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Naperville Makeover Story

In the Design Industry Since: 2000

Accreditations/Experience:  Multi-million Dollar producer, President's Circle Award Recipient. Full service designer since 2000. I am passionate about everything “design" and have a strong expertise in window treatments. 

Inspiration to Pursue a Design Career:   As a child I enjoyed sewing and floral arranging with my grandmother. I also have a Master’s Degree in Education and loved working with kids/parents in partnership.  Design is no different in that respect.  We are creating personal spaces as a team. It is my job to guide you with as much or as little support as you need!

Favorite Design Tip:  I like to create one area in each space to really create the WOW factor. This keeps spaces unique, powerful and/or personal.

Best Advice to Clients:  Speak up and share your ideas, I want you to LOVE the end result.

My Personal Design Aesthetic Is:  I LOVE texture.  The best way to keep a room from looking flat is to include texture of all kinds!  Let me show you how!!!

3 Words that Describe Me:  Knowledgeable, Creative, and Open. I love to work with all types of clients, whether you know a lot about what you like, or a little, I can hone in quickly on style and move you on your way to the curated home you’ve dreamed of.

Click to read testimonials about Loria >

Testimonials

Last December, my husband Claude and I closed on our dream home in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The home is much larger than the home we moved from so we were feeling a little overwhelmed with what to do furniture and design-wise in order to make it feel modern, yet still “homey.” We went to a few furniture stores but did not really feel like it was our style. In addition, we knew we needed help in making lots of decisions and needed a professional to guide us. My husband happened to browse the Walter E. Smithe website and came across Loria Hartman’s profile at the Naperville location. He really loved her experience and the modern feel of some of the past design projects she did. He told me about it and we decided to contact her to ask for her help. She responded right away that she would be happy to help us and was excited about the project. That was one of the best decisions we made concerning our new home. 

Loria went above and beyond to understand what we wanted and always offered a variety of options for us to choose from. My husband pointed out to me that he loved the fact that Loria would sometimes nudge us to get out of the box we were in in order to adventure a bit more with the design project and we were never disappointed. Her expertise and sense of humor was a gift and she helped us to truly create the home of our dreams with all of the furniture, motorized blinds, drapery, accessories, tile choices, and paint colors.

Loria drove over an hour each time she came to our home, countless times, to help us or guide the deliveries that came to make sure everything was perfect. We are so grateful to her each and every day because we get to wake up in our dream home (that turned out better than we could have ever imagined) because of her passion for design and expertise. Not only did Loria nail it, but her communication and friendliness throughout the whole project was done with excellence. We get so many compliments from people on how much they love the furniture and entire design in every room and we owe our thanks to her for this. Not only is Loria an amazing designer, but she has become our friend. We highly recommend her if you want to create the home of your dreams.  Nichole and Claude M.

Our experience with Walter E Smithe furniture and our designer, Loria Hartman, was quite simply the best!! Loria is supremely talented, a consummate professional and an absolute pleasure to work with. We were furnishing a Florida condominium together and she worked from photos and our descriptions of the space. Not only was she able to envision everything perfectly but she also honed in on our personal style to help us find the perfect pieces! She really went above and beyond and worked so hard to find unusual things that would make our space pop, from a sofa with a coastal wood trim to adding nubby furry accent pillows on our bed, she covered it all! The space looks better than we had dreamed! She followed through from start to finish. Loria is a GEM. We look forward to working with her again. The Walter E Smithe experience is top notch from start to finish. We received phone calls from order status informing us the progress all along the way to final delivery. I haven't had better customer service in any other house related business. Smithe furniture is the gold standard! I cannot recommend more highly!! - Mary G.

I am over the top pleased with my Walter E. Smithe experience. Our designer, Loria, at the Naperville Store was amazing. She guided me through the purchases for our recent first floor remodel - all of the family room furniture, the kitchen table & chairs- gorgeous custom color!, the island stools, side tables etc. Multiple visits to my home with 1:1 attention starting from the gutted, empty space to the final placement when my furniture was delivered. Upon delivery (quarantined safety measures in place - of course) Loria face-timed me for exact placement of recliners, angling the kitchen table to show off the beautiful pedestal! Bringing her design blueprint to life, which was spot on! This follow up attention shows again the commitment of a professional! Selection of each piece was carefully, thoughtfully and patiently guided. Her talent and your fabulous, elegant furniture have made our remodel simply gorgeous! -Jill R.

