In the Design Industry Since: 1995

Accreditations:  President’s Circle Award Recipient.  2015 Designer Marketing “Wally” award.  After receiving my certification form the Arizona School of Interior Design, I worked in the design field doing various jobs from color consultations for residences and businesses, owning my own faux finishing company, to retail at various small design boutiques.  

Inspiration to Pursue a Design Career:  It was Design or becoming a Chef. I tossed a coin.

Favorite Design Tip:  Details should not be obvious but they should be right, enhancing the overall feel of a room.

Best Advice to Clients:  Trust yourself and trust the design process.

My Personal Design Style: Urban Modern

3 Words that Describe Me:  Ebullient, Genial, Flexible

I purchased two complete rooms of furniture, accessories and draperies and couldn't be more satisfied.  I now consider my designer , Talea, a friend.  She listened to what I wanted and had a nice balance of urging me to be open to something new while respecting my style-no glass coffee table :).  When the major portion of the furniture was delivered I received white glove treatment with a supervisor coming to make sure everything was perfect.  When I struggled to accessorize, Talea visited the house and even rearranged my shelves.  We recently put our home up for sale and all the brokers and buyers commented on how beautifully decorated the house was.  I am sure the design helped sell the house in one day!
Talea has now done floor plans for the new house, incorporating what we already have and is searching for the perfect dining room table for me.

-Joanne O

I highly recommend you work with designer Talea Bloom.  I just finished working with her on my master bedroom, and several years ago she helped me design my family room.  I honestly love both of my rooms!   With Talea's help I pulled together many different pieces from different collections so I have rooms that are uniquely me.  I am not an HGTV kind of girl so I could not have done this on my own.

Don't feel threatened to work with a designer on your room.  Talea worked with my budget and was never pushy.  She knows the collections of Walter E. Smithe both on the floor and in her catalogs.  I splurged on a couple main pieces I loved and she helped to find reasonably priced pieces to complete my rooms.  She even met me at other WES locations to view items that she found that weren't on her showroom floor.   

If you only have money for the couch, I would still suggest talking to Talea.  She'll help you create a long term plan for your room.  I convinced my sister to do this a couple years ago.  While she bought many things from WES, she filled in some pieces on her own and now has a beautiful family room.

-Donna M

I had been looking a long time to replace a coffee table and end tables and had even been to a couple of other Smithe stores, but had never found anything suitable-and in my price range.  Being discouraged, I had not looked in a long while, but a couple of weeks ago, something was urging me to stop in at the Lincolnshire store and try one more time.  I was so very pleasantly surprised with the wonderful help I received from Talea Bloom.  She was friendly, courteous, has great taste, and really knew everything in the store and catalogs.  After seeing a picture of my room, she pointed out a beautiful coffee table, however it was more than my budget would allow.  She then pulled out some catalogs and guided me to some really great pieces that were in my price range.  With her expertise for knowing what works well together, she helped me make the perfect choices.  I waited only one day to make the final decision and was back to place my order.  I am now waiting anxiously to have these pieces arrive in my home.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Talea.  You made this a pleasure!

-Donna C

I can't say enough about the wonderful service I received from Talea Bloom, my sales consultant at the Lincolnshire store.  I was struggling with my master bedroom and she came out to my house and measured my room and created a floor plan.  She really took the time to listen to me a figure out what I wanted, and acknowledged that decorating is a real struggle for me.  She took the bull by the horns and came up with options, while being considerate of my budget!  She really made this process painless and fun!  My thanks!

 -Gail M

I loved your furniture, but our decision to purchase from Smithe was all due to Talea Bloom. She's personable and lovely and we just clicked with her. She was extremely mindful of our budget, offered creative suggestions, was willing to look for alternatives, and ultimately gave us everything we were looking for. She is exceptional! I'd come back to Smithe just for her.

-Maria H