Desiree Burns Interiors - Boston Interior Designer

I rarely leave negative reviews, but I feel it's important to share my experience for anyone looking for a designer who values communication and a truly personalized client experience. I'll start with the positives because they're deserved: the design itself was beautiful. She has a great eye, selected gorgeous pieces, and I genuinely love the overall aesthetic of our home. She's clearly talented at design and we're impressed with our new living room. Unfortunately, almost every other part of the experience was disappointing. We were charged $450 for a site visit to my parents house who were also interested in design, but very little direction was provided during the appointment. Most of the follow-up simply consisted of quotes and being told to "contact a contractor," which wasn't the level of guidance I expected. They have received 0 follow ups since this visit almost 3 months ago. When it came time for the initial design, I made the mistake of saying I trusted her expertise and wanted her to do what she thought was best. I have no design background—that's exactly why I hired a designer. We didn't love the first concept and requested revisions. The revision only changed one item. After another call, a new design was presented and I was told it was an "exception to do a second revision." Exception to what? The first one had one change... which I was then charged 18 hours for anyways. Another surprise was that everything was handled by her assistant. I completely understand having a team, but I expected to primarily work with the designer I hired unless that was made explicitly clear upfront. When I asked if I could meet with her instead, I was told her schedule was full and that I could book another visit—for an additional fee. When I raised my concerns, I was immediately referred back to the contract rather than having an actual conversation. I was never once told outside of the contract that I would be working with someone else. Nicole is lovely, but again if expectations are not set from the beginning- it's very frustrating. During our one and only site visit, we spent approximately eight minutes casually discussing ideas for a future bathroom renovation. Later I received a $250 invoice labeled as a bathroom design. Again, the only follow-up was another email directing us to contact a contractor. After deciding to cancel a second site visit because we realized it would result in another charge, we still had not received next steps or what to expect. We eventually reached out ourselves because we weren't sure what the next steps were and even considered ending the project. Once we requested a clear roadmap, we decided to continue. Looking back, I wish we hadn't. The ordering process was extremely frustrating. We received tracking numbers but were not told which companies the orders were coming from. Instead of providing a consolidated tracking sheet, updates were left in Houzz comments. When I asked if everything could be organized into one document, I was told there would be an additional fee to create it. I also shortly after was told that ANY text or email sent was billable. I then asked for a number to call to handle it myself and all I got back was "L+G doesn't have a number to call." For what is marketed as a high-end, customized design experience, this felt surprisingly disorganized. The final straw came during delivery. One item was scheduled but never arrived. I simply asked for the confirmation email so I could understand what happened. Rather than receiving the email or even a brief apology, I was met with defensive communication. I was also reminded that every text message and email was billable. Every question seemed to result in another explanation of the contract or another fee. If you're looking purely for someone with a strong design eye, she is very talented. But if you're expecting responsive communication, collaboration, transparency, and a personalized client experience, that was unfortunately not my experience.

I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole at a networking event and later connecting over coffee, where she walked me through her team’s full design process. I was incredibly impressed by how thoughtful, organized, and detail-oriented she is. The examples of her and Desiree’s work are absolutely beautiful and truly speak to their talent and eye for design. I look forward to recommending their services to my clients!

Desiree was such a pleasure to work with! It was important to me that I found a designer who would allow me to be involved in the design process, and Desiree brought her unbelievable talent while letting me add my personal touches as well. She was patient, super responsive, mindful of budget, and easy to work with. Not to mention her taste is unbelievable. I am so so happy with how everything turned out and how happy my home makes me and my family! Highly recommend working with Desiree and Nicole!

I’m a contractor in the area and genuinely enjoy partnering with Desiree Burns Interiors. She brings a clear vision to every project and communicates well with both clients and trades. Her organized, full-service approach really helps keep renovations on track. Always happy to work together.

We had a fantastic experience working with Desiree and Nicole on our Boston condo! From concept to completion, everything went incredibly smoothly and stress-free. They not only created a design, but also handled the entire installation process. Most importantly, the final design exceeded all our expectations: stylish, functional, and perfectly tailored to our space. We’d absolutely work with them again and highly recommend to anyone looking for top-notch interior design!