Marti is the design whisperer. She doesn't impose her taste on you but takes the time to understand your style preference and does a wonderful job translating that to a design vision. She reimagined the first floor of my home in Grand Beach, MI and she thought of questions and details that never would have crossed my mind.
Marti also has a rich Rolodex of design resources from artisan craftsmen and cabinetmakers to curators of hard-to-find pieces of furniture, art and unique antiques. She is sensitive to her client's budget constraints, goes the extra mile when problems arise (and they always do) and is the consummate professional.
- Thomas
After living in my 1882 Italianate home for thirty years, I was convinced I’d explored every possible layout for our primary living room. Then Marti walked in, looked around for less than a minute, and proposed an arrangement that changed everything. Her recommendation completely transformed how the room functions and feels. It was a powerful reminder that true expertise isn’t about how long you look, but how deeply you see. Marti’s instincts, experience, and extraordinary talent are unquestionably worth the investment!
I’d absolutely recommend Marti Napolitano Interiors to anyone looking for an exceptional interior designer. She was the first person I called when we began to design our forever home in 2021 and Marti's insights and expertise was instrumental in helping us build the perfect home for us.
- Tina
I am delighted to recommend Marti Napolitano Interiors to you as a potential designer. I have known Marti for over 20 years and hired her at every place we’ve lived since. I trust her completely with my homes and have recommended her to family and friends who have since worked with her as well.
Marti started off assisting me with numerous projects at our home in River Forest which was a very traditional 1923 Burma-built Tudor, then she took on our modern newly constructed home on Lake Geneva and most recently our 1890s Gold Coast brownstone, with an adjacent coach house. We knew we could count on Marti's insight and impeccable taste to turn this historic property into our forever home. She understood how to respect its history, our taste, lifestyle, and goal to create a home that reflects a life well lived, welcoming for family and friends, with the versatility to comfortably entertain professional guests and host charitable events and fundraisers.
Marti challenges us, in the best way, to step outside our comfort zone. She incorporated more modern elements and contemporary pieces that complemented our traditional style and classic furnishings beautifully. I receive the most compliments on those choices she encouraged me to make, ones I wouldn’t have considered on my own.
Marti has worked with my husband and I on a multitude of design decisions, from paint colors, lighting, rugs, window treatments, and pillows to furniture selections, new, antique, and custom designs. She has consulted with contractors on the design of custom fireplaces and the nuanced selection of those stones, redesigning a bathroom and updating a kitchen to adding exterior French doors in a family room for direct access to the backyard. Marti is deeply committed to guiding you toward what’s best for your home, even when that meant spending endless amounts of time researching wide plank oak floors, styles and sources to ultimately direct us to the perfect selection. Through all these projects and homes Marti provided professional guidance and counsel in a timely and thoughtful manner.
I am confident should you choose to work with Marti Napolitano Interiors, you will not only enjoy the process but also you will be thrilled with the results.
- Michele
I have worked with Marti Napolitano Interiors on two homes and will continue to call her for any design work or home buying decisions in the future. Marti’s ability to understand my style, improve it in ways I wouldn’t have thought of, and create spaces that are welcoming, elegant, and truly tailored to me is why I’ve continued turning to her over the years.
I first worked with Marti in 2013 to completely remodel, furnish and decorate the entire 3-story 2200 square foot townhouse I purchased in Oak Park. I give her a lot of credit for the redesign and opening up the entire first floor kitchen, dining room, and living room, and also for the selection of furniture for my home. In 2019 I decided to move to the Gold Coast, Marti went with me to each potential place and expertly evaluated each option to help me select the one that was right for me. With her design expertise my new condo now feels like home. I am impressed by her ability to know exactly what to redo, reupholster, add or replace, and expertly select the right pieces and custom furnishings to work perfectly with what I already have.
I have always found Marti to be very good at truly understanding my likes and dislikes, suggesting improvements, and ideas that I would never have considered without her expert knowledge and skills in interior design. Everyone Marti brings onto a project shares her high standards, her contractors are professional and detail-oriented in their work and the vendors she works with are first-rate with quality products. I am proud that my friends and family are in awe of the comfort and class Marti Napolitano Interiors created in my home.
I would be more than happy to discuss any questions about working with Marti Napolitano Interiors and have given permission to provide my contact information.
- Sally
Marti really listened to me and helped me envision the look I wanted for my Hinsdale condo renovation and redecoration. I wanted special, unique pieces and she helped my acquire them, from rugs on the floor to the art work on the walls and everything in between! I really appreciated how Marti always gave me choices - high, low and mid price range. She talked me through the splurges - upgraded kitchen counter tops - as well as finding clearance items and consignment store treasures.
When I was ready to move years later, I hired Marti again in 2023, this time to help me find the right condo in Evanston and then with updating and redecorating it.
Highly recommend her expertise!
- Kelley
I've had the pleasure of working with Marti Napolitano and her team renovating my condo in the historic Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. I could gush about Marti all day! I highly recommend investing in Marti's full service interior design service. She preserved the timeless craftsmanship of the era that was so important to me to keep, while integrating my style and vision perfectly, creating a highly personalized and sophisticated, yet inviting home for me.
Marti is extremely knowledgeable designing custom furnishings and an industry expert with well established artisan and vendor relationships allowing her to expertly oversee every detail. She has a refined artful eye and has mastered how to use scale, color, and texture, especially with textiles, to get distinctive, one of a kind, high end results. What I appreciated the most, is Marti’s passion for what she does, the power of intentional design, and her commitment to working with her clients to make their dream space a reality.
- Alex
My husband and I have very different styles and preferences, so when we decided to update our lake house in Grand Beach, Michigan, we knew we’d need someone skilled at navigating that dynamic. Marti Napolitano Interiors came highly recommended by several friends, and from the beginning, Marti impressed us. She has a remarkable ability to listen and to understand what we were each responding to. She masterfully found solutions we both genuinely loved, often selections we never would’ve chosen or thought of on our own, but were perfect.
One of our challenges was preserving the lake views in our living and dining areas, while reducing sun exposure when needed. We liked the softness and polish of drapery, but didn’t want to lose the view or the openness. Marti designed window coverings that struck the right balance, elegant, unobtrusive, and cohesive. That choice alone changed the feel of those rooms and brought a natural continuity to the adjacent music room. She also completely reimagined the music room, which functions as the main path from the front door to the rest of the house too. The layout and seating she proposed gave the room real presence, it feels intentional, welcoming, and beautifully integrated into the flow of the home now.
Marti’s expertise in space planning, scale, color, and texture was evident. With a few reupholstered pieces, new seating, fresh paint and wallpaper, lighting, rugs, and thoughtful finishing details, she transformed the overall feel of our home, without changing the parts we already loved.
Her work exceeded our expectations. The house feels more functional, more comfortable, and more reflective of us, even though we didn’t always agree on what us looked like at the start. Marti guided us through every decision with warmth, patience, and a high level of professionalism. She has an incredible eye, but just as importantly, she listens. We trusted her perspective, even when it stretched our comfort zone a little, and we’re so glad we did.
We genuinely enjoyed the entire process with Marti and her team. We absolutely loved working with her, and we’ve already asked for her help with our new condo in Chicago, which says it all.
- Sheila