Gabberts Design Studio & Fine Furniture — Local services in Little Canada

My wife and I are recent empty nesters. Though our four adult children have flown the coop, our nest was anything but empty. Before each child left, they gifted us with beloved old chairs, tables, cabinets, and prints that we must warehouse as they begin their lifestyles of the rich and famous. As a result, our home decor could best be described as "Backroom Goodwill store awaiting Three Men and a Truck." We didn't know how, but we knew we had to change.

The first person to greet us at Gabberts Fine Furnishings by Design was their Interior Designer, Angela Graney, who invited us to tell the story of our home, including our hopes and dreams for the future. Angela listened carefully and eventually winnowed colors, textures, fabrics, and purpose from our plans for a new living room. We reenacted the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" fairy tale countless times until we found the "just right" comfort of furniture pieces to accommodate the needs of our changing family. Then Angela visited our home and patiently showed us how to let go of our lend-me-down furniture collection by imagining our future. She has off-the-charts skill sets in high-tech (knowledge of the furniture industry) and high-touch (passion for her vocation and incredible responsiveness to her customers).

Time stops when Angela shares her boundless passion for how a redesign can change the life of a home. Yet, she accomplishes breathtaking transformations within the realities of budget constraints, in our case, the fixed income of a retired couple. Angela walks the floor at night, sweating the details of how beauty and functionality marry so her customers can relax in anticipation of their "Move that bus!" moment.

This was the first time we had worked with an interior designer. We will only work with Angela Graney on future projects. Until then, we will share her remarkable story with our friends, family, and community. Everyone visiting our home will hear this story and receive Angela's business card. We could never have begun our home design journey without Angela--who is so much more than an interior designer. Angela is an artist, magician, comedian, and midwife who delivered our latest child, our dream living room. Most of all, Angela is family.

We've shared our phone numbers with Angela if you have more specific questions about her work and service that I failed to address in this review. Feel free to call at any time.

Sincerely,

Tom and...

We are updating our family room and have the pleasure of working with Gina. She was very accommodating when we had to reschedule our home visit. During our home visit, she took multiple photos and measurements to ensure she understood the space that we were remodeling. More importantly, she really listened to our vision for the functionality and feel we wanted to create for this space. The next day, we met with her at Gabberts where she shared various options that she thought might fit our needs. She nailed it! We loved the leather couch/loveseat brand she recommended. She pulled leather colors that we initially thought we would like and also shared three other options in a complementary color palette that we could also consider. All of her choices were gorgeous options. Once again, she listened very closely as we narrowed our color options to the top two. Gina then helped us find a couple of carpet options that would complement the leather, the brick in our home and be functional yet beautiful for our needs. She encouraged us to take home the leather and carpet options to see how they felt in our space. Nowhere in this process have we felt pressured to buy. Gina has really listened to us and made the daunting selection process very enjoyable. We look forward to our continued working relationship as we choose accessories to complete our space. I will definitely recommend Gina to all of our friends...

February 2021: Teresa Brooks is amazing. She is a mind reader! As I wrote in my previous post almost a year ago, I'm near-clueless when it comes to design; I only told Teresa what I didn't want, i.e. man-sized furniture:) Teresa came to my house to measure my LR and we talked for at least 45 minutes. Shortly thereafter, I went to the Gabberts store in Little Canada. Teresa suggested that I actually sit in many chairs and sofas to make sure the one I choose would 'fit' me. She and I then looked at only a few fabrics, since I have a short attention span of 20 minutes when it comes to choosing fabrics. Again, Teresa was so patient with me. Long story short: Teresa picked out GORGEOUS leather for 2 perfect-fitting chairs, sofa fabric and rug. Thank you, Teresa! I KNOW I couldn't have done this alone.

March 2020:Teresa Brooks was so helpful to me. I'm clueless when it comes to design but she was so kind to me! I told her I was just beginning to 'think' about new LR furniture and she didn't push me. Very bubbly personality and it will be FUN to work with her.

March 2024 Again, Teresa Brooks helped me choose a new sofa and chair. By now, she realizes that I change my mind 100 of times before ordering--yet, she is extremely patient! I order from Gabberts because the quality is great--and I know Teresa...