Client testimonials

“Elaine has been great. First she helped me design my business space. This was all done remotely during lockdown and it fitted the brief perfectly!
And recently I’ve had a consultation at our new house. I was feeling low about the space and decor. In the consultation she discussed options that we could do temporarily to lift the space and make it more a home before we do an extension. She outlined everything we discussed in a report with some more pointers.
I look forward to working further with her!”
Roxanne Haasbroek
“We hired Elaine to come and support as totally redecorating our living room, through from a complete change in colour scheme to recommending what lighting, furniture and soft furnishings would suit the environment and our use of it. Elaine is highly professional, takes time to understand our needs (rather than just design something that is ‘pretty) and also supported us in how much or how little we needed her to be involved. The flexibility was really important and valued by us. I would highly recommend Elaine to anyone seeking a partner to help them achieve the environment they will be delighted with.”
Caroline Cavanagh
“We used A Box of Tricks and had a lovely experience. Can’t wait to do our lounge to the design that Elaine came up with. Thank you!”
John and Carol Sorrell
“I really enjoyed meeting you and sharing my ideas and concerns with you, and interestingly it brought me more in touch with the house as being ‘my home’. I don’t think I’d realised with everything that’s been going on here since we moved in on 1 October last year that I hadn’t really made a personal connection with the house. Perhaps having lived in my last place for 31 years also has something to do with it!! So after you left I felt a renewed sense of enthusiasm and motivation about what needs to be done and my misgivings faded to large extent.”
Kate Blackett
“Elaine provides me with beautiful Showhomes every time, I have known Elaine for over 20 years now and each Showhome she produces is fantastic, in both quality and design.”
Debra Saunders
“I can vouch for Elaine’s expertise. She has done some amazing designs for us. Very highly recommended.”
Anne Skelton
“We were a little nervous about using an interior designer as we hadn’t done anything like this before and had no real idea what to expect.  That all changed as soon as we met Elaine, who is incredibly warm and friendly, and very quickly put us at ease. She listened carefully to our vague and confused ideas, and asked plenty of questions to establish both our taste and the utility we wanted from the room.  We never felt that Elaine pushed her own ideas but very quickly realised that she was exceptional at what she does, and so from an early stage, had a very high level of trust and confidence in her.”
Gary and Sharon Borland
“We moved into a new build and with being new to the UK I did not know where to start as we needed to curtain the whole house. Elaine came highly recommended by a developer and I was so pleased to have met her, she was so helpful and very efficient in all the advice she gave me.  She understood the kind of style I had in mind after our first meeting and within no time came up with a concept for each room which we went ahead with. Delivery of curtains was on schedule and she would always keep me updated as to what was going on.   Elaine was very quick to respond to all my calls and was always willing to come over.  I was very happy with the whole experience and she just has that personal touch that not many companies have.”
Marinella Isaac
“Elaine is great to work with, she tried hard to get to know our style and taste and then produced something perfect but 100 times better than anything we could have come up with. She has a wonderful eye for style, colour and contrast. We’re so happy with our design and are very excited about the next phase.”
Kirsty Lester
“We met Elaine via a paint consultation for our conservatory. The colour she chose was such a great fit for us that we ended using various shades of it throughout our whole house. At this time we were about to commence on a big renovation and Elaine quoted a reasonable price to help us design a large new sitting room. We had not used an interior designer before and were quite nervous to invest some of our valuable budget but equally we really didn’t know where to start creating such a focal room from scratch. Elaine was really helpful and available throughout the process and helped us find what we liked, rather than just submitting her vision. We didn’t use everything from the final drawings she presented but the elements we did use are often commented on by guests. I think what was really valuable was that she helped us have confidence to add our own stamp on the project. Her help really made it so much easier throughout. I was also impressed that she stayed in touch and answered many questions even after the work was presented to us.”
Rowan Gower
“We moved into a new home where Elaine had dressed the Show Home. We liked her work so much we asked her to helps us with window dressings and a design for our lounge. She was so lovely to work with and produced a design that we fell in love with. Nothing is too much trouble and she makes every step simple and exciting. She really got what we wanted and produced mood boards and 3D visuals that really helped us visualise our lounge. The blinds and curtains were very well made excellent quality and the whole experience was stress free and just what we wanted. We would use Elaine again and have recommended her to our neighbours and friends.”
John Sorrell
“Elaine has always had a great eye for all things visual and is especially skilled in putting colours together (which I really envy – it’s not as easy as it looks!). She really knows how to make a room feel special, sometimes with just a simple touch, and is one of the most dedicated and hard-working people I know. She will put her all into a project and will make sure that everything is finished to perfection!”
Helen Saxton
“I can’t tell you how amazing Elaine is! She managed a project for us and her design skills are awesome. At first I was a bit worried about colour choices but she asked me to trust her and wow! Just amazing! I could never have managed to come up with a design like this myself and without a doubt I would highly recommend Elaine’s skills!!”
Anne Skelton
“I cannot recommend Elaine highly enough, especially her professionalism warmth and vibrant personality especially during these trying times in lockdown. Despite the fact that we couldn’t meet personally, FaceTime, e mails and phone calls became the new norm. Elaine managed to deliver an amazing vision for my home, no easy task as I was unsure what look or colours I wanted. I cannot praise Elaine enough and would not hesitate in recommending her services.”
Nicky Jones
“We hired Elaine to come and support as totally redecorating our living room, through from a complete change in colour scheme to recommending what lighting, furniture and soft furnishings would suit the environment and our use of it. Elaine is highly professional, takes time to understand our needs (rather than just design something that is ‘pretty) and also supported us in how much or how little we needed her to be involved. The flexibility was really important and valued by us. I would highly recommend Elaine to anyone seeking a partner to help them achieve the environment they will be delighted with.”
Caroline Cavanagh
“Our extension and refurbishment project was not an easy one even I’ve got architects to follow up the bits and pieces. I’m glad that we have Elaine to handle the interior design of the entire 5-bedroom house and project management on the related stuffs — sourcing of furniture/upholstery/appliances/lighting/flooring/wall panel; finding and liaising with suppliers of bespoke furniture, bespoke kitchen/utility room cabinets, bespoke worktop/bar table, windows blinds, stair runners; handling logistics of delivery, storage and assembly. Elaine’s design is very attached to us. She was able to spot on with the first proposal. In case modifications were inevitable due to sourcing issue or architectural change, Elaine could always provide us alternatives while maintaining the coherent design that we like. This gives us a peace of mind in this otherwise a very stressful project. We are not the only one who like her design, builder’s and suppliers’ chaps told us they like this or that when they came back to fix snags. We can pick individual colour/any interior item that we like, but putting them together is a different story. Elaine does the tricks for us!”
Wilbur Wong
“Having gone to a Home Staging event organised by our estate agent, my wife and I met Elaine of A Box of Tricks, and discussed what we could do to maximise the selling potential of our house. We then invited her round to assess the possible changes that we could make, to do this. Elaine made several suggestions. However, we then had to decide whether or not to invest the extra cost. Are we glad we did! A little sceptical at first, i.e. should we be spending extra money, but the changes we made – which mainly concerned some re-decorating (painting) and a lot of de-cluttering (we have a lot of stuff!) – helped us sell the house in three weeks! The house was much brighter, and had a feeling of space, which made it much more appealing. Elaine was very professional and very pleasant to work with. Her ideas were very sensible. She leaves you with them and it’s up to you how far you wish to go. We recommend Elaine highly, and are so glad we invested in her skills.”
Gwyn Harries

