Decorating My New Home – A Havenly Review

17 comments!
Hello Subscription independently researches and reviews the best subscriptions and products. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.
Go to commentsNotification

Havenly is an online interior design firm that will totally design any room in your home for a very affordable $185. I am SO excited to share Havenly with you today! From initial consultation to the final delivery of your items they will hold your hand every single step of the way. Havenly’s room design service is perfect whether you are starting from scratch or just want a design update and they will work with your style, your budget, and your approach to designing your space. I highly recommend reading every word of my Havenly Review so you know exactly what you’re getting – the concepts, the room rendering, and the purchasing service. It’s an amazing service and I would totally personally purchase it for the next room I design. I have been thrilled with my Havenly experience.

I started working with Havenly (they provided the design services to me in exchange for a review) after I purchased my home. I won’t dazzle you with the granny style of the former owners, but you can see from my seafoam green walls to my “Brandy has moved all around the country and been a grad student for 6 of the 15 years since she left college” style that we were in need of SERIOUS assistance! We needed style from top to bottom without spending a fortune and to be honest – I didn’t know where to start. It’s totally overwhelming.

When you sign up for Havenly you fill out five questions, and then are matched with your designer. The questions are easy and if you don’t know, you just pick your favorite. I really had NO idea what I wanted my space to look like, but I had a nice half hour chat with my designer about my preferences (no white couches!), my budget (moderate), and needs for my space (kid friendly! matches my personal tastes, which I could not describe but somehow they nailed!).

Havenly Concept 1

As part of the design process you get two room concepts. These room concepts give you an idea of the design, but not how it will look in your space. It’s your opportunity to be able to more fully articulate what you love and what you don’t love. This is my space so we took some time to give some serious feedback!

Havenly Concept 2

My favorite part was the artwork in Concept 1. I love it – and I think my designer put together my love of purple, my modernish aesthetic (without being too 80s or too retro), and an offhand comment about having a giant Kandinsky in a former living room, to select it. I loved the warm wood accents,  but not the bookshelves or the storageless cubes (I’m so pragmatic). The second design was a bit too sterile and industrial for me, though we loved the color scheme (my husband and best friend weighed in too). After giving feedback on perhaps half the items (look, I really let Havenly do the work on this – that’s what they’re for), it was time to upload 360 photos of my room and provide dimensions to get my room rendering so I could really see what it would look like!

This is my new living room, designed by Havenly! I couldn’t believe how awesome it was! It’s hard to articulate that this is your style even when you can’t show someone what you love. I had told my designer that I recently purchased a boatload of Jonathan Adler bedding and I liked CB2. That’s about it.

Absolutely gorgeous. But wait – I was NOT done with them. Then I asked Havenly all sorts of ridiculous questions – not really ridiculous, but as I started selecting everything I did want to change a few things and add a few things.

 I also asked Shelby to find me beaver artwork (I have a beaver collection – it’s weird but totally me) and add a dog bed that matched the design. I think Lindy will LOVE the purple one, don’t you?

 You can see that she also presented a different option for the accent wall. It’s the only wall in this room that I can really accent, because the other walls wrap all the way around the kitchen without a break. You might also note that the fireplace is white, on Shelby’s suggestion. We are working on getting everything painted now so I can put everything together. (This is a big job – the trim isn’t white – it’s a terrible pink buff color and it all needs to go away)

Speaking of getting everything together, Havenly lets you shop the designs – all of them – for exactly what you want.

Havenly also helped me select a stencil for the wall – they originally presented some FABULOUS designer wallpaper, which I really wanted to do, but my pragmatic heart said no wallpaper installation around a fireplace, as well as paint color suggestions. After going through this design process I am super confident my room is going to dazzle and be perfect when I complete it. I’m still deciding on some elements but checking out with Havenly is really easy – you just check the buttons, check out and they send you an invoice to confirm. Then they manage all the purchasing. Plus if an item is on sale or you have a coupon, you can provide that to Havenly and they will use it on your behalf.

One of the things I can’t decide on is the rug. We’re all leaning heavily towards the Zahra rug in teal.

I cannot wait to share our final results with you – they are going to be fabulous. By the way, beyond the room design, which would be an amazing holiday gift too, you’re not obligated to purchase anything.  You do get a $50 credit against non-sale purchases of $200+. I decided that I didn’t want 100% white furniture and purchased almost exactly the same items from the same store in a different color (I would not have known where to start without Havenly – a blank canvas really stresses me out!). Unlike me, if you have existing pieces that you want to incorporate into your design, you just upload them right to the interface.

You can use your Havenly design as a starting point or an end-to-end interior design service. I love the flexibility of that. I already have some ideas for my kids’ craft/reading room, but I’m not sure how to put them together, so it would be great to get assistance with that too. This time I have an idea to start with and I’ve been putting together a secret pinboard of some inspiration for that.

