Kristen Handtke with Walter E. Smithe

“Such a great room! How do you use a long-distance designer? How do you pick such comfortable furniture?” I’m often asked these questions, living here in the north woods of Wisconsin. Kristen Handtke at Walter E. Smithe in Naperville, Illinois, is skillfully creative when working with us. She communicates and articulates her design options via many phone conversations, skyping, and her internet idea boards. Kristen has a great listening ear for our lifestyle, comfort levels and style preferences. Greatly appreciated is her wily maximizing of our budget, sifting through beneficial upgrades for our goals. She gave future design advise as well as seasonal accessorizing guidance (my favorite). Our vision is completed with our frequent guests who are welcomed into our freshly updated home, pull up their feet on the amazingly comfortable furniture and sink in for a great night of conversation with hot mugs around the fire.