it is rare to find both an artist, an attentive consultant, and an excellent project manager in the same person. Colleen pulls that off brilliantly.

Colleen is extraordinary. She is inspiring, talented, skilled, proactive, budget-conscious, time-conscious, responsive, fun, joyous... So many words come to mind.

Colleen listens. She took my descriptions of what I wanted to feel and what I wanted to do in my life and used that to create rooms that fill the spirit in ways I never would've dreamed up on my own. She made my house a home. Every day I am grateful to live here and every person who stays also feels at home here, and even better, they want to come back!

Colleen creates a holistic tapestry for the entire house that still brings unique characteristics to each room. Her fresh ideas made my house into a showpiece on top of being a home. Literally every single person who comes here comments on how stunning they feel my home is.

Colleen pays attention to the person. She focuses her whole self on her client when she is working with them. She always responds to queries in a timely manner. She makes sure to communicate the state of things often. She keeps an eye on the bottom line budget. In my opinion, it is rare to find both an artist, an attentive consultant, and an excellent project manager in the same person. Colleen pulls that off brilliantly.

Perhaps most importantly, Colleen is an amazing human. Her energy is infectious. Her joy shines through. She lives with integrity and authenticity.

— Heather Stephens

Her suggestions were cost effective while at the same time transformative

I have worked closely with Colleen over the past year and cannot recommend her more highly. She helped us with both an extensive remodel and construction plans for a new, second home. Colleen has incredible aesthetic vision in a way I've never seen with other designers. Her designs are clean, functional and beautiful. She made the process incredibly simple by bringing us a complete project vision that allowed us to see the full aesthetic scope and costs. She anticipated all the project costs and came in on budget. For our remodel, Colleen's suggestions fit beautifully with our existing home features to give a cohesive and beautiful feel to our home without unnecessary revisions. Her suggestions were cost effective while at the same time transformative. We loved working with Colleen so much that we expanded the scope of her work to include fully furnishing and accessorizing our home. For our new, second home, Colleen came up with a floor plan that was creative and practical and worked closely with us to understand our vision for the home. I also loved that she has access to the most recent design technology, including providing 3D renderings of our new floor plan so we could fully visualize our new home. She is skilled working with and has relationships with the best architects, artists and contractors, which has huge value when undertaking new builds, remodels, and decorating. I cannot recommend Colleen more highly, she is fantastic.

— Melissa and Eric Harwood, Mercer Island

She creates unique and comfortable spaces

Colleen is a true pleasure to work with. She presents a range of options while really steering you in the direction to achieve a successful outcome. She understands that the design process can be intimidating, but, is reassuring and incredibly thoughtful throughout. She creates unique and comfortable spaces.

she needed to blend the existing with new

Colleen has a wide range form simple and elegant to high-quality. I have retained her 3 times for interior design, twice for new homes where she needed to blend the existing with new. Excellent service.

— Jeremy Griffin, Laurelhurst

I love how Colleen reimagined these two rooms

I recently had the pleasure of working with Colleen Knowles on a much needed update of my family room and adjoining kitchen eating area. Colleen used her creative talents and keen design sense, knowledge of new products, and rolodex of skilled and trusted professionals to transform the area. She incorporated many of the pieces I already owned and through new fabrics, staining, and painting changed the entire feel of the room. No detail was too small to capture Colleen's attention as for example she searched for trim for pillows until she found the perfect color and fade resistant material. In addition, she brought over six lamps so that I could choose one after seeing them in the space. Maybe best of all, at the end of the project Colleen arranged accessories such as coffee table books, ceramics and lanterns that I owned to create a welcoming, lived in feel for the newly updated space. Colleen was a delight to work with as she incorporated our lifestyle into her design choices and created cozy, relaxing, put together rooms. She was very efficient and organized, offered choices and was totally transparent on cost. I love how Colleen reimagined these two rooms and look forward to working with her on future updates of our home.

— Anne Gillis, Mercer Island, WA

She understood and respected our personal preferences

Colleen Knowles was the designer on our recent house remodel. She defined the scope and created plans for our project including detailed drawings, a materials list with specs and cut sheets for every item, and worked seamlessly with our contractor and various trades. Additionally, we found Colleen easy to work with. She understood and respected our personal preferences. She made the design process fun and manageable. And she was always responsive and on-time throughout our project—including arranging to review late arriving cabinet drawings while she was away on vacation. We were thoroughly pleased with every aspect of Colleen’s work, and we highly recommend her.

— Laurel and Bob Fishman, Seattle, WA

We felt we had a great advocate for our project in Colleen Knowles

We recently did an extensive remodel of a 50 year old contemporary Mercer Island home. We felt we had a great advocate for our project in Colleen Knowles. She is a terrific professional and we are big fans. Colleen kept us on track, within budget and saved us from costly mistakes. She is creative, flexible, conversational and her personality provides for an easy exchange of ideas. One is at an advantage when hiring Colleen Knowles.

— Donna and Carl Platou, Mercer Island, WA

a space that worked for today but felt right in an older home

We have worked with Colleen Knowles on three different projects in our 1920s Georgian Colonial home. First she helped us develop a game plan after we purchased the house. With paint, lighting and a few strategic purchases the space quickly felt like home. A few years later she managed a total redesign of the top level to create a master suite, a laundry space and update two old bathrooms. The result: a space that worked for today but felt right in an older home. Recently we worked with Colleen a third time to finally complete our living room. This was always a tricky space and we had many suggestions that just wouldn’t work. Colleen was able to translate our wishes into an achievable plan. She was respectful of our budget, presented options in the good, better and best categories and counseled us on where to save and when to splurge. She selected fabrics that would stand up to teens, dogs and red wine yet still look right in an older home. She’s comfortable working in any style and has a vast network of resources to solve any problem whether it’s finding a tricky lighting solution, sourcing the perfectly-sized table or commissioning a custom rug to bring the room together. She can do it all. Her customer service is second to none. And she is just a great person to spend time with through the process.

