Jo Ann James Interior Design

VERY disappointed with Jo Ann James. Do NOT work with her!
Jo Ann is arrogant, disrespectful and unprofessional. We accidentally damaged two of her area rugs from Pottery Barn and we immediately found exact matches and replaced them. We felt terrible about it, but at least thought she would appreciate two brand new rugs as replacement (the prior ones were a little worse for wear).
Her response was unkind, unprofessional and overly aggressive. She accused us of being in breach of contract and that we had also sat on one of her chairs and creating a «bottom» mark on her cushion. She demanded that we pay for the cushion to be replaced. Our realtors were in shock. Her behavior was two-​faced, erratic and irrational.
Her moving team damaged our floors and walls, and we had to repaint almost every wall they touched. We paid the bill for the repainting ourselves as we didn’t want to interact with her further.
She is unapologetic, unaccountable and lacks tact and class. I would not recommend anyone work with her. STAY AWAY!
Feel free to message me if you’d like more information.
I cannot stress enough how unprofessional our experience was with her, and as a result felt compelled to share our experience.

I have just come from seeing my daughter’s house staged by Jo Ann and I am in awe! We all love it and wish she could move right back in! Jo Ann is head and shoulders above anyone else in the business… It may be those years she spent with Ralph Lauren. She manages to pull off a look that is fresh and contemporary, warm and sophisticated and above all— in impeccable taste. I have to admit I am not entirely surprised — this is not the first time she has staged for us. Over the past twenty years she has staged houses in Menlo Park, Woodside, Atherton and now Los Altos Hills for us. The result is so dreamy that one wants to move right in… We will not be at all surprised if buyers feel the same way!

As a contractor building very high end homes I have encountered many interior designers. There have been few that have been as easy to work with as Jo Ann.
The last project that I was on where Jo Ann was involved, was for a very well organized CEO of a local company and I watched them work together effortlessly. Whenever I made an installation suggestion, it was not brushed aside (as it has sometimes occurred) and I was actually thanked for my help in bringing Jo Ann’s designs to fruition. When the home was finished and decorated it looked terrific and took a very short time because all of Jo Ann’s suppliers actually stuck to the schedule and were easy to coordinate with.

Without a doubt one of the best real estate staging companies in this area. Joanne’s taste, style and furnishings enhanced greatly the sale ability of my client’s property.
Furnishings create emotions that stimulate buyer actions. If you are seeking that «look» and «feel» that will help it sell. A call to Joanne is my strongest suggestion.
Highly recommended.

I have never put a negative review on Unilocal for any business and I am an easy person to please and get along with. I feeI the need to share information about a professional that I had a very negative experience with.
I will begin with her staging:
She staged my house twice over a 4 month period. The first time she used a Cape Cod look that, I and many others thought did not fit this area or the house. Needless to say, the house did not sell. My realtor wanted me to give her another chance so I hired her to stage also the upstairs and asked for more transitional furniture and a more updated look. I asked her if I could see what she was putting in first and she firmly said NO, I don’t do that. She assured me that with all of her «high end» stuff the house would sell. The price of staging was very, very expensive and twice I did not get the outcome that was expected. My house did not sell.
Now, for a review of JoAnn herself:
She appears nice and accommodating at first. However, that did not last. I found her to be rude, arrogant and uncaring of my feelings and opinions This past Monday we had the staging pulled out since the house did not sell. The girl working for her must have called to say that 2 pillows and an upholstered chair looked damaged. Jo Ann drove over and came storming into my house unannounced, without calling, ringing the bell. BEFORE even greeting me and BEFORE even looking at the items in question, she proceeded to raise her voice at me about the alleged damages in front of her workers. She also threatened me with legal action if I didn’t pay for the damages. I was appalled and was in tears and shaking from her attack. I have a 14 year old senior cat whose his claws are all covered with soft plastic tips. He never «chews» on things as JoAnn guessed. (no senior cat ever does!) She accused him of separating a part of the chair that is held together with staples and nails… totally not possible for a cat to do that. JoAnn said that every piece brought in is inspected by her crew. I disagree. I watched them put the staging in and did not see any inspection. Nor did anyone ask me to go around and make sure that everything was in perfect condition either. They even left a damaged table here that I caught and they replaced it the next day. I did not think I had to turn over every pillow and inspect every seam, but I apparently should have.
The 2 pillows in question were frayed near the zippers. They were placed on 2 separate couches zipper side down behind other pillows. So, my cat would have had to get up on each couch, get the back pillows and flip them over onto the floor, ruin them and them put them back into place, zipper side down behind 2 other pillows. He is no magician! No one has been in my house except for me and customers and no one has sat on those couches or touched or moved them from day one.
I thought JoAnn would at least call me and apologize for treating me, her client so unprofessionally as well as for her faulty accusations, but no call came. It is sad and a shame that she is willing to hurt her relationship with a client over a couple of pillows.

Jo Ann James and her team have been a mainstay of my real estate business for the past few years — I am so grateful for Jo Ann’s incomparable taste, talent, and the teamwork that transforms and enriches even the most modest of homes — the art, furnishings, fresh flowers evoke reactions of «gorgeous» «who did the staging?» from even the most blaze viewers of my listings.
Gwen Luce, Coldwell Banker Real Estate,