Working with Diane and Lara at Bleu Leman was such a wonderful experience, especially as someone who had never worked with interior designers before. I was moving into a new home and starting fresh, and they struck the perfect balance between really listening to what I wanted and gently stretching my thinking in ways that made the final result so much better than I could have imagined. They took the time to truly get to know me and how I live, not just my style preferences, and that personal connection made the whole process feel collaborative and easy rather than intimidating. Beyond their talent, Diane and Lara are simply lovely humans. I genuinely looked forward to our conversations, and I always felt supported, never pressured. They were incredibly clear and organized around purchases and budget, helped me stay on track financially, and were flexible and patient as I changed my mind more than once along the way. I ended up with a home that feels like me, and I'm so grateful for their creativity, professionalism, and kindness. I couldn't recommend Bleu Leman more highly. read more

We cannot say enough good things about working with Dee and Lara. What is usually a stressful and overwhelming process was, with them, genuinely fun, inspiring, and deeply enjoyable. From the very beginning, they took the time to truly get to know us and our kids - not just our aesthetic preferences, but how we live in our home day to day. That thoughtfulness showed up in every design and functionality decision they helped us make. They were incredibly collaborative and brought us along at every step, making the process feel like a true partnership. They never once pushed an idea or decision on us, but they were also amazing at helping us thoughtfully stretch beyond our comfort zone in ways that ultimately made the home better than we ever imagined. Dee and Lara were responsive, kind, warm, and completely transparent throughout the entire process. We always understood the "why" behind decisions and felt informed and confident every step of the way. They were also exceptionally respectful of our budget. We never felt pressured to overspend, and instead felt like they maximized every single dollar while still delivering a truly elevated result. Their broader team (both internal and external partners) was equally impressive, with a clear commitment to quality and a very high bar for execution. Most importantly, we absolutely love our home. We're grateful for the experience, thrilled with the outcome, and fully expect to work with Dee and Lara for years to come. We would recommend them without hesitation to anyone looking for designers who are best-in-class, thoughtful, and genuinely wonderful to work with. read more

We loved working with Dee and Lara! We initially hired them to outfit the living room of our new home, but we ended up having them help with a number of additional spaces as well. They did an incredible job making the space evoke our own personalities, while also making it 100x more beautiful than we could have made it on our own. They have truly brought so much beauty and joy to our home. They also were very conscientious of our budget, which we appreciated. We are already looking forward to bringing them back to do additional rooms that we weren't ready to take on in the first wave. read more

Dee is an absolute dream. I was in need of a major refresh of my family room, master bedroom and dining room. As a birthday gift for my teenage daughter, I hired Dee to also help furnish and decorate her room as well. Dee asked so many questions and really listened to us. She came up with the most perfect plan and we absolutely love everything. I walk in the door every day so happy to be home. She stayed within my budget and was always so professional while also being so kind and personable. I seriously could not be happier. I wish I had more to change! I miss her already! read more

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I really enjoyed working with Dee! Following a divorce, I felt the need to make over our house into more of a home to support myself and my kids. With Dee's professional assistance, excellent design sense, and warm demeanor we are now living in a space which feels much more warm, welcoming, beautiful, and functional. This included repainting several rooms, picking out major new furnishings, selecting new window and floor coverings, as well as accessorizing. It made such a difference to have someone who could see it all in their head, put it together in a way which makes sense, and knew where to find the most appropriate items! I also learned a lot from Dee along the way which made the whole process really fun and educational. She's a great communicator and was very mindful of my budget. I had never worked with an interior designer before, but it was totally worth it-- I didn't realize what a difference it would make to me to feel so at home in my own house! read more

Dee at Bleu Leman Design is a delight to work with. Her talents are many. She is very organized and informed about all the smaller vendors that are very affordable but still offer a quality and unique product. From lamps, pillows, artwork and furniture she can source and incorporate them into your project to give your design a polished and pulled together look. I highly recommend her services. read more