— Suzanne and Frank Shaw, Broadmoor, WA

5 of 5 stars

I would definitely hire Colleen again and I would give her 5 of 5 stars. As a busy person I needed her to come up with suggestions. I know many people that have spent hours in places like tile stores or pouring over carpet selections, etc and she kept me (thankfully) out of all of those details. She gave me meaningful options and I was able to make quick selections that I continue to love, and get compliments on, years later. She is creative, up to speed on trends, fun to work with and she meets her commitments on time. All the best on your new home!

— Karen Wetzel, Seattle, WA

Very happy with colleen

I have been very happy with Colleen. She is down to earth and very easy to work with. She came up with some great details in addition to my architect’s plans. She also led me to a lot of great products and ideas. She was very conscious of my budget and my aesthetic. 

— Liz and Jeff Evans, Mercer Island, WA

She is the perfect blend of “interior designer” and “architect”

Colleen Knowles designed my new kitchen. We live in a 1967 home that needs a lot of work. Our kitchen is small, without options for expansion. Colleen provided a vision for a kitchen that is both functional and beautiful. She not only helped me choose all the finishes (cabinets, countertops, lighting, paint, etc), she provided detailed and accurate elevation drawings to obtain bids from contractors and can also be the knowledgeable go-between to help a job run smoothly efficiently. She is the perfect blend of “interior designer” and “architect”. And did I mention she is very pleasant to work with? I will definitely use Colleen again when we have our next project!

— Jenny and Rick McPherson, Mercer Island, WA

could not have gone more smoothly

Colleen was fantastic. We had just bought a new house which needed complete remodeling. She helped me pick out all the details and finishes, but what really impressed me was her ability to draw up a schematic for the electrician for all the wiring with cat 5 in our basement and draw detailed schematics for the cabinet makers and carpenters with the exact finishes for the cabinetry. Anytime they asked me a question, I referred them to the technical diagrams Colleen drew and their question was answered, since I really don’t know anything about that. It really could not have gone more smoothly. Our finished product is absolutely beautiful.

She is definitely 5/5 stars. She is laid back in terms of personality, which for me was great, she was prompt in her replies and in getting things done. I’m the type who wants things done on schedule and she did that. The other good thing is that she has good contacts. She knew who to call:)

— Marlene Peng, Mercer Island, WA

we turned those bones into a beautiful, warm home that suited our taste and the way we functioned. 

I would recommend Colleen without the slightest hesitation and would give her a resounding 10 stars out of 5.

I first started working with Colleen when we bought a new house on Mercer Island. The house had “great bones”, as Colleen put it, but needed a lot of sprucing up. Additionally, we had no furniture (other than a bed) that we wanted to move into the new house. I was working in a demanding job, had absolutely no eye for design, and had neither the time nor desire to shop for furniture and accessories (yes, I’m a rare female breed). I did have a sense for what I liked and Colleen helped me define it further by looking through her portfolio and magazines. Once we established the direction, Colleen took it from there. Over the next few years we turned those bones into a beautiful, warm home that suited our taste and the way we functioned. 

After we got our house just the way we wanted it, we then moved to California and I flew her down to see it, pick paint colors, take pictures and measurements and then we were on our way. She put together recommendations, floor plans to designate furniture locations, designs for new cabinets and a bathroom remodel. I recently presented their designs to two contractors who both commented to me that they “never” get such comprehensive design documents from their potential clients. This further facilitated a quick turn around in the bidding process since the contractors had everything they needed upfront.

Colleen is very professional, personable and easy to work with. They are cognizant of budgets, time constraints, personal styles and life demands. I have loved working her. 

 — Debbie and Roger Idiart, Mill Valley, CA

I especially appreciate her understanding of color

We couldn’t be happier with the results! She has impeccable taste and really knows how to optimize design choices for each specific setting. I especially appreciate her understanding of color. We ended up selecting colors I would never in my wildest dreams have selected on my own, yet the end result was exactly the esthetic we were trying to achieve. I also appreciated her ability to curate options. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with all the paint and fabric choices available, but Colleen was able to quickly narrow the field to only a handful of options. I think this is because she really listens, and works hard to understand the look your trying to achieve and align her recommendations appropriately. 

We can’t wait to work with her again and are eagerly looking forward to kicking off another project with her very soon.

— Jessica and Tom Freeman, Seattle, WA

provided us with complete service through the completion, which included electrical work, wallpaper, paint, etc.

I highly recommend Colleen Knowles. When we redecorated Colleen did a great job providing us with several design different options, while incorporating our taste and style. Once we picked an option, I appreciated the range of fabric and furniture choices Colleen showed us. She provided us with complete service through the completion, which included electrical work, wallpaper, paint, etc. 

— Paige and Todd Behrbaum, Mercer Island, WA

She has a great eye and taste

Colleen is definitely someone I would recommend. She has a great eye and taste, listens well and I have appreciated her suggestions /choices over the years. She isn’t inexpensive but we always felt like she was worth every penny. If I had to rate her stars ~ I would give her 5 out of 5. 

— Cindy and Jack Funes, Seattle, WA