Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design — Local services in Naperville

Last December, my husband Claude and I closed on our dream home in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The home is much larger than the home we moved from so we were feeling a little overwhelmed with what to do furniture and design wise in order to make it feel modern, yet still “homey.” We went to a few furniture stores but did not really feel like it was our style. In addition, we knew we needed help in making lots of decisions and needed a professional to guide us. My husband happened to browse the Walter E. Smithe website and came across Loria Hartman’s profile at the Naperville location. He really loved her experience and the modern feel of some of the past design projects she did. He told me about it and we decided to contact her to ask for her help. She responded right away that she would be happy to help us and was excited about the project. That was one of the best decisions we made concerning our new home.

Loria went above and beyond to understand what we wanted and always offered a variety of options for us to choose from. My husband pointed out to me that he loved the fact that Loria would sometimes nudge us to get out of the box we were in order to adventure a bit more with the design project and we were never disappointed. Her expertise and sense of humor was a gift and she helped us to truly create the home of our dreams with all of the furniture, blinds, accessories, tile choices, and some paint colors.

Loria drove over an hour away each time she came to our home, countless times, to help us or guide the deliveries that came to make sure everything was perfect. We are so grateful to her each and every day because we get to wake up in our dream home that turned out better than we could have ever imagined because of her passion for design and expertise. Not only did Loria nail it, but her communication and friendliness throughout the whole project was done with excellence. We get so many compliments from people on how much they love the furniture and entire design in every room and we owe our thanks to her for this. Not only is Loria an amazing designer, but she has become our friend. We highly recommend her if you want to create the home of...

We went to Walter E Smithe in Naperville, looking to find assistance for selecting furniture for our son's handicap accessible home, which was in the process of being built. We were so fortunate that Loria Hartmann approached us to see if she could be of help. From day 1, Loria has put 100% effort into listening to what Steve likes as far as modern industrial decor and what would be needed to accommodate his needs. Loria helped us determine the height of our kitchen table so that the power wheelchair would fit under it. She also worked with our builder to determine where the power lift recliner would be located to accommodate the lift system. Loria helped us select power window treatments so that Steve can open and close them from his smart phone. Loria is very knowledgeable and creative as far as interior decorating, and her compassion and kindness are exceptional. Everyone who comes into our home is blown away by the design as well as the furnishings. We will always use Loria for our interior decorating needs in the future, and she has become a good friend to our family. Also, the staff at the Walter E Smithe showroom in Naperville is extremely kind. They always greet us with a smile and are more than happy to move things around so that Steve can get through in his power wheelchair. Kudos to Loria and...

We moved from an apartment in Chicago last year with 10+ year old furniture to a house in the burbs and were in desperate need of some help. We first walked into WES last year feeling overwhelmed and defeated after a long day of visiting several other places. We were greeted by Nancy and liked her but were skeptical yet we figured we had nothing to lose. It was the best decision we could have made. She visited our house and within minutes could determine our style and with very little direction from us, she helped us furnish the entire main level of our house. We're working with her again this summer on a couple extra rooms. She's phenomenal at her job, a fantastic lady and joy to work with. She provides terrific practical advice and suggestions tailored to individual needs. She has been quick to follow up yet also patient when we have needed more time. I cannot say enough great things about her and our experience at WES. So very highly...