ciao bella Interiors

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Up front, let me say that the main goal was achieved: the renovated & staged house sold quickly and for a good price. This is obviously the most important issue in a job like this.

The whole job took about a month. Julieann got a lot of work done in a relatively short amount of time. But the road was rather bumpier than we had envisioned.

ciao bella Interiors is not a licensed contractor, but acts as a prime contractor, hiring subcontractors to do the actual labor according to ciao bella's designs. We found the subcontractors to be extremely careless with items in our home.

* the dishwasher was scratched and filled with debris 
* kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors were replaced improperly and found to be askew
* the painter broke a toilet when removing the tank to paint behind it, and did not repair it properly
* the low-pile carpet was installed with gaps between it and the molding
* an expensive home automation light switch was damaged and had to be replaced
* many items of the home automation system went missing
* a custom arch-window shade was damaged
* unpainted spackle was left on the wall after staging was removed
* the newly-installed granite counter top was dinged and patched with epoxy or something similar

None of the above items were brought to our attention. We had to discover them for ourselves.

Julieann wants to work independently of the homeowner and agent. Having moved 50 miles away, we gave her that latitude willingly, not wanting to travel between the 2 houses. But she needs more supervision. She is not terribly communicative. She did not phone us to report progress, we had to phone her. And if we had been on site more often, some of the issues may have been preventable.

Remember, the primary goal was achieved: the house sold quickly and for a good price. But the process caused us enough anxiety that we would recommend ciao bella only with the caveat that the homeowner provide plenty of active supervision throughout the process.

Ms. Powers provided the staging for the sale of my house in January. At the time I thought that Ciao Bella was quite expensive but I was pressed for time. Also pressed for time immediately after the sale I asked if I could rent the furniture for another couple of months. She said yes and guaranteed that she was offering me a lower price that CORT furniture. I later phoned CORT furniture for a quote and discovered that Ciao Bella was almost twice the cost of using CORT. I ask her for a refund of the difference and she refused. She later refunded part of my money, after being very verbally nasty to me, but never refunded all of it. I would never use Ciao Bella services again or recommend them.

I got 3 quotes from stagers in our area. They were all recommended to me. I liked her style right away. She knows color, design and what the target-market buyers are looking to see at a new home here (located in downtown Mountain View). Her price was approx 10% less than the other 2 bids. She was very accomodating from the beginning. She made this home look the way I had envisioned it. Stunning! It sold immediately & for higher than asking. Many of the local Realtors use Ciao Bella. Julie is the owner. I was impressed.