Willard and Palmer Design

Brilliant!! Charlotte has done two of my houses-- We love the colors she picked, the fabrics, furniture, and even placement of our things, etc. She understands functional elegance which draws you into the space. Rooms are great for entertaining, but still have an element of fun and whimsy. She always brings fresh ideas to our homes.

I don't usually write a lot of reviews, but Charlotte Lekakos from Willard and Palmer Design was absolutely amazing to work with on our home. She was on-time, very professional and really helped us solve some design issues we were having with our space. For example, the color palette she put together for our daughter's nursery was spot on. The furniture, furniture placement and area rug she recommended is so beautiful that we feel like we live in a magazine. The nursery is functional, stylish and classic. Charlotte is innovative, fresh and smart. Her suggestions for our living room and family room completely transformed our spaces and we couldn't be happier. Her calm demeanor and reassuring attitude made what could have been a complicated process into a seamless one stop process with great results. We will be calling her again for our next project.

We have a house built in the 1930s and the living room fireplace is located in a very odd place making furniture placement extremely difficult. Charlotte brought her wonderful design sense to the situation and created a wonderful space for both gatherings and just reading a book. She listened to what we had to say, guided gracefully, and stayed within our budget. She was an absolute delight to work with. In addition to furniture purchases, we also had curtains and pillows made. The workmanship is outstanding. We always get compliments from people as they enjoy the space Charlotte created.

This company strikes the perfect balance between being edgy yet "conventional." The owner adds a whimsical and interesting touch which captures the imagination, while at the same time offering designs that are cozy and practical. Her additions will take you slightly outside the box and are sure to earn admiring compliments from guests. The whole point of hiring a professional is to take you places you would not have gone yourself. Willard and Palmer does that, in a subtle and delightful way, and I would highly recommend them.

Charlotte designed my office space. The space is small, and I needed lots of storage. I also needed my space to be kid-friendly and to work for conferences with parents and teachers. I have a beautiful office, with a beautiful loveseat, a child's chair, lots of storage - and it looks and functions very well! Charlotte was easy to work with,and she was responsive to my ideas and needs.

Charlotte has exquisite taste. She is a wonderful collaborator and a veteran designer. Refined yet not stuffy. Flexible, a good listener, resourceful, and fun. I'm ready for the next project!

I started working with Willard and Palmer over 20 years ago in decorating my home. I continue to use her to this day in helping me not only update my present home but decorate our weekend home on the river. Charlotte Lekakos has a wonderful sense of color and style. She has a remarkable ability to translate your vision of what you what your house to look like into reality. People who come to my home remark about how lovely and charming my house is and how much it looks like me. Charlotte is fun to work with and she has such wonderful ideas. Her designs are unique. They are always lovely and fresh and very inviting. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for design help.

I first met Charlotte in 2011 at the Washington Design Center's DreamHome exhibition. Charlotte had decorated a living room from my dreams, and the friends I was with at the show had to drag me out of it when the show was over. I was absolutely hooked on her effortlessly classic, but chic and fresh look. I first contacted Charlotte about my DC row home, but a few months into our planning my husband and I purchased a 220 year old farm house in Frederick, MD and decided to make the switch from the capital to the country. Thankfully, Charlotte was full of ideas on how to transition the work (and furniture) we had already started in one house to the other. I don’t consider myself an easy client. I’m always changing my mind, paralyzed by indecision, and constantly questioning the direction. Charlotte is a total dream to work with for someone like me because she is flexible, honest, and can change directions when she knows I’m flailing. Charlotte’s help with two of our most lived-in rooms (our formal living room and our bedroom), has really given us the confidence to tackle the rest of this historic home. My husband and I look forward to working with Charlotte for years to come.

My relationship with Willard and Palmer began more than 13 years ago when I bid on--and won--3 hours of professional services that were donated at a charity auction. I had been recently remarried and was living with the same furnishings from my childhood bedroom and living room. We extended that three hour consultation into a complete redecoration of the living room, dining room, kitchen and office in our 1930s home. Since then Charlotte Lekaukas and I have had multiple large projects completed to my highest satisfaction; all done on time, as agreed and with extraordinary attention to customer service. I am a low/mid budget client; this would make my decorating choices somewhat challenging for a less creative and adaptive professional. Charlotte always listened to me, identified wonderful approaches and delivered more than I ever expected within budget. She is also a truly generous, respectful and lovely human being both to work with and as a friend. Charlotte specializes in providing upscale, comfortable, durable family-friendly solutions. She included my husband in key decisions (!) and made him feel like he had a vote. At all times, she assured we were optimizing bang for buck in small areas and focusing our resources on the 'special pieces' that would make our home feel unique and our own. She offered many extra touches: transforming my paned windows into mirrors; finding the last yard ever made of a particular fabric to create a valance in my bathroom to match the wallpaper... We have kids, dogs, cats--all of these complexities were accounted for in choosing colors, fabrics, furnishings. Our newest project is our daughter's bedroom--moving beyond bubble gum pink to a teenagers sophisticated palette. It is worth noting that Charlotte has a gift for listening to teenagers and for getting them to listen to her right back. Charlotte knows her trade, her craft and has her own unique voice to bring to any client setting.

I'm living in the second house that Charlotte has helped my husband and I decorate - and she's advised us on our beach property, as well. We could not have called these places our home without Charlotte's creative insight. Her ability to listen and respond to our desires is what stands her apart from her peers - we felt heard and she delivered beautiful work. Charlotte's experience, knowledge, contacts, and referrals have impressed us over the 10+ years we've worked together. She's proven to be reliable, accessible, and fiscally responsible while her designs have received countless complements in our home. We highly recommend Willard and Palmer as your interior design firm.