Montague Design

Catherine takes the time to learn your taste, work-flow for the space, habits, and irritants. With this approach, she is able to create an innovative design that exceeds expectations once executed. Her work completely fulfilled our goals for spending together as a family in mixed-use first-floor living space. Her work habits really mesh well with busy professionals who have high expectations and strict schedules. She always follows thru, is on time, and manages the people executing the work with similar diligence.

If there were more stars I would give them! Catherine took my home that I didn't like and transformed it into my favorite place in this world. She made the process easy and fun and her eye for design is superb. I had already tried to decorate on my own...if I had just used her from the start I would have saved time, money, and a lot of frustration! I've since used her to pick out paint colors at a rental property and she has transformed my husbands office. Fabulous interior design is not just for the rich and famous! I can't say enough great things about her.

I worked with Catherine on a project to complete a basement game room remodel. Catherine was supportive of my ideas and she added her flair and expertise to the finished product. Catherine was professional, committed to my timeline and understood my vision for the space. The 'WOW' comments from family and friends over the holidays were exciting for me. The basement went from a drab game room to one of my favorite rooms in our house. Thank you Catherine!!!

Catherine is the best in the business, no question. She runs a very efficient project, understands and works within your budget, She never misses any details, is always on time for meetings, and works around your schedule. She possesses all the talent and skills and is a consummate professional. She listens to what you like and what you want and always offers up her opinions, understanding that what you like is the most important. I've used Green Design for 2 projects and would not hesitate using her for any future projects, big or small.

Catherine is absolutely amazing. Very professional. Punctual with appointments. Was able to translate my visions into our home. She works very hard to make sure deadlines are met in a timely manner. She also stayed within our budget for items and was willing to find choices to stick within our budget. She put together an amazing book, a paint schedule book, for the painters to have on site. It is a very specific, room by room guide, that covered wall, trim and ceiling colors. It was complete with floor plans for the painters. I was also given a copy to keep for future use. Our home was a very large undertaking and I am grateful that I had her working with me. She is also able to deal well with difficult personalities on the job site.

It started over a cup of coffee... I met with Catherine, fully armed with notions for my soon-to-be storefront. “I’ll just keep it with my traditional blues and greys” I thought. “ I’m interested in this specific line of furniture because it will suit my needs” I justified. Catherine pleasantly listened. And then she started asking questions. Her passion drove my excitement. This business venture was going to be fun. “You think bright & bold colors fit my mission and what I’m working to accomplish, well… yes! That sounds great! What do we do next?” Catherine explained the process, and recommended that I go and select some colors and she would then order samples and bring them to the office. Well, let’s just say MY first set of picks were bright and bold and ATROCIOUS! So Catherine gently redirected me to colors that would work and that I to this day love. Even after over 1 ½ years, I still get compliments from clients and visitors on how cute and energizing my shop is. But color is not all that Catherine helped with. No, that was just the start. She also encouraged me to spray paint the ceiling, to make the restroom a cute gem, and to think about replacing the covers over the lighting so the work area would be brighter. As we talked about my business, my goals and my workstyle, we moved on to the furniture and the layout. She offered invaluable suggestions regarding the type of furniture, the benefits of mobile furniture so I could easily move it to accommodate a variety of seating arrangements for workshops, and how to draw people in with the proper arrangement and focal points. If it weren’t for Catherine, I have no doubt I would be avoiding my drab office with a setup that blocked customers from coming in and being engaged. Instead, I get to go to my lovely office. As I enter, I feel my senses both energized and calmed by the soft yellow side walls and my creativity being stirred by the plum back wall. Just the combination I need to support a day’s work at the office! Catherine’s consistent level service throughout the process was incredible. She went way above our initial expectations, which was to help pick out colors. In talking with her, with her line of questioning, with her excitement in encouraging me to select colors that were appropriate to what I felt, to what I wanted to do, I realized it was also time to rebrand AND rename my business. So that plum color that you see on the back wall in my office, that’s the basis for the ‘Biz’ in my logo. And that’s not all! Catherine mentioned that perhaps I should change my name to something like The Marketing Shop. I knew she was onto something. I felt it immediately. The word ‘shop’ completely fit what I was trying to accomplish. It wasn’t long until The Small Biz Shop was born. And to think… it all started over a cup of coffee. Thank you Catherine!! Linda D'Angelo of The Small Biz Shop in Carnegie, PA

