Colleen was recommended to me when I was selling my mom's home. She had fantastic ideas to stage…read morethe house; using some of my mom's furniture as well as furniture that she brought in. The house looked so beautiful and updated fully staged! It sold in two days! I think a lot of that had to do with the excellent staging. In addition, Colleen recommended subcontractors to do painting and electrical work. I was so happy with the work they did I hired some of them to do work in my own home!

Did an awesome job! Very tasteful and matched the vibe of the house. Sold in 48 hours for 15k over…read moreask! Highly recommend.

Overall, primarily influenced by the outcome of our search / purchase (the most important measure),…read morewe were very dissatisfied with the overall service from Pam and Wendy. Pam and Wendy did give us a significant amount of their time and energy over the months it took us to complete the purchase of our new home, which was greatly appreciated. That being said, due to circumstances that could and should have been avoided, we now find ourselves in a discouraging and extremely costly situation as we work through several issues that should have been identified through the home search, due diligence and inspection. We trusted the inspector Pam and Wendy recommended to us would be thorough with a critical focus on protecting us from major issues - this was clearly not the case, and the shortcomings of the inspection and related negotiations have left us having to pay tens of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to remedy. On a related note, the 'experts' Pam and Wendy recommended during the inspection/attorney review period were equally poor, particularly a roofer that gave us an estimate for repairs that we now know was 95%+ underestimated (as proven by four subsequent estimates for the same work), and gave us a false sense of security in terms of what we had ahead of us. Maybe the most unsettling part of the experience in hindsight (which should have raised our flags in the moment) was when Pam and Wendy clearly put the best interest of the sellers ahead of ours (their client) in the context of pressuring us to sign the deal on a condensed timeline so the sellers would not have to relist the property. Finally, neither Pam nor Wendy made themselves or a legal representative available to represent us in person during our closing, and did not give us a heads up that we would be there alone, leaving us with a fairly sour taste on what should have been a celebratory day. Overall, as we continue to work through issues daily and try to recoup our losses, we do not feel our best interests were prioritized and feel the advice from Pam, Wendy and their recommended subject experts was critically underwhelming and insufficient.

From the moment we met with Pam and Wendy we knew we were in great hands. My husband and I were in…read morethe process of trying to decipher whether or not we wanted to take on a big project, or something more turnkey. Pam and Wendy differentiated themselves from the beginning because they knew the estimated costs of various projects, and where we would get a significant return on investment should we decide to sell our home in the future. We truly felt that they had our best interests in mind, and were always available to consult on various ideas. When we heard about a home coming on the market in Evanston, Pam did not hesitate to reach out to her contacts and ensure that we were the first people to get into see. Once we knew this was the home for us, Pam and Wendy knew how to navigate the negotiations with multiple offers, and her competitive yet sensible drive kept us calm and focused throughout the stressful process of buying a home in a pandemic. After the house was ours, Pam and Wendy's work did not end. They connected us with their favorite vendors for roofing, carpeting, lighting and more. They ensured we were connected with the best lawyer and loan-officer and were on-call to help us navigate several unforeseen circumstances throughout the process. We truly feel that our "forever home" today, would not have been ours without this incredible team of professionals assisting us throughout the process. We can't recommend them enough!

They are magicians! I'm very pregnant and overwhelmed by clutter and they made such a difference in…read moresuch a fast amount of time. It gave me so much peace and relief.

Our kitchen and bathrooms were touched by angels…read more We just moved into our new condo and let's just say we had more than we thought the space could handle. There was no way we could have unpacked and organized our kitchen and bathrooms over the next few weeks, which is what their team excelled to do in less than a day. Mackenzie was very responsive starting from original quote to appointment day. Because of this they came fully prepared and we feel every minute they used here was optimized to the fullest. It's our first time using this kind of service and Mackenzie, Chloe, Brittany, Mary and Melanie have officially spoiled us for all moves to come. Our home brings us so much joy now.

I have used Audrey's services for numerous moves - unpacking and organization. She is a joy to…read morework with and her organizational skills are impeccable. She has made our lives so much easier over the years and has immensely decreased the stress of moving 3x in the last (5) years . I notice once she organizes our lives, everything stays exactly where she puts it. She understands how people live. I cannot recommend her and her services enough.