We worked with Diane Leifer (Dee), of Bleu Leman Design, to overhaul our Oakland living space. Years of raising babies had taken a toll on everyone and we needed to brighten things up! Because of Dee's hard work, our home looks and feels SO much better. We are incredibly happy living in the outcome of this project. Dee is a friendly, endearing person, and she gets the job done. She is a great communicator and keeps to the timeline and budget of the project. Dee made the process very comfortable for my whole family. Even though the kids begged us to stop changing everything, they eased right into their new, clean, comfortable, and unique space. She even loved our cats enough to put them in the "after" photos. Our kids (and cats) will grow up here, in these rooms. We are happy that they will see our style, even though we needed help to achieve it! Dee's contractors were consistently punctual and did excellent work. The painting, the window coverings and finish work were completed by reputable small businesses. They were all reliable and delivered on time. I would recommend them highly as well. You won't lose if you work with Dee. I tell all of my friends about her. I hope you get the chance to also. read more

I truly cannot say enough great things about working with Dee, Lara and the Bleu Leman team. They have transformed our home, and have been excellent to work with. They are great listeners: hearing what you want, presenting options, and making the case for something when you are on the fence (or when you and your partner disagree- not that that ever happens in my marriage how about yours ;). And they are generous with their time and lovely, friendly people to work with. Our Berkeley home had been a rental property for over a decade and had a really shabby, dated interior. Now, after working with Bleu Leman, we have the casual, elegant, and comfortable relaxing environment we need for working from home and for our teens to welcome their friends. They just nailed it at channeling our personal style. If your home needs an overhaul, a refresh, or an update, I promise you will not regret giving Bleu Leman a call! read more

Don't bother with this firm. I took effort to complete the on-line website contact form in detail & got a reply message they are not taking any new clients so obviously not interested meeting anyone new or maybe only meeting clients with very deep pockets. read more

Dee helped us re-design our entire living room, and she couldn't have done a better job. We're thrilled with how it turned out. She honed in on our taste and put it into effect perfectly. She's skilled at letting the client make the choices, on the one hand, but confidently stepping in when something different is better for practical or design or esthetic purposes, on the other. She's a lovely person and a pleasure to work with. read more

I was invited to a party at a friend's house in Orinda, and was struck by her beautiful choices of furniture and art. The layout was functional and welcoming. It was uncluttered, intriguing, didn't look to be plucked out of a showroom, but way more personal. I had just assumed she had done it all herself, but lucky I asked! No, she had used a designer, and yes, she would send me the info! I contacted Diane Leifer (Dee) of Bleu Leman Design as soon as I had her contact info. Our project was to design our living room and family room to be an attractive space for living, and to make sure it was comfortable with lots of seating. We also wanted to combine some of our antique pieces with new furniture, and wanted it to look like it all went together, not like some sort of showroom of a used furniture store! Dee was excellent at helping us pare down, as well as creating a color/style theme to carry through from one room to the next. She helped with couches, chairs, rugs, etc, and in the end, small tabletop items such as frames and vases. She was really fun to work with, and helped my husband and me get through the decision-making process (not easy!) This was our first experience working with a designer, and I'm so glad that we were able to work with Dee. read more

Dee helped us with redesign of our tired old decor in our small well-loved house. She introduced color into our formerly beige lives, with new paint in gorgeous colors. She worked with us to keep old family furniture and bring in new pieces that fit our space and integrated flawlessly with the older things. Dee is a delight to work with, and she kept in close contact as the project progressed. We felt that she really listened to what we wanted. She has great contacts in the design world for furniture, rugs, upholstery all at discount. Highly recommended, I can't imagine redecorating with anyone else next time. read more

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to begin a private psychotherapy practice in Berkeley. I found the perfect office in the perfect location, but then had NO idea where to begin in terms of decorating it. I found Diane of Bleu Leman Design on a Google search, and it was the best thing that could've happened for my new business. She worked with me from the very beginning to figure out what my style is, what kind of experience I wanted my clients to have, what colors and textures I was going for. We ended up doing the whole thing quite collaboratively, but then she would just make some really big decisions for me (e.g., as I became overwhelmed with the thousands of colors to choose from, she just handed me a swatch for the wall color, and had me go ahead and buy it). Diane is professional, passionate, caring, fun, and extremely talented. My clients, friends, subletters, and colleagues all love the space she helped create. I am so grateful! I would recommend her for any design needs. Her website photos show her simple, beautiful, clean, and lively style. And she's affordable, too! read more

I have had the pleasure of working with Diane on several projects, and it is such a pleasure every time! She has an amazing eye for design, is enthusiastic about each project, keeps things moving along very efficiently ( in keeping with her Swiss genes :-) ), is very professional, and the result is always stunning! As a professional in the design world I get to work with a lot of designers and vendors, and I am always so pleased to work with Diane every chance I get. Hire her, you won't regret it!! read more

