Julianne Stirling

We are currently in the process of redoing our kitchen. We hired Stirling Design Associates to design the new space as well as the kitchen cabinets and their interiors. Working with Julianne is a fabulous experience. She guides you through every fine detail in an organized and professional way. Her process is quick and thorough. Every aspect is covered and her ideas are visually presented in color copies so you have an exact plan in your hands before construction begins. I highly recommend using Stirling Design Associates. You will be given a kitchen designed specifically for you that will be personalized for your taste and budget. We can't wait to live with it!

I love working with Julianne. She is helping me with my NYC apartment renovation and has gone above and beyond. She is so much more knowledgable than our contractors - I keep saying that I don't know what we would do without her. She is very experienced and has impeccable taste. She has also done a great job of helping us find a mix of less expensive pieces and more expensive timeless pieces that we will keep forever. I would highly recommend working with her on any project - big or small!

Between 1996 and 2015, Julianne Stirling helped me build a home from the ground up, gut and remodel another, decorate two others, and sell three homes. While Julianne has exquisite and timeless taste, the best part about working with her is her supreme organization, professionalism and bang for buck. There are no unpleasant surprises; only pleasant ones. She is able to work with any style or budget, and she always puts the client first. She "checks her ego at the door', even in the unpleasant situation of dealing with an intransigent builder or architect. I still have and cherish things she acquired for me almost 20 years ago, and they are as tasteful and elegant now as they were when she acquired them. In my new home in the midwest, people always ask who built my home, my kitchen, etc; I remind them that anyone can build, and that the beauty of my home comes from Julianne's design. And as an added bonus, she is a beautiful person.

Julianne Stirling helped us on two houses. The first was a large contemporary house with unusual angles and a Pennsylvania bluestone floor. I was overwhelmed. Julianne and I picked fabrics and she brought them to the house, organized. It was easy to see what wouldn't work right away and also what looked good in the house. I still felt overwhelmed. I picked my favorite fabrics and Julianne provided suggestions to round out our needs. She suggested layouts and furniture; I asked whether we could do certain things I liked. I learned a lot. We wound up with a look that I was very pleased with. We then moved to another state to a formal, more traditional house. Julianne came and suggested how we could reuse the furnishings from the first house. We filled out a few more spaces. It was a relief to be able to move into a new home and see how good everything still looked. Julianne was completely professional in her dealings with us. We had invoices of items she purchased, photos, samples--I haven't received that from all designers. I am very happy to recommend Julianne Stirling.

I hired Julieanne to freshen up some areas of my home. The results were wonderful. I just listed my house for sale 9 years later, and it sold the first weekend on the market. The consistent comment was "your home is beautiful. The right choices can update your house for years.

I met Julianne 25 years ago. She helped me with one of the most difficult decorating tasks- merging two households for a newlyn married couple (me and my mysband). We were both downsizing from large homes to a condo and we needed serious help. She was able to select the best of both collections and combine them seamlessly. Julianne has a fabulous sense of color and she can pick and choose fabrics that perfectly accentuate the decor. She came up with new and inventive ideas and I have used as my decorator her ever since and have recommended her to many friends.

I hired Julianne for two projects. Her knowledge, expertise, and ability to understand my life style translated into two fabulous homes, largely due to Julianne. She designed every detail of two kitchens for me including plans with elevations, cabinet locations with amenities, style, size, hardware lighting, painting etc. The result was two magnificent kitchens. She designed plans for my living room, sun room, dining and office. Together we shopped for all furnishings, paint, etc. The end result was two beautiful homes. Julianne was professional, followed up in a timely manner and was a joy to work with. I highly recommend her.

