April Interiors

April and her amazing team went above and beyond in every way to help make our dream home even better than I could have imagined!

From the very first appointment I knew I would be in good hands with how thorough they were. We went step by step and their expertise helped to guide me through the process from start to finish.

From exterior to interior to all of the fixtures and finishes they did what I could only describe as a perfect job. I would highly recommend them to anyone and if I ever need help again I would only make one call.

5 stars! Absolute perfection!

April, Sam, Erica and team were amazing to work with and the finished product (new build) is amazing. The photos of the project will speak for themselves once posted online. My wife and I asked the team to jump in and make decisions when we might otherwise spin our wheels in disagreement. We were never led astray. We are happy Clients of April Interiors!

Terrible business acumen. Her behavior came off disingenuous and she was not strait forward about her pricing! (Which was ridiculous for the project we discussed)

She came to our home after we agreed upon her charging $150/hr. (which is fine)

AFTER getting to my home she let me know that there would be a $3,000 RETAINER FEE!!! Just for HER services alone!!That's not including the contractors/painters/any work done!!!
$3,000 just for HER!
We felt it was shady that she didn't mention that on the phone BEFORE she came to our house! If i would have known about the $3,000 retainer fee, i would have never asked this woman to come to my home in the first place.

Now she repeatedly harasses us for the $150 which i have refused to pay, simply because my husband and I feel taken advantage of and duped. If she would have been truthful in the beginning, none of this would be necessary! We tried to explain that if she would have been TRANSPARENT FROM THE BEGINNING, this would not be an issue, yet she claims this is how she handles all of her clients... so beware!
She has threatened to turn is into the collection agency over $150 and keeps charging us late fees!! THIRSTY MUCH?
Guess she REALLY needs that $150 by manipulating the public.

There are a TON of talented designers/decorators in Austin that will make sure that the people they work with are happy while doing their job. That will be UP FRONT with pricing, kind, engaged, and that are happy in general.
SHE IS NOT ONE OF THEM!
It was never about the money! It was her lack of business tactics and communication that lead to this yelp post.

My summary assessment of April Interiors (AI) and her husband's contractor business, "From the Ground Up" (FTGU) is unprofessional, low quality, poor communication and questionable billing practices. I feel the need to add to my wife's previous review of our experience. Admittedly, this was my first time working with an interior designer, but I have worked with many contractors. We decided to use AI for some design elements in our new home because we wanted someone to take ownership of the project from start to finish and deal with problems as they arose, as they always do in construction projects. During her consultation, April assured my wife that she would oversee the project and hold subcontractors accountable for mistakes. Unfortunately, our experience has been quite contrary to our goal.
Firstly, we were unaware that AI was subcontracting a majority of the work to her husband, we foolishly assumed that she would seek out and hire industry experts for each project, rather than just hire her husband's "remodeling and handy-man" company, especially because we thought we were paying her hourly design rate to serve as our general contractor. We had multiple issues with FTGU from the beginning, primarily with the quality of their work, the details of which would make for a much longer post. We often found ourselves having to communicate with AI to arrange for FTGU to correct mistakes, rather than April ensuring the quality as promised. Suffice to say that there was not a single aspect of their work that went right the first time, and many aspects of their "finished" work are still unsatisfactory. More importantly, we found out later that we were being invoiced for every communication between us and April, as well as April and FTGU, regarding these issues, even regarding the instances when both AI and FTGU would acknowledge that the quality was unacceptable. We only became aware of the relationship between the two businesses when her husband reached out to us directly to apologize for a mistake they had made, and we realized they had the same last name. When we voiced our concern about the conflict of interest and requested that we not pay her for time spent to coordinate repairing their mistakes, she responded by demanding that we pay the remaining balance for the entirety of the project or she would not deliver the goods and furnishings we had already paid for, even though the agreement was that we would pay for all materials and half of labor up front, and the remainder of each project as it was completed. After discussing our options with an attorney, we felt we had no choice but to allow them to finish so that we might move on.
This demand for early additional payment of over $17,000 came even though we had provided AI with a check for nearly $25000 to get work started and had paid all of our design invoices promptly. There was several months delay between the initial payment and any work starting, and sometimes weeks without updates. Communication was consistently poor, and primarily through emails that were often devoid of needed details but full of condescending generalities. We were repeatedly made to feel that our concerns were unwarranted and told that the issues were the result of us being overzealous in identifying mistakes early. If we wanted to actually speak with her by phone, we would have to arrange for a phone meeting in the middle of the work day, many days in advance. Our last invoice included a line for "harassing calls" because I tried to reach her at her office and by cell phone to discuss an urgent issue but she did not answer.
AI also refused to honor the initial bid to paint/repaint the walls that they had already worked on (in four separate rooms of our home), even though we insisted that they complete the work. When we solicited bids from other painters, they either refused the job, because the decorative fretwork on the wall should have been painted prior to installation (a concern we had brought up to AI in the beginning), or their bids were 5 times higher than the original bid for the same reason. I believe that April Interiors declined to honor the agreement because they realized they had underbid the paintwork and took advantage of our dissatisfaction to get out of it.
To add insult to injury, April would only agree to finish the other projects if we were not in our home when FTGU was working, and when they installed some new lighting fixtures on the accent wall, they damaged the finish. This issue happened not once, but three times. Rather than take responsibility and notify us, they tried to cover it up with black paint. When we brought it to April's attention, she came to our house, when we were not allowed to be, to inspect. She agreed that it was not acceptable, but while she was at our house, she directed FTGU to sand down the caulking on the joints of the decorative wall work, after it had clearly been newly painted by our painters! She invoiced us for he

April and Jason completed several projects for us at our house and the work has always turned out wonderful. April's attention to details and working with the customer to ensure they are happy is second to none. We are now in the process of an entire downstairs remodel and every step of the way has been above and beyond our expectations.

I've done several jobs for April Interiors as a cabinet refinisher. I have to say that it's just been an overall enjoyable experience throughout. April and her crew are all extremely friendly and professional. I cant express how valuable that is. when working with other trades, communication and respect are extremely important and that's exactly what you get from them. The inspiration and quality of work is top notch. Over the past 16 years in this business, I haven't seen this kind of attention to detail. I highly recommend using this company as they can do almost anything you can think of. At the same time, they do it with a smile, an eye and professionalism.

I can't say enough good things about April Interiors. April is very easy to work with, organized, and straight forward in her design detail. Her eye in design and bringing a client's wants/ needs to reality is exceptional. Her projects are absolutely beautiful and always seem to capture the personality of the client and space. If I could give 10 stars I would!

I have used April Interiors a couple of times now. Once, I was re-doing my daughter's room and needed extra help. She gave me a ton of new ideas and I was able to go out and buy what I needed and then she helped me arrange and cover a fabric headboard that makes a huge statement in her room!
Another time, I called on her to help with our upstairs bonus room. I wanted to use this room for so many different purposes and she helped me consolidate and organize this space, and now its more functional and has a 'finished' look.
I recommend her if you have a big project, like a multiple room design, or just need an updated look and advice!

April of April Interiors rearranged our furniture and gave us great advice and suggestions for every room in the house.

She'll go shopping for you or with you--or just give you some tips for you to shop yourself. And she's very affordable, too. The best money we ever spent on our house!