From the owner: Home Staging We offer a great package for people placing…read moretheir home on the real estate market. Our staging services will get your home sold faster--and for more money. Get that "Sold" sign in your yard today! Interior Design Tired of the way your home looks? Think you need to go out and buy all new items? Give us a call. We'll work with you to use the items you already own to create an inviting interior redesign and make it feel like a new space. Move Management Let us help guide you through an often overwhelming event. Whether you are simply looking to downsize from your family home to a condo or have been relocated as a result of a job transfer, Staging North Shore can help you make the move smoother and less stressful. Residential Organization Being organized is easy once you have a system in place. At Staging North Shore, we will create systems you can follow to get--and stay--organized.

Chris has staged our client's homes for sale and we will keep going back to her to help move our…read morelistings. She is the utmost professional and always a pleasure to work with. I recommend Chris for anyone that wants a smooth working relationship, sophisticated style and great ideas.

Chris is amazing to work with. We sold our house in 3 hours due to her beautiful and creative taste…read moreof staging the house. I would highly recommend her, and can't wait for my next project so I can use her again. I highly recommend using Chris Milne Redesign to see the amazing work she can do. Sabrina Briggs

Working with Dawn was amazing! I reached out for help selecting a paint color for a tricky room in…read moreour house (the kitchen). During our 2-hour consultation, Dawn not only found a color that perfectly matched our style, counters, and backsplash but also spotted opportunities to refresh the colors in the dining room and entry to bring the whole design together. Her color savvy is fantastic, and she asked great questions and listened carefully to incorporate our preferences and ideas. She left us with paint swatches for all three rooms, and the new colors look incredible. Dawn's color consultation more than exceeded our expectations, but she didn't stop there! She also suggested ways to update the kitchen and dining room lighting to be more functional and coordinated. Her after-visit email summary included links to all of the ideas she had offered, including multiple options for fixtures that were very affordable and perfect for our spaces. We love the new lighting. To top it all off, when we told Dawn about our longer-term goal of renovating our kitchen, she offered fantastic ideas for reconfiguring the space to make it more functional and appealing. She followed up with detailed recommendations in her after-visit email summary and included rough drawings to help us visualize thew space. The 2-hour consultation with Dawn was an incredible value, and we definitely want to work with her on the kitchen renovation project!

"I had an absolutely amazing experience working with Dawn Bach on my apartment layout and design. I…read morereached out to her before moving from Colorado to Illinois, and she took the time to schedule a call and clearly explain her role as an interior decorator and how she could help based on my space and preferences. Dawn provided detailed layout plans along with furniture, bedding, electronics, and artwork recommendations--all of which perfectly matched my style and lifestyle. Her guidance not only made the process easy, but it also saved me over $900. I truly got everything I asked for and more. Thank you, Dawn! I will absolutely recommend you to anyone looking for an interior decorator."

I attended this sale this weekend and this company cleared out the house, it was quite impressive.read more

The team is beyond awesome! Quality set ups and service. I highly recommend them for your estate…read moresale or better yet shopping! Say hi to Phil!

I read about CMF in Crains and met w Claudia prior to my down sizing…read more I ended up using CMF for packing of which they mostly did a good job. However, they did separately pack electronics from their power cords which meant I had to go buy new power cords for my printer to use while other items were stored. I don't think their packing is any better than any other moving company I've used. But definitely more expensive! I was planning on using the moving company that was also listed in Crains that would have safely "crated" my items while my new home was being renovated. Claudia strongly recommended not crating items. I then asked her for moving company and storage company recommendations thinking this should be easy enough to do since this is her line of work. Since I assumed her recs were solid and had two friends unexpectedly pass I went w her recs. It's been a nightmare. The recommended storage facility was filthy and when the moving company was picking up my items to move into my newly renovated home several items (couch, chairs, mattress, box spring etc) were infested with moths. Now I realize this isn't a CMF facility. But when providing feedback to Claudia she is uninterested, dismissive and does not want to take accountability for anything. She just deflects. I had high expectations from the Crains article and could not of been any less impressed with CMF. They certainly DO NOT specialize in guiding people through down sizing moves. Nor do they seem that interested even working. Maybe design is their forte. Because nothing else seems to be. Unless you are completely helpless, love paying people for a lack of expertise or enjoy working with people who really aren't concerned with you...go elsewhere for expertise. I gave them the 2 stars because they did pack my home on short notice.

