Lea Matthews includes interior design with the furnishings. That still works better when you arrive prepared. Below are the questions we hear most before a complementary home visit, and the answers we give in the store on Morgan Avenue.
What does complementary design cover?
We plan the room with you: furniture, paint direction, window treatments, and a budget you can keep. You are not billed a separate designer fee for that planning. You buy the pieces you want, when you want them. Some clients purchase the full plan. Others start with a sofa and drapery and add the rest later. The plan is still yours either way. Read the service notes on interior design if you want the short version.
What should I photograph before you arrive?
Take wide shots of each wall, a shot of the ceiling, and a shot toward every doorway. Photograph anything that stays: a piano, a grandfather clock, a television you will not move. Snap the flooring and any existing rug. If you have a fabric you love on a pillow, photograph it in daylight.
Measurements help more than extra photos. Room length and width, ceiling height, window sizes, and the width of hallways that a sofa has to travel. If you already sketched a living room plan from our furniture fitting guide, bring that too.
How do we talk about budget without making it awkward?
Give us a range, not a single number you will defend. A range lets us steer you toward a sofa that leaves money for drapery, or toward a chair that can wait a season. We would rather know the ceiling early than design a room you cannot fund. If flooring or upholstery is part of the work, say so. Those lines have their own lead times.
What happens after the first visit?
We come back to the Design Center, pull samples, and build a plan you can walk. You will see fabrics, woods, and finishes together, not as a stack of unrelated swatches. When the plan is clear, we write the order and schedule sewing, delivery, and any floral work you want for the install.
- First visit: measure, listen, photograph what we need.
- Studio work: samples, elevations, and a budget pass.
- Your review: keep, swap, or phase the purchases.
- Install: furnishings, treatments, and a last walk-through.
Bring a spouse or anyone else who has veto power. A plan that one person loves and the other has not seen tends to stall. Set the visit through our contact page, or call (812) 474-4266. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 to 6, at 5611 E Morgan Ave, Evansville.