Paolo Marchetti Interiors

We considered some competitors first, but are so pleased we chose Paolo Marchetti - over a third less than other quotes, with amazing quality and service. Alyssa was an amazing designer, offering excellent advice, patiently coping with our constant tinkering and happily providing technical drafts for our consideration after we changed our minds yet again. This was followed by a very polite and efficient instillation team with a finished product that has transformed our living room. We could not recommend the company highly enough.

Paolo Marchetti Interiors is a Russian company specialising in customised storage solutions for living, sleeping and home office areas. They opened their first London store in December 2010 in Tottenham Court Road, which is how I first came across them.

The flagship store looks posh and upmarket, and, to be honest, had my parents not pushed me to go in, I probably would never ventured in at all, as I would have been convinced that they were out of my budget. However, following the successful installation of my wardrobe and shelves, I'm very glad I succumbed to parental pressure and walked in here five months ago.

Part of the reason I decided to try this place out was the 25% Christmas discount offer they had on wardrobes (not shelves). Now, this offer was due to expire by the end of January. However, because I was unable to decide on exactly what I wanted by that time, Annie got her manager to agree to apply the discount to my order so that whatever I ordered would be what I really wanted, rather than something I rushed into. We settled on a final design just over two weeks later.

From the very beginning, the whole design process has been a joy. I spoke with designer Annie about the my requirements and constraints, and, after coming back with a sketch of the dimensions of my bedroom, we scanned through the various options and bells and whistles which I wanted. What I was particularly interested in was the pull-down clothes rack option (hard to describe) which I thought was not just cool but also useful.

Annie also suggested various different kinds of wood and finishes would would fit my budget and decoration style. The finish she suggested - Tex - was really, really nice, and I'd recommend that to anyone looking for a more modern, less boring neutral finish. It's a mixture of grey and beige and textured too.

During this process, Paolo Marchetti Interiors sent over a technician to do a site visit to confirm the dimensions of my room and what I needed to do in order to ensure that what I wanted could fit. The technician came over again after I settled on a design to confirm his measurements.

Once this was done, the design was sent to be manufactured. I was told this would take about ten weeks to be completed and they penciled in an installation date which, wonder of wonders, didn't get moved at all.

In terms of payment, I had to pay 70% upon signing of the contract (at the point the design was finalised and before it was sent to be manufactured) and the remaining 30% before it was installed.

So, the wardrobe and shelves have been installed, my designer kept me up-to-date on everything that was going on throughout, and my room looks so much bigger now! I just have to remind myself not to go crazy and buy even more clothes. I'd definitely recommend Paolo Marchetti should you need storage solutions customised for your place.