Green Design was a pleasure to work with, understanding my goals and budget completely. We remodeled two secondary bathrooms. They needed to be updated (20 years old) but because they were not on the main floor and not often used, we were conscious of our budget. Catherine from Green Design had ideas that never occurred to me on how to update, upgrade. (She so the bathrooms as part of the whole floor so coordinated colors and style to match the rooms nearby...great idea.) She had great sources, too. We kept both floors but the one was mauve ceramic (yes, mauve) and I never thought we'd come up with a design to keep it. It looks fabulous....it may now be my favorite room in the house. Both bathrooms were transformed into lovely, updated spaces with eye-catching features. I would definitely hire Green Design again.

Recently, I attended a workshop where Catherine presented several ideas on how to improve productivity and create a healthier environment at home or at work. She provided practical tips on positioning furniture to maximize space; use of natural light; color schemes; use of plants to improve air quality; and repurposing of decorative objects to create energy, harmony and a greater sense of well-being. I realized that I had all of the right ingredients on hand for a more energized office space - but everything was in the wrong place. With a few simple changes using Catherine's ideas - my office space is now more productive and healthier!

Catherine listened to all of my needs and wants for my new office. Catherine gave many suggestions then we agreed on what furniture I needed. Then Catherine sent a blueprint of my future office. My office is just fabulous. I think of Catherine every time I walk into my office (with a smile on my face!)

As a professional lighting designer, I worked with Catherine on the Remax Shadyside Office - taking an existing office and turning it into a “Jewel Box”. She worked hard for her clients, bringing their vision to reality, resulting in a space that was dynamic, interesting and fresh... within budget. By listening to her client and understanding his vision for the space, Catherine’s attention to detail and guidance with the client’s decisions ensured that his vision became reality. She realized the importance that lighting would play in this project and helped her client see the value of the luminaires that were necessary to make a statement. Catherine managed the project efficiently, keeping to timetables set forth. She coordinated the various subcontractors working on the job to keep the project running on time and budget. The end result was a conference room that serves as a showpiece on a main street of Shadyside. Catherine is fun, a team player and great to work with. I would recommend her without hesitation. Haldane E. Hilbish, IALD Hilbish McGee Lighting Design

Catherine has a fabulous eye for design but always keeps the budget in mind. She has the ability to take a complicated process and break it down to help her clients understand the options and make educated decisions. Her interior design service has proved its value on several of my projects over the past few years, saving me time and money. Catherine listens to the client first and foremost then brings your vision to fruition with a much better end result . As a business owner, one of my projects was refreshing my home office with new touches which resulted in better work flow and increased productivity. I wouldn’t consider starting a new home project without bringing in her excellent eye and services!

Catherine Montague of Green Design Innovation was referred to me by my realtor, Markay Pfeifer. We had recently moved into our new home and I wanted assistance with placement of existing furniture, as well as selecting colors for painting. At our initial appointment, Catherine met with my husband and me at a neutral location to see if we would be a fit to work together. She took the time to get to know us and understand our family’s lifestyle before entering our home. We felt very comfortable with Catherine and following the initial meeting we requested she put together a proposal for design services. After the proposal was submitted and agreed upon, Catherine came to our home and began the redesign process. She was flexible, offered various color suggestions to bring in a warmer color palette and assisted in furniture placement. After the initial color recommendations were made, we purchased a new sectional sofa for the basement. Upon delivery of the new furniture, I realized the color scheme we had originally selected wasn’t going to match as we had anticipated. Catherine went the extra mile in her service. She returned to our home and assisted in choosing a new color scheme to match our new sectional sofa. Included in her scope of work was assistance in placing art works and photographs throughout the house. I followed her superb suggestions and am thoroughly pleased with the results. I would wholeheartedly recommend utilizing interior design services of Catherine Montague and Green Design Innovation. She is thorough, knowledgeable and doesn’t rush through the design process. I love the results! Dr. Lorraine Commeret