I highly recommend Diane Leifer from Bleu Leman Design. Three years ago I hired her to do a whole face lift of our living room, dining room and entry way. We never really used our living room before, but Diane transformed it into our favorite room in the house. She created a space that has the color, texture and feel that we wanted. She encouraged us to focus on how we really wanted to use the space so instead of having a living room that we just walk through, we have a room that we love to be in. Three years later, I still get the same happy feeling walking into my house! During the project I fell in love with a bench that was way out of my price range. Always coming up with solutions that fit our style, Diane found someone who could make the bench for 1/4 the price. I used to joke and call Diane "the designer for the rest of us!" read more

I'm remodeling a house and Dee picked all the wall colors for me and it made the house look fantastic. It looks better than I could have imagined. She also designed my closets and furniture layout among other things and I couldn't be happier. read more

Dee is fantastic. She not only has an outstanding sense of style (expected), she is FAST and can multitask a project like nobody's business. I've never been stumped putting a living space together, but this house just about did me in. Dee swept in and within three hours had placed every item that needed to be hung on the walls in almost every room, including a small gallery wall of mirrors; she'd approved and amended my plan for dining room bookshelves for our boxes of homeless books after listening to what I like, how we live and then looking at images I'd collected; styled multiple areas; found a creative home for another pile of beloved art books; helped me choose which pieces of furniture had to go for lack of room and moved other pieces around to VASTLY improve the functionality (and look) of the living room; given me links to a slew of (affordable) items from towel hooks to dining room chairs to multi-purpose stools/side tables to solve more functionality problems. We found fantastic solutions for hanging juggling clubs, storing yoga mats, placing mail, and so on. There's more I'm not listing. She went with my moving brain, sweeping from room to room and area to area in a completely non-linear fashion because that's where my attention was going, never missing a beat, never getting overwhelmed by the mass of it. She kept up with me at every step, and when she left the house was transformed: beautifully designed, interesting and in line with our style and lives, and in our budget. I can only imagine what she can do with permission to go off with a hardy budget. I'll be calling on her again, soon. read more

I highly recommend Diane Leifer (Dee) of Bleu Leman Design. After several attempts to decorate on my own, I accepted that my design skills and creativity were not my strong suit and so contacted Diane. Her trained eye and attuned ears(!) contributed to a fun, productive working relationship that yielded wonderful results. She's got a terrific knack for color and room arrangements and her suggested pieces added flair to the spaces but steered them clear of showy. She's well connected to local design specialists. (I now have a beautiful built-in cabinet and decorative floor, which if I ever leave, I'll have to figure out how to bring them with me.) If you want to reduce stress and add beauty to your life, contact Diane. read more

My wife and I engage Dee to help us decorate our living room and entry way. She did a *fantastic* job. She not only has a great design sense but also listened and observed intently to understand our style. We wound up with rooms that had accents, colors and textures that we never would have arrived at but at the same time seem like "ours". In addition to her excellent design sense she is also amazingly organized, efficient and delivers the highest level of service (I worked in the service sector for years - she's really, really good). She has a great network of professionals that she can draw upon or refer to and she turns from being a sole proprietor with that personal touch to being a one stop shop for everything you may need. If that all wasn't enough she was also very sensitive to our checkbook and when we felt like we needed to watch the bottom line she was unhesitatingly helpful, didn't miss a beat and came up with great solutions that kept us in our budget. We're going to continue working with her and if you need design help you are making a mistake if you don't talk to her. read more

Bleu Leman's Dee Leifer is a truly exceptional interior designer. Maybe it is because of her european perspective, but her sense for colors and style is simply impeccable. Upon starting my living room and basement projects, I was wearily optimistic that I could find someone who would help me create a space in my home that was exactly what I envisioned. Dee did just that. After our consultations, she would come back to me with design options that had just the right amount of variation, but were all spot on. I have worked with other designers before with relative satisfaction but was not happy enough to return to them for future projects. I will definitely use Dee for my future projects. Dee is extremely warm-hearted and creative and she made the design process fun and relatively easy. She responds to emails and other forms of communication promptly and effectively. Her knowledge of the best stores, manufacturers and styles for my vision and budget ended up saving me a lot of money and headaches in the long run. I highly recommend her. read more