Havenly provides a consistent, user-friendly online interior design service with transparent pricing and vetted professional designers, making it a reliable choice for a wide range of styles. Laurel & Wolf was a pioneer in the online design space, though it has since undergone restructuring and faces challenges with service consistency and pricing transparency.
Let's compare everything you need to know to choose the right online interior design platform for your home.
Havenly: The Accessible Online Interior Design Service
Havenly is a leading online interior design service celebrated for making professional design accessible and affordable. The platform connects clients with vetted interior designers for a collaborative virtual process, perfect for busy professionals or first-time homeowners who want a personalized space without the traditional high cost. Havenly stands out for its streamlined interface, tiered packages, and integrated shopping experience.
- Services: Offers various online interior design packages, from single-room makeovers to full-home redesigns. The process includes a style quiz, one-on-one collaboration with a designer, mood boards, 3D room renderings, and a curated, clickable shopping list.
- Style/vibe: Highly versatile. With a large pool of designers, Havenly can accommodate a wide spectrum of aesthetics, including modern, minimalist, bohemian, traditional, and transitional styles, all tailored to the client's preferences.
- Price point: Transparent and tiered. Consultations can start around $79, with full-room design packages typically ranging from $199 to $999 depending on the scope of the project and the level of designer interaction.
- Quality: Employs professional interior designers with vetted portfolios, ensuring a consistent level of expertise and quality. Product recommendations are sourced from well-known retailers and high-quality brands.
- Sustainability: Actively promotes eco-friendly products and partners with brands committed to responsible sourcing. The platform often features collections highlighting sustainable materials and manufacturing.
- Shopping Process: Features an integrated e-commerce platform where clients can directly purchase all recommended furniture and decor, often with access to exclusive discounts.
With its focus on customer experience, clear pricing, and consistent quality, Havenly is an excellent choice for anyone seeking reliable, professional design help online.
Shop Havenly: havenly.com
Laurel & Wolf: The Pioneering Online Design Platform
Laurel & Wolf was one of the first brands to bring interior design services online, aiming to democratize the industry with affordable, accessible packages. The original model involved a style quiz and a collaborative process with a dedicated designer who delivered mood boards and shopping lists. Though it played a key role in popularizing virtual design, the brand has faced business challenges, leading to an acquisition and restructuring that has affected its services.
- Services: Historically offered full-service online interior design packages for different rooms, centered around a digital platform that facilitated communication between clients and designers.
- Style/vibe: Aimed for personalized designs based on client input, but feedback sometimes pointed to an emphasis on trendy or modern aesthetics with less stylistic range compared to competitors.
- Price point: Was known for its competitive pricing, with packages often starting around $199 for a single room. Current pricing and package details are less transparent due to recent business changes.
- Quality: Partnered with experienced designers, but customer reviews often cited variability in the quality of design and the responsiveness of the designer assigned to their project.
- Sustainability: Maintained some focus on responsible sourcing, but sustainability was not a primary marketing point, and transparency on eco-friendly practices has been inconsistent.
- Shopping Process: The service provided clients with a detailed shopping list with links to purchase recommended items from various online retailers.
Laurel & Wolf's legacy is significant as a trailblazer, but its current offerings are less clear, making it a much bigger gamble for consumers today.
Shop Laurel & Wolf: laurelandwolf.com
Havenly vs. Laurel & Wolf Comparison
Price Comparison
Havenly leads with transparent, flexible pricing. With clearly defined packages like the Mini (from $199) and the Full (from $299), clients know exactly what they are paying for upfront. They frequently offer promotions for new users, enhancing the value and making professional design incredibly affordable.
Laurel & Wolf's pricing was historically competitive, but following its restructuring, its current model is far less clear. Without transparent package tiers readily available, it's difficult for a potential customer to budget accurately. For predictability and clear value, Havenly has a distinct advantage.
Style & Aesthetic
Havenly's strength lies in its diverse roster of designers, allowing it to capably handle almost any design style a client desires. Whether you're seeking a modern farmhouse look, a minimalist office, or a bohemian bedroom, the platform can match you with a designer who specializes in that aesthetic. This versatility makes it suitable for nearly any taste or home type.