I have been working with Julianne Stirling of Stirling Design Associates for the past 20 years, and it has been a 5 star experience. More than just a “client” and “designer,” we have had a partnership that has evolved from when we first got started. We have worked together on many projects, large and small. Large: an 8000 sq. ft. contemporary house, devoid of character until Julianne came along. It sold in a matter of weeks after she worked her magic - making one room softer and another more sophisticated. Small: our most recent project (2015) creating a baby nursery in a walk-in closet. Utterly adorable. I’m beginning to believe there is nothing Julianne cannot do! Our most ambitious project was a total ‘gut’ of a 1930s Cape style home (2400 sq. ft.) in New Canaan, CT. It was a 2 year endeavor (2001-2003) and Julianne was the Driving Force behind the entire project. “Interior Designer” doesn’t begin to describe where Julianne’s talents, skills, strengths and interests begin or end. We held weekly site meetings, including all those working on the project from the architect to the contractor, down to the plumber and electrician. Everyone was invited to make comments, suggestions or even criticism of the work in progress, which was not always easy for all those involved. But Julianne was a team player: she took great pride in this project, but she checked her ego at the door. It wasn’t unusual to see her don a hard hat, grab a tape measure, and get down on her hands and knees to verify measurements and make adjustments. This garnered her a lot of respect from the crews. Julianne designed every inch of the interior of that house - from the ’to die for' kitchen and bathrooms, all the tile work and custom cabinetry, built-in shelves and storage, wood paneling, moldings, even a silver leaf ceiling in the dining room! After the dust had settled, she furnished every room with beautiful, functional pieces (most of which I am still living with today in my new ‘downsized/resized’ empty nester home.) That ‘head to toe' renovation project attracted a lot of attention, deservedly so. It made the cover of Renovation Style with an 11 page photo feature story. It was featured in Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, who loved the sunroom Julianne designed, and in Better Homes and Gardens, plus it was on several local house tours over the years. People never got tired of looking at the ‘jewel’ Julianne had created. Neither did I. What intrigues me about Julianne is that she has no Signature Style, no Cookie Cutter approach to any of her projects. She designs for the space and for the people who use it. "Form follows function” -- rooms are to be lived in, not looked at. She is as versed in Contemporary as she is in Mid Century or Traditional. Today I think of Julianne as my Coach. I was extremely unsure of myself when I started ‘decorating’ my first home and I made a lot of big and expensive mistakes with other designers. Early on, Julianne gave me a portable file box with a slot labeled for every room of the house. She encouraged me to tear out pages from design magazines and share them with her at our meetings (this was way before Houzz!) I especially liked the file marked “I Hate This”! Slowly I learned to define my own tastes and my confidence soared. Julianne also made every project “do-able” by breaking it down into bite size pieces. I am still overwhelmed by all the choices in big designer showrooms, so Julianne does a ‘pre-select’ for me of everything from furniture to paint samples. I usually find what I want the first time; if not, she brings more ideas and samples the next time. We always get there. Very often these very creative people are not as good at the business side of their work. Not so with Julianne! She has a business background and it shows in her well administered office practices: proposals, time billing, invoices are all issued promptly. She follows up on every item ordered. And her pricing is always fair. Last but not least, Julianne has always embraced technology. She has seen the Internet’s potential in her field for years. Using CAD, she produces precise design drawings. She has also learned to ‘roll with the punches’ of the fluctuating economy. She now sources many products online at different price points for today’s clients and their budgets. Working successfully with Julianne and Stirling Design Associates over all these years has certainly been a 5 Star Experience! Lynne Hippeau Darien, CT

I couldn't be happier with how my baby girls nursery came out! Julianne was fantastic in putting together exactly what I wanted just by process of elimination and wants. She is so creative and has so many resources from down the street to across the globe to complete the perfect look. All I had to say was I wanted elephants and she delivered far more than I could have imagined. She treats every client with 110% attention and always has more ideas and images for you to choose from helping make your dream room complete. I was blown away when Julianne had shown me images of cribs and after I fell in love with one she had no problem finding that exact crib and delivering it exactly as pictured! Julianne has a talent that can't be taught and I'm so lucky to have worked with her! She will definitely go above and beyond in making your dream room complete!

Julianne Stirling has been a highly respected interior designer for several years. Her lovely work has been displayed in various design publications and she has received various accolades from the industry over the course of her career. Those who know her and have worked with her will consistently hire her again and again. She treats her clients as though their project is her most important while at the same time respecting their needs whether the job is large or small. She has a natural talent and a lovely kind nature which in combination make for a very successful experience. Her enthusiasm is refreshingly delightful and her results are nothing less than fabulous.

I very highly recommend Julianne Stirling, Stirling Design Associates. With Julianne’s expertise my living, dining and family rooms are now absolutely stunning. With a very modest budget she was able to virtually transform the ‘look and feel’ of those areas. Simply changing the paint colors, new window treatments, slipcovers, re-staging of carpet have made a huge difference. Julianne is a great listener and as we talked about styles and preferences she was able to completely zero in on the overall ‘look’ I wanted to achieve – and that is what she provided. She very much understands the importance of the details and I think that is so key to her success. She works to understand what you want to achieve and delivers not only on that design but (for me) on the practicality of that design. That was very important to me. Her support teams are excellent. The window treatments are beautifully finished and were expertly installed. The painting company she recommended is exceptional and they are now doing additional projects for me.

We have worked worked with Julianne Stirling on numerous projects over a 15+ year period of time- every dealing with Julianne has been exceptional. She brings a number of unique qualities to each project she undertakes- including impressive artistic renderings, creative ideas which maximize the potential beauty and harmonize with the clients visions as well, professional planning and time co-ordination, as well as being a wonderful person to work with who is genuinely caring of others in all regards. It is always a pleasure to work with Julianne and we would recommend her very highly to anyone seeking an Interior Designer. Brad Everett Everett-Kayser, Inc. Painting and Decorative Finishes