. Hire her, you won't regret it!! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to begin a private psychotherapy practice in Berkeley. I found the perfect office in the perfect location, but then had NO idea where to begin in terms of decorating it. I found Diane of Bleu Leman Design on a Google search, and it was the best thing that could've happened for my new business. She worked with me from the very beginning to figure out what my style is, what kind of experience I wanted my clients to have, what colors and textures I was going for. We ended up doing the whole thing quite collaboratively, but then she would just make some really big decisions for me (e.g., as I became overwhelmed with the thousands of colors to choose from, she just handed me a swatch for the wall color, and had me go ahead and buy it). Diane is professional, passionate, caring, fun, and extremely talented. My clients, friends, subletters, and colleagues all love the space she helped create. I am so grateful! I would recommend her for any design needs. Her website photos show her simple, beautiful, clean, and lively style. And she's affordable, too! More...

Reviewed on Yelp