Ariel Arts

Our experience with Ariel feels like an extravagant scam. I hope the details below can be a caution for anyone signing a contract with her to receive “interior design” services. - Poor communication skills i.e. It has been severals weeks now since we’ve heard from her despite us reaching out to her many times to get specifications for mockups she provided - Poor listening skills i.e. She would completely forget requests from design reviews and things we wanted to prioritize i.e. Simple things like wanting a plant in a certain corner or placement of our couch in a certain area to make our space work better had to be repeated multiple times - Lack of design process i.e. Instead of taking detailed notes from design reviews we were met with seeing completely new designs instead of an iterative process which led us to be very confused - No sense for budget i.e. Suggesting recommendations for heat lamp that cost $7K, sconces that her $1200 each, floor lamp that’s $2400 even though we told her our budget is $50K and did not need her to spend time on lighting or outdoor space. Her budgeting tool also does not work. - No sense for properly scoping a project with a timeline i.e. We wanted to design and furnish our place in time for Christmas. She told us that was not a problem hence why we went with her. With the scope of what we wanted a good designer would have told us to phase out the project and should have been transparent about what was and wasn’t possible with a short timeline. Instead we were fooled into signing a contract with her since we believed she would get this work done by the timeline we wanted. - Unoriginal designs i.e. It was very clear she was reusing designs from previous projects and pulling things from Pinterest I have already pinned and shared with her. She did not show any interest in getting to know us to provide more curated ideas and designs based on our taste. - Unprofessional i.e. The only design that was delivered in time was 1 out of 5. She requested for more time to deliver the second design because she was going to provide mock ups of additional rooms which was not delivered or communicated on the design review day with a reason. Then it was followed with her getting emergency dental work. Then it was because she’s traveling. And now there’s no response ever since we paid the final invoice. On top of everything above, her husband provided us with a $130,000 quote for painting, putting up some shelves, wallpaper and wood panels. We bid this out to several well rated professionals in SF and was provided with estimates for 1/10 of the price. Unfortunately, I have no idea what interior design service we paid $17K for to Ariel that couldn’t have been done for few hundred dollars from services like Havenly or any other virtual design services found online. In hindsight I should’ve read through her reviews in detail where I’m now noticing that one of her 5 star reviews is left by her husband Hammam which is a huge red flag on the authenticity of the other 5 star reviews left for her business.

Working with Ariel was easily one of the best decisions I made during my interior redesign project. From working with me to pick a cohesive color palette to sourcing furniture to designing around some awkward architectural elements in my room, Ariel's expertise put me at ease when making some difficult choices. She easily saved me thousands of dollars and countless hours of painting/returning items. I'm OBSESSED with how it turned out. If you're considering working with Ariel on your project, just do it. You won't regret it!

Ariel is an amazing designer and she really designs around your needs. They also now have a beautiful home goods store. It’s so well curated. Great place to get something for your home and for a thoughtful gift. Friendly and attentive service. Highly recommend.