We wanted to update our home and put it on the holiday let market as we had decided to move to Ireland. We needed to update the kitchen, bathroom and rearrange the bedrooms. My husband and I have ideas of how we would like to decorate but sometimes we don’t agree and therefore don’t move forward with any changes. It was also important that the whole house flowed and would appeal to the market we are hoping to rent to. I thought a interior designer might be able to help us with this but I wasn’t sure as it is only a two bedroom property if this would be too small a project for a interior designer and if it would be totally out of our budget.

The thing that really impressed me about Vicki was not only did she assure me that the project size was fine but it was the questions she asked me regarding what we were aiming for and the market we wanted to attract. She really listened and understood what we needed. Vicki totally took away our apprehension about using a interior designer. Vicki’s style is very collaborative and I never felt pushed into any design decisions. Her expertise is without question and she certainly guided us on what to spend on and what to save on. We were so impressed with the designs Vicki produced for us and her approach that we went on to engage her to project manage the renovation for us. Without Vicki I don’t believe we would have achieved the fabulous result we have within the time we have. The only problem we now have is that due to Vicki’s wonderful designs we now don’t want to leave the property:)

Margaret 21.2.2023

Selecting to work with Vicki from Balance Design on a complete top-to-bottom refurbishment has been the best decision I made, the only regret is that I didn’t find her earlier! The selection process for identifying an Interior Designer was thorough and detailed, I was looking for someone that I felt I could connect with and as soon as I met Vicki the chemistry was spot on immediately. Her ability to make you feel understood and that you´re in total control of all the decisions being made is incredibly reassuring and empowering, especially for someone like me that felt he had zero creativity.

It has been nothing but a joy and an absolutely brilliant experience. I have learnt a huge amount about myself as part of this process, in main because Vicki takes the time and invests enormously in understanding her clients with a lot of care and attention. At the start I refused to accept I knew anything about design or that I knew what it was I was looking for. Vicki was having none of this! She literally spent hours upon hours taking time to understand my likes, dislikes, what I wanted from my home, how I planned on using all the living space, and most importantly, things that mattered to me both culturally and personally. Not only has this been incredibly cathartic, but it has led to Vicki helping me understand that I have a very clear design identity and a good understanding of the things I like and don’t like, which has been a real positive learning.

She spent an enormous amount of time researching and finding options that were both unique and felt personal to my design identity. It was all about listening, guiding and facilitating with Vicki, she never made a decision for me, ever. Her goal was always to provide choices and then to work with you to understand which ones appealed to you most whilst also challenging your decisions to make sure you were comfortable with the decisions being made. All the choices presented felt personal and unique to me. There were many times it was tough to make a choice as everything being presented to choose from was brilliant. Getting me to reach a decision took a huge amount of her time but at no point did I ever feel rushed or that I was wasting her time. You can tell she cares a great deal about every decision being made and is committed to making sure you make the one that is right for you.

Her other super power (one of many) is organisation and planning, which I had not realised was so critical and essential to the project. Things did not always go to plan during the project, in fact some things were so bad it was like the project was cursed (none of this had ANYTHING to do with Vicki). However, instead of allowing me to freak out or lose my head she always found solutions and made sure all the stops were pulled out to get the project back on track.

It is very easy to get carried away with design boards, pinterest, and fancy ideas and everything in between. I know this because before committing to bringing Vicki onboard I had spent the best part of 2 years daydreaming about a refurbishment and all the great things I wanted to do with the apartment. However, bringing ideas to life requires a complete design concept, especially for a complete refurbishment of your home. To achieve and complete a transformation of this cale you need to make commitments and have a clear understanding of your budget, how far you are prepared to stretch this, and how you’re going to get the work completed. None of this would have been possible without Vicki´s constant guidance, advice, and humour!

The full refurbishment of the apartment is absolutely incredible, in fact for the few weeks after moving in the apartment was unrecognisable to me and I have lived here on-and-off for 16 years. It has exceeded my expectations and aspirations of what I had hoped the end result would look like. It is a 1 bedroom apartment and making best use of the space for both living, working (as I work from home), and storage was a real challenge. Well none of this is no longer the case. Friends and family have commented on how the apartment design throughout reflects my personality, lifestyle choices, and cultural identity. In fact, when I shared the before and after pictures with people they all thought I had moved into a completely new apartment………that is how impressive and transformational the end result has been.

Kuldish Sibia, February 2023

Vicki has been hugely helpful in formulating ideas for a kitchen, lounge and bedroom in a new extension. We had not used an interior designer before and were a bit apprehensive about the process. She talked to us at length to find out what we wanted to achieve, rather than imposing her style on us, but also challenged us to ‘think outside the box’. I’m really looking forward to implementing her exciting ideas – bold colour blocking, here we come!