Havenly Definitely check back in to find my updates on the room design! p.s. Here’s the gift card if you are looking to gift a room design! It’s pretty fabulous and you don’t have to lift a finger!

photo (24)

[adrotate banner=”139″]

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Rhyden
    06.24.17

    Did you ever finish this?

    • Brandy
      06.26.17

      It’s still in process. The kitchen cabinets have been painted white, and of last week, the half wall and the mantle are finally painted white. My husband did the kitchen parts last year and all the upstairs rooms except our master bedroom over the winter. Don’t ask me why he’s so slow, it’s killing me. Today he started painting the garage, because the weather is nice and we might actually get it done before fall. We had the floor done and will be installing cubbies etc out there so my dining room & play room & entry aren’t literally piles of coats, hats, and shoes. Anyways, we have the paint for it, and it will prob be done in the fall. One of the things holding it up is that we have to get the electric done and move/replace light fixtures, which we haven’t found someone yet, and then do the ceiling after patching, and then paint the wall. It’s all ONE GIANT ROOM and we have 3 kids and it’s our most used room. Tricky! Unfortunately I can’t threaten to hire someone right now because he’s working on it, and he also works on the blog full time. Just as soon as we move all our belongings to every room in the house I think it will all magically be finished. I hope.

  • rachel
    09.13.16

    I actually had a bad experience with Havenly. Yes, they picked great things for the room, but after ordering them I realized most of them didn’t fit. And who, seriously, is going to return a huge dresser to west elm? when i told the designer this, she said i should have been more careful measuring. i looked back at my measurements, and they were actually correct. so disappointed with these people – i really think nothing beats an in person designer!

  • tricia
    05.09.16

    So have you completed the update of your room based on the Havenly Design? Would love to see it!

  • Nicole Miller
    04.17.16

    I was looking into havenly but I was wondering if you can have a budget of $150 and do anything really (Not counting the designer fee)

  • Toria
    03.14.16

    Hi there-

    Thanks for this review! I noticed that most of the pieces they suggested for your room are pretty expensive. Do you know if I would be able to get some lower-priced pieces?

    Thanks!

  • Jem
    12.29.15

    Have you finished your room yet? If so, do you have a link to it. I’m heavily considering havenly, but I’ve yet to see a before and after photo. I’m just curious. Thanks in advance!

    • Brandy
      12.29.15

      sob… no. we have been REALLy busy with the blog this year and are adding 10 reviewers or so to help manage it. I’ve been working around the clock and my house is a disaster. My biggest problem is that I have to paint first before managing to put my room together. I would totally use them again and pay for it. I was happy with what I got and I was annoying.

  • Mark Cahill
    09.07.15

    I’ve been an Angel Investor for 15 years. The Havenly business model does not work. Designers are paid $5-10/Hour and that’s the Product. I know 3 designers that have already quit. One of my friends invested in this deal and already knows it’s over.

    3 MBA’s and no common sense. Don’t waste your time/money, this deal is dead.

    • Karma
      12.08.15

      So negative. Sorry things did not work out between you and havenly. Maybe just see how they do? I don’t know you or them, but I like what I’ve seen of their service.im hoping they can make it work. Peace.

    • Kristin
      01.02.17

      That’s what I was thinking. The math doesn’t work out. It’s unsustainable.

      What designer wants to work for $15/hour? My 16 year old was making $15/hour with tips loading Christmas trees.

      • Keara
        03.06.17

        The designers receive commission on the furniture the customer purchases through Havenly.

  • Brandy
    03.16.15

    You don’t have to buy through them (though you can get sale pricing etc through Heavenly too). We originally found a closeout media stand that we absolutely adore, inspired by Havenly’s suggestion, but it arrived broken (twice). So we gave up on that! I am still working on finishing up this room – we bought the drapes and the art most recently, and we are slowly accumulating everything we want for this room. But you can also just use their design service. They did pick items from CB2, as well as West Elm (very similar). Those were the 2 main stores my recommendations were from. I think I really ran them through their paces, and was really satisfied.

    • Eileen O'Brien
      04.15.15

      Thanks for the reply! I actually chose Havenly and am having lots of fun going through the process.

      • Brandy
        04.15.15

        I would love to see your room when you are done!! I am currently in the middle of prioritizing house improvement projects. We have a couple lights to move and that kind of light construction needs to happen before painting, etc. now that I have paid my taxes I want to get rolling on my projects 🙂 what room are you doing?

  • Eileen O'Brien
    03.16.15

    I’m considering Havenly and your review about the process was very helpful. One question – do you have to buy through them? What sort of stores did your recommendations come from? For example you said liked CB2 – did they pick items from there? Thanks!

  • Diana Garza
    11.07.14

    Wow! I’m very impressed!