I was at my Brother-in-law's house in Winnipeg Canada a few weeks ago and he has a spectacular home (he has done very well in his business). His house was a full custom with remarkable millwork and cabinets, custom doors and windows, top of the line appliances and a backyard segment that probably cost as much by itself as most homes here in Northern Virginia. I was very impressed with everything but the furniture. He's a busy man, and I could see he used a decorator throughout the house and most likely just signed off on the recommendations the decorator made. As the party at his house had 170 people there I had plenty of time to check out his upholstery, and I had to chuckle to myself because both the leather and the fabric pieces were very mediocre, of lesser quality than the lowest line I have in my store. He's a top shelf guy and I's sure he's just not well-versed in what makes a good piece of upholstery and let his decorator choose it all. Why did the decorator put decidedly mid-range product in a high end custom home is anyone's guess - but it didn't match up with the quality of the home - like wearing Nike Sweat Pants with an Armani jacket. So this makes me curious - did the decorator have an assigned budget to work within and these chairs/sofas had to fit into that overall budget or did the decorator not have access to high end lines? Winnipeg Canada is not exactly the epicenter of fine products. I didn't want to tell him that "You should have called me" .... but he should have!

Point being - if you hire a decorator don't give them carte blanche, be sure to tell them the quality you expect in the home and certainly that it should match the rest of the home build. Get involved more than simply picking out colors and saying 'yes' or 'no' in the selections and remember the decorator works for YOU - and if done right the furniture will compliment the interiors of the home. If done wrong, your sister's husband who is in the furniture biz is going to pick up on it <G>