DO NOT USE CMFTO - Bait and Switch Staff, Provide Poor Service, and are Unresponsive to Issues…read moreWe hired Claudia McLaughlin's organizing service - CMFTO - to help unpack and sort our household belongings during a move from California to Chicago. We were upfront about not having purged enough items beforehand. Bait and Switch; Poor service The day before work began, Claudia confirmed her team: "All great! Gina, Damien and Mara will see you at 9:30." We noted Mara in several of the positive reviews. The next morning, without notice or explanation, Mara was replaced with an inexperienced 26-year-old who was clearly overwhelmed, unprepared - and didn't cook, though she was assigned to the kitchen, where the organization was particularly poor: Two of seven total pantry shelves were filled with cookbooks instead of essential items One of three total drawers wasted with non-essential containers Pot/pan separators stacked on top instead of placed between items--she evidently didn't know what they were The rest of the team was adequate but not worth $160/hour (or $240/hour for three people). Basically unpackers, not organizers. Unacceptable Response to Complaints: When I texted Claudia about the poor work and requested a replacement worker, she refused and blamed us instead: "Your home should have been minimized before the move." A dismissive, ludicrous response for an "organizer". She refused to change the team, giving us no option but to cancel rather than pay for work we would need to redo anyway. Claudia charged an $800 (!!) cancellation fee--which I've protested three times with zero response. The positive reviews here are irrelevant - highly unlikely any of them had the team that worked with us. Bottom Line: Avoid CMFTO. They bait-and-switch staff, deflect accountability, and ignore customer concerns. But if you do use them, be sure you have sorted and organized your belongings before you hire Claudia to sort and organize your belongings.

One of your employees / partners who says his cousin works at your warehouse, Wilbert Rodriquez,…read morelied and scammed me of $2,700 of rental income, leaving my luxury condo unit damaged and a mess and not paying his February rent on purpose while I actually was on an international trip! He is a liar and thief who uses your company to scam and convince people to let him live there rent free and bring your furniture to their properties! To gain their trust! He had occupied my condo with your furniture, then left my condo damaged! I actually allowed him to buy a "house for his family" without credit as a favor and he used my kindness to financially abuse me and my own new business income! Instead of kindly telling me he couldn't pay before I traveled so I could have my rental ad up for my OWN marketing! We are now at a risk of losing $5500 because he cannot MAKE honest decisions! Based on this type of lying and behavior for your employees, I give you a ONE STAR for quality of talent and how they use their "employment" to secure rental properties then deplete the owner's finances! I will ONLY remove this post once he has paid me the FULL amount of missing income he stole from me! If this is the kind of business you operate, a family of thieves shame on you!

My real estate agent's firm highly recommended Phoenix Rising Home Staging for luxury condo units…read more So, I requested this company and another to come out and sell me their ideas/terms/prices. Both companies work with ultra-high end real estate, and have designers on hand to attractively style the home with furnishings. I was particularly partial to Phoenix because of Hannah. While the prices of both companies were comparable, the contractual terms were less favorable with Phoenix; however, I really liked Hannah. She has an art background, and does design for a living. She was impressed by the art in my unit, and knew a good deal about quite a number of them (impressive!). I had to commit to 5months of rent for Phoenix's furniture, at about $2200/month, even knowing my unit would sell in a month or so. 2 of the 3 bedrooms were staged, along with the public rooms. The alternative high-end staging company had a one month commitment of $5K, with each subsequent month being prorated by day (@ $2K/month). This alternative company didn't have Hannah, though, and her design eye. I took the bite and committed to Phoenix knowing my gorgeous unit would sell in a month (it did!), and I am glad I did. Thank you Phoenix Rising, and Hannah!