Joanne Whitehead, June 2021

Vicki has been invaluable in helping us progress our ground floor remodel. We would still be stuck ‘discussing’ kitchen door colours without her.
Her delivery is very professional and I feel she has listened to all opinions throughout the process and then guided us to make the best choices so we will achieve our desired result.
She also encouraged us to be confident with our colour choices and taken a lot of time and effort away from us having to research finishes. Making this process so much easier and quicker with her vast knowledge of products and styles.
I would recommend to anyone who is hesitant in using a designer to book a consultation with Vicki before getting too far into your project. You will not be disappointed in the help and guidance you receive.

Pam Holness, Jan 2021

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Vicki on what had been a rather stressful loft conversion. I contacted her quite late in the process because we realised that the head height we were getting wasn’t as high as we had expected and the space was much more awkward than it looked on paper. Immediately, Vicki spotted the issues in our plans and helped us to rearrange the space to get the most that we could from it. Then she worked with me to chose a beautiful colour palette and proposed design ideas that I would never have thought of. Even her help choosing paint colours has meant that we won’t need to go through the 20+ samples we might usually try!! I am now really excited about getting her design completed and moving into our new room.

Mandy Mahon, December 2020

Excellent and outstanding planning and completely outside the box thinking and delivery .. always willing to listen with a balance perspective between client and contractor and supports well … excellent choice and will commission again !

Michael, Escape Bar, October 2019

Vicki was great from start to finish. She took a huge amount of hassle out of the whole project. I wanted my entire house refurbished to bring it together as a whole with a colour theme and style running throughout the house – Vicki discussed ideas with me, sourced products to save me shlepping around all the shops, and also sourced builders – obtaining 3 quotes. She project managed the reform chased up deliveries and negotiated discounts on my behalf. I’m sure she more than paid for herself as a result.

I liked Vicki’s ideas, found her easy to work with, and felt she ‘got’ me and what I wanted as well so she wasn’t just imposing things on me that didn’t feel right. She was approachable if I didn’t like something or wasn’t sure when I saw it in situ rather than just on paper – we changed paint colours early in the process, for example.

She also sourced some unusual items for me on my request – such as a bidet look! It was a bit of an experiment on my part, and we laughed over it, but she found a reasonably priced one and I must say it’s been very popular! She tolerated my love of gadgets and incorporated my smart home ideas into the brief when I added that in half way through.

There were some difficult moments along the way because I stayed in the house for most of the refurb and having builders in your home for 4 months is inevitably stressful, but Vicki did her best to smooth over these moments as much as possible.

I loved the finished result and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending her.

Samantha

Samantha, May 17th 2018

I can’t say enough great things about Vicki! She listened to my concerns and was able to bring creative ideas to solve my design dilemmas! Working with Vicki was such a wonderful experience. The consultation with Vicki was like a lesson on colour, fabric or design. I enjoyed every consultation. We have more rooms to finish and I am looking forward to finishing with Vicki.

Tomoko, May 25th 2018

Vicki’s brief was very broad. We are renovating our large semi-detached house and wanted some professional advice regarding colour schemes, lighting and flooring options.

Susan S, August 2015

Vicki truly is very in touch with her clients’ needs. I am so pleased with the design, selection of furniture and décor. She managed to find all furniture etc in a small budget. She proves once and for all that interior designers are not just for the rich and famous! And as a bonus she explained the concepts so well, that I was able to use it throughout our house. Now that is what I would call extreme value for money. Thanks Vicki!

Annelize W, July 2015

I wanted Vicki Wharton to prepare a design pack for my kitchen sitting room.
The style I requested was for a non fussy modern ,plain furniture,but with a sumptuous feel over all.

Vicki listened attentively to my ideas and showed a passionate, positive and honest attitude for the design process. Throughout the process Vicki was always very accommodating and adaptable.  I was excited to see how the chosen paint pallet, along with the different textures and shapes were expertly pulled together to meet all my requirements . A very happy customer. Highly recommended.

Heather P, July 2015

Vicki was happy to tailor her service to our needs and spent over 4 hours going over the house. She had an answer to virtually everything we asked and I was really surprised to be able to choose colours with Vicki’s help by the end of her visit.She is also prepared to be a sounding board for additional queries and has already responded to a couple of questions I forgot to ask while she was here. It’s the first time I’ve ever paid for design advice and I think it was money well-spent.

Susan S, August 2015