Corporate testimonials

“Piccolo moved to a new business premises last year. The new office was considerably larger and completely featureless and required a thoughtful and creative approach to make the most of the space. Elaine’s ideas were completely spot on! After an initial 1 hour meeting, she came up with a concept that perfectly encapsulated what we wanted to achieve. Elegant yet warm and inviting, practical but not too office-like. Elaine sourced particular pieces of furniture and was incredibly helpful when it came to choosing lighting and accessories. We could not be more thrilled and everyone who comes into our new office comments on what a lovely space we have created. Thank you Elaine – we definitely couldn’t have done it without you!”
Lou Fletcher, Director at Piccolo Property
“Elaine has worked with us on a number of our show homes and the experience is always a refreshing one. From the design brief to the show home experience she manages the project throughout and always delivers on time. Using her experience and contacts within the industry allows her to bring interiors together in various styles and budgets, creating elegant rooms that help sell our homes and never fails to exceed our expectations.”
Clare Biddlecombe, Sales Manager at LiveWest
“Well done Elaine- Looks great as ever…If anyone is looking for a great interior designer who will make a difference to your show homes, view homes or stock plots then it is worth speaking to Elaine, She will bring added value to your scheme and assist sales for sure.”
Chris Warner, Managing Director at Castlethorpe Homes
“Elaine really helped us visualise how the space could look, and enabled us to make bolder choices. She also took the concept we liked and went and found some lovely, yet affordable pieces that complimented the overall look. We are thrilled with how our new reception worked out, and couldn’t have achieved this without Elaine’s guidance.”
Arron Howle, Managing Director at Peartree Serviced Apartments
“We have worked with Elaine for many years on various projects from contemporary apartments to detached family homes and she is a joy to work with. Elaine understands our needs and works with our budget to create a finished product that is always very well received. So much so that a number of our purchasers have asked to buy the furniture and accessories in the property. Elaine is an excellent communicator, she will happily liaise with our suppliers and purchasers to design a homme that is both functional and personal to them. I have no hesitation in recommending Elaine for your future projects.”
Debbie Weight, Sales Manager at Rivar Ltd
“In the search of finding a suitable interior designer who can dress our new build we have came across Elaine from A Box of Tricks. She has understood and delivered exactly what we wanted. Initially Elaine produced mood boards for her ideas, which reflected our expectations and she has managed the project from start to finish. Her attention to details ensured the house sale. We would highly recommend her and no doubt will be using her services to our future projects.”
Rita Pope, Designer at Pope Plan and Build Ltd