Design Consulting - Graber Designs

Enduring Interior Design and
Aesthetic Consulting

We sometimes refer to our aesthetic consulting services, done primarily in Elkhart and St. Joseph counties in northern Indiana, as “enduring interior design.” That means we focus on making your home reflect who you are, avoiding the latest – and costly -- fads and trends. We believe homes should be comfortable and practical as well as unique, functional retreats for those who live in them and their guests.

This can best be accomplished by designing your home around the furniture and artwork you have collected over the course of your lives, arranging these in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible. As interior designer Lauri Ward says in Use What You Have Decorating, “Your belongings define your private world and their history merits respect. When you use what you have, your home truly mirrors who you are.”

For many years Ann Graber Miller designed her parents’, siblings’, and friends’ homes, and now this service is available to others as well. Ann, who has a master’s degree from Western Michigan University, is trained as a watercolorist and graphic designer, and she also has studied extensively interior and exterior design. Among the consulting services we offer, for both residential and commercial spaces, are:

Designing additions or remodeled spaces, often in collaboration with a local contractor
Arranging furniture in one room or an entire house
Arranging office furniture and desk areas for maximum efficiency
Assisting retired people who are downsizing with selecting key pieces for their new living spaces
Assisting people expanding their living spaces with finding complementary furnishings
Consulting on blueprints for new homes or additions
Helping think through multiple possible functions for rooms
Designing storage spaces
Selecting new furniture or antiques to complement existing furnishings
Accompanying clients to design centers so you can work together in developing rooms for your home
Choosing from among your artwork and then placing and hanging appropriate pieces
Recommending framing styles or presentation options for artwork
Selecting paint colors, carpeting, wall coverings, and other aesthetic elements
Working with lighting needs
Consulting on landscape design

We are particularly helpful with making the best use of views, designing comfortable conversation areas, helping rooms be as functional and beautiful as possible, integrating sensible artwork (rugs, paintings, sculptures, artifacts) into a room’s design, and making rooms look appealing from every angle. Key words in our enduring interior design are quality, character, simplicity, functionality, elegance, comfort, and appropriateness.

Aesthetic consulting services are charged at a flat $45 per hour rate. Contact Ann at graberdesignsaol.com or the Contact Graber Designs page.