Design Center West

When decorating our new home, Allyson made understanding our tastes look easy even when we didn’t fully understand them ourselves. She made our new house feel like a warm and welcoming home that completely embraces our lifestyle.

I have had the good fortune of working with Robin Boyce and her staff over the past 20 years and through four homes.
Originally, I worked with Robin to decorate a home that I owned in Hopkinton. She supplied me with wallpaper, window treatments and her good taste, as well as the vendors to complete the jobs.
Fifteen years ago, my husband and I decided to build a home in Sudbury. Neither of us had ever built before, nor did we understand the scope of the project. The first place I stopped after we found a lot was Robin’s Design Center. I hired her to work with us through the construction phase of the project, as well as to decorate and accessorize. Robin accompanied me to all the various suppliers and crafts personnel. She helped the cabinetmaker design my kitchen and cabinetry designs. She hand drew my vanities, which he was able to fabricate. She traveled with me to the plumbing supplier, and, when we were unhappy with his service, negotiated great prices at a local supplier that I was able to use instead. Robin supplied me with every inch of carpet in my home, and handled the installation through her vendor. She designed by hand each of the many, many window treatments in my home. We picked wallpapers and we selected faux paint finishes together. She managed the installations and completion of both.
We designed furniture and had it built and delivered. Again, Robin handled all the details. On one occasion, wallpaper arrived and was damaged. When her wallpaper hanger brought the paper to her, she immediately called the supplier and used to her clout to have new paper printed as an exact color match to the original.
Several years later, we bought and renovated a beach house in Maine. Once again I called on Robin to do what she does best: understand my wants and desires, respect my budget, and help me to design a place that looks and feels like my own. Again we selected flooring and wall coverings, as well as shades and Silhouettes. She ordered and delivered every piece of furniture in my home. It’s beautiful, and it reflects what we love, coupled with her excellent taste and service.
Recently we sold our home in Sudbury, and moved to an apartment in Boston. Robin easily transformed our limited space into a wonderful place we could enjoy, and lent us her tremendous eye for size and dimension.
I have worked with many service people in my life and career. There are few that compare in terms of professionalism and service ethic. The bonus is that you work with someone who has exceptional taste and the extraordinary ability to fulfill your decorating dreams and deliver a home you truly feel at home in.
Best wishes, and good luck designing your dream home/​room,
–Sheryl Schlackman

I have completed 3 different major projects with Design Center West. I was referred to them from a friend of mine who worked with Robin previously. Her house looks amazing so when I wanted to do some improvements to mine I called Robin.
Our first project was window treatments for my master bath and bedroom as well as my eat in kitchen. Included in this was redoing the foyer and painting the kitchen. Robin was extremely responsive and took a lot of time with me to go over samples. The guys she sent to do the work were very clean and professional and did a fantastic job. I really wanted everything done for my Christmas party and although the time was short Robin really delivered and the house looked great for the party.
After some ice dams this winter I also had to replace my carpet upstairs due to water damage. Robin and I had previously discussed replacing the carpet to hardwood flooring. I had put it on hold due to funds but after the water damage I needed to do something. Robin got me a great deal on the wood and did an excellent job of matching the new wood as closely as possible to my wooden floors downstairs. She communicated with me throughout the order and delivery process and kept me in the loop. The guys who did the work were amazing, very fast and extremely neat. They covered everything in tarps to minimize dust and they even vacuumed at the end of every day. We ended up being a bit short on the amount of wood we needed and I called Robin to let her know. She immediately called Jeff and the two of them worked it out and got the wood over to the house ASAP to finish the job within the timeline that I had been given. As a mother of a toddler I appreciated that as I cannot have my house torn apart for multiple days. About a week later I was cleaning and noticed a couple of the boards had small divots in them. Robin coordinated things with Jeff and he had his guys out within a few days to replace them at no cost to me.
Finally, this fall we needed to replace our deck as it had been damaged by a sheet of ice this winter. Robin worked with me to design the new deck and get the best deal possible on the materials. The old deck had to be completely torn down and a new one built. Again, everything was professional, clean and timely. Robin is very sensitive to her customer’s needs and wants and I felt that she is was very responsive to me and my cost concerns. Santos Construction did a fabulous job and the new deck looks great. Eric and his crew did an amazing job and were super fast. Additionally, since our new deck was much larger I needed more furniture. Robin was fantastic and helped me find some great furniture that matched what I already had and was very affordable. I was amazed at how well she has learned what my tastes are.
We are very happy with the new deck and can’t wait to have some parties on it. All the jobs I have done with Design Center West have been a positive experience and I would not hesitate to use them again. I am a very picky and demanding client and working with Robin was a dream. I can highly recommend her.

I used Design Center West for my Cape kitchen — granite countertops & backsplash design, new dining room furniture and shades throughout the house. I was very pleased with all of Robin Boyce’s choices. She also picked out chairs for my Florida house and the color was perfect with a washable ultra suede fabric !

I hired the designer (Robin) because I wasn’t sure of the measurements for furniture that I wanted to order. When the furniture arrived, it didn’t fit. After 4 tries, on four different delivery days, her husband finally had to take my door jam apart and remove the door.
Now I will never get that sectional out of the room without taking the door jam apart and repainting). Did he ever come back to paint the mistake and fix the door jam? Absolutely not! The window treatment in my bedroom was too tight on one side. Her husband shaved down the wall and never returned to paint it. I was told to hire someone from Angie’s list, on my dime.
My bedroom set had to be installed without legs because the ones that it came with, made the set too high, and I wouldn’t have been able to put my TV on it. Another miscalculation! The armoire that was measured and ordered, jutted out too far into the door path. I was told to put a big hanging plant on the side so «people wouldn’t notice how much it blocked the door.» She had measured correctly in the width but never realized that the depth was off so much, that It blocked the doorway. I had to move the set around myself and it’s not where I originally wanted it to be.
Buyer beware.: You have to pay for delivery from the factory to her storage unit, then you have to pay for a moving company to deliver it to your house. That adds up to a lot of extra money! Why it couldn’t come from the factory to me, is a mystery. She doesn’t check for imperfections or irregularities so why couldn’t I get it delivered directly? The Luminettes were the wrong size (I wanted them to cover the entire length of the wall) but they only covered the window. The color was not the one that I ordered and Robin refused to change it.
I was foolish for paying the bill up front. Once you do that, there is no more customer service, and you are on your own.
Nothing went right!
Robin presents herself as your new best friend but when she has your money, you have to fend for yourself, especially if you have problems. I am truly not happy with all these errors, complications and her lack of rectifying the problems. I ended up painting and filling in all the errors that should have been THEIR responsibility. Never Again will I use Design Center West for anything! Buyer beware !