"Our experience with Walter E. Smithe and in particular our designer, Loria Hartman exceeded our expectations. The design she came up for our family room was amazing! She easily determined our style and selected incredible pieces that accomplished our goals of making the room look bigger, brighter and flow seamlessly with our kitchen. She was attentive to even the smallest detail making the whole area a wonderful, cohesive space where we love spending time." -Tracy K. 

Loria is very talented and has a great eye for turning around the interior of a home and updating it to refect today’s home décor trends.  From updating fireplaces, to turning living spaces into more useful purposed rooms for your family’s lifestyle, she can take care of everything.  She listens and has the vision to give a wide range of suggestions and possibilities and make the best use of your space.  Her decorating style is spot on based on the style of your home and your desired outcome, working with you every step of the way.  I highly recommend Loria Hartman for any of the interior work in your home that you are considering.  -Tracy P. Naperville

I look forward to working with Loria on a few more projects and telling all my friends about her business and her work. Working with her has helped me see that it is the little details that make all the difference. -Linda N., Naperville

The Naperville Garden Club had chosen my house to be on the annual "Cup of Cheer" house walk.  In 4 months, 1500 people would be walking through my house, and I felt completely overwhelmed.   Enter Loria!  Her outstanding work, fantastic ideas, and unbelievable efficiency were beyond my expectations.  The entire house was completely decorated and ready for the house walk.  It looked absolutely beautiful!  I highly recommend Loria -- you will be very happy with the results and have a great time working with her too!  - Judy D., Naperville

Loria's expertise has helped us to design the "grown up" Master Bedroom Suite that we have always dreamed of. She helped us to pick colors, accessories, furniture, and everything else you could think of! We loved what she did so much that we had her help spice up our powder room and change the nursery into a "big kids' room". -Karen R., Lisle

Loria is a very creative, organized and reliable businesswoman.  Her designs are not only beautiful but personal. She listens to what you want and creates the designs you have requested down to the smallest detail. –Maureen S., Naperville  

I have to admit I did not have an appreciation for design until I met Loria Hartman. The moment she walked into our home she was able to get a sense of our style. When we met again to go over the design, I was in awe. I am in love with everything Loria picked out. Loria is able to pick key colors and designs to speak to any stile. Loria walked us through every step of the process to make it simple. She turned a canvas into art and we are excited to work with her on the rest of our home. - Betsy K. 

We went to Walter E Smithe in Naperville, looking to find assistance for selecting furniture for our son's handicap accessible home, which was in the process of being built. We were so fortunate that Loria Hartmann approached us to see if she could be of help. From day 1, Loria has put 100% effort into listening to what Steve likes as far as modern industrial decor and what would be needed to accommodate his needs. Loria helped us determine the height of our kitchen table so that the power wheelchair would fit under it. She also worked with our builder to determine where the power lift recliner would be located to accommodate the lift system. Loria helped us select power window treatments so that Steve can open and close them from his smart phone. Loria is very knowledgeable and creative as far as interior decorating, and her compassion and kindness are exceptional. Everyone who comes into our home is blown away by the design as well as the furnishings. We will always use Loria for our interior decorating needs in the future, and she has become a good friend to our family. Also, the staff at the Walter E Smithe showroom in Naperville is extremely kind. They always greet us with a smile and are more than happy to move things around so that Steve can get through in his power wheelchair. Kudos to Loria and Naperville showroom! -Diane O.

What a joy it is to do business with Loria Hartman! She’s the overall professional I was looking for to help me redo my kitchen and family room. A good listener and has great follow through on details. Just the right balance of creative ideas and common sense. Also, thank you Walter E Smithe for your best business practices. -Carol P. 

I had the good fortune to work with Loria Hartman on a large dining and great room remodel and couldn’t be happier with the guidance and support that she provided. She took the time to learn our goals, our likes and dislikes, and translated that into a beautiful plan. She brought the technical expertise and creativity we needed. We could not be happier with our new space. Loria is a great talent and wonderful person to know. -Andrea J.

First of all let me start by saying that we love Walter Smithe and have been their customers past 8 years. We live in Napervile . They have always been bang on their quality but to top it off all, Loria Hartman is the biggest reason I wouldn’t ever go to any other store now. We’ve had multiple designers from Walter but no one to beat her knowledge, clarity, efficiency & perfection! She’s by far the best thing happened to us when we decided to shop for furniture during Covid. She has redesigned our Naperville house & fully furnished our Chicago condo. She knows how to work around your needs, culture & that’s very appreciated. I personally am not an easy person to please and she had so much patience with me. In our Naperville house she redesigned my 2 boys bedrooms and our sunroom. She redesigned our entire Chicago condo and gave it such a different contemporary look compared to our traditional look of Naperville and that’s what I love about her! -Etka L.