Laurel & Wolf, while aiming for personalization, sometimes received feedback that designs skewed toward what was momentarily trendy. The variety depended heavily on the specific designer you were paired with, leading to less consistency across the platform compared to Havenly.
Quality & Design Process
The structured process and vetted designer pool at Havenly result in a more dependably high-quality outcome. The platform’s systematic approach - quiz, collaboration, concept boards, 3D renderings, and final shopping list - ensures clients are guided through each step. Customer support is generally responsive and helpful, adding another layer of quality control.
While Laurel & Wolf also used professional designers, user experiences varied significantly. Some clients were thrilled, while others reported communication lags and designs that missed the mark. This inconsistency makes it a less certain investment for someone looking for guaranteed professional results.
Shopping Experience
Havenly's seamless, integrated shopping platform is a major differentiator. After finalizing a design, clients can add all the curated items to one universal cart directly on the Havenly website. Their team handles the ordering and logistics from dozens of different vendors, which massively simplifies the purchasing process.
Laurel & Wolf provided clients with a shopping list of recommended products, leaving the actual purchasing process in the client's hands. This required clients to visit multiple retail websites separately to buy their items, adding a layer of work that Havenly eliminates.
Sustainability & Ethics
Sustainability is a clear priority for Havenly. The platform actively partners with eco-conscious brands and often features curated collections of sustainable furniture and decor. Designers can incorporate eco-friendly preferences into their plans, giving clients confidence in their purchasing decisions.
Laurel & Wolf’s commitment to sustainability was less defined. While some designers might recommend eco-friendly products, it was not a core feature promoted by the platform, making Havenly the stronger choice for environmentally conscious consumers.
Which One Should You Choose?
Ultimately, both platforms aim to make interior design more accessible, but they serve different needs in today's market.
Choose Havenly if:
- You value a reliable, streamlined design process with consistent quality.
- Transparent, upfront pricing is important for your budget.
- You want a wide range of styles to choose from and a designer who fits your specific taste.
- You want a simple shopping experience where you can buy all your items in one place.
- Prioritizing sustainable and ethically sourced products matters to you.
Choose Laurel & Wolf if:
- You admired their work in the past and are curious about their current offerings.
- You are comfortable with potential variability in the design process and quality.
- You are primarily looking for very trend-focused design ideas.
- You prefer to do the purchasing yourself across different retail sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Havenly or Laurel & Wolf cheaper?
Havenly is typically the more predictably affordable option due to its transparent, fixed-price packages that start at $199. Laurel & Wolf's pricing structure is less clear since its restructuring, making it harder to determine the final cost.
Which online interior design service has better designers?
Havenly has a more consistent reputation for high-quality design work because it maintains a rigorously vetted pool of professional designers. While Laurel & Wolf also worked with talented individuals, customer reviews often highlighted inconsistency in quality from one designer to the next.
What is the design process like for Havenly?
The Havenly process is very methodical. It starts with a style quiz, then you are matched with a designer. You collaborate on initial ideas, receive a concept board with product suggestions, review a final room design with a 3D rendering, and get a curated shopping list to purchase a la carte or through their integrated checkout.
What happened to Laurel & Wolf?
Laurel & Wolf was a trailblazer in the online design industry but faced operational challenges. The company was eventually acquired and has undergone significant restructuring, which has changed its service offerings and stability in the market.
Can you shop for products directly through these services?
Yes, Havenly offers a fully integrated shopping experience where clients can purchase products from multiple retailers through a single cart on their website. Laurel & Wolf traditionally provided a shopping list with links for you to purchase the items yourself.
How much does a Havenly design package cost?
Havenly offers several tiers. The "Mini" package for room updates starts at $199, while the "Full" package for complete room designs starts at $299. They also offer in-person consultations in select cities at a higher price point.
Which service is better for specific styles like modern or traditional?
Havenly is more versatile and better equipped to handle a wide range of specific styles. Its large and diverse network of designers ensures you can be matched with a professional who specializes in your desired aesthetic, whether it's modern, traditional, minimalist, or eclectic.
Do Havenly and Laurel & Wolf offer services for small spaces?
Yes, both platforms were created to handle rooms of all shapes and sizes, making them excellent options for designing small apartments, offices, or awkwardly shaped spaces. Havenly's 3D renderings are especially helpful for visualizing furniture scale in compact rooms.
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