Testimonials
Lesley Sleiker
CEO, Ronald McDonald House
“When construction of our new 34 bedroom Ronald McDonald House began in 2011 we selected Frances Fraser to lead our interior design team. At a very early stage of seeing Frances’ concepts we knew she fully understood our complex needs and desired results. We believed she was competent, and would be instrumental in bringing our blank canvas of empty space, walls and floors of our new House to life. The project was large and varied in our requirements and outcomes. One of the biggest challenges was delivering a high end product by securing products at discounted rates and having to incorporate donated product into the concepts to ensure everything was delivered under budget, without compromising on quality or visual dynamic. Another challenge Frances faced was certain areas not only had to meet the needs of the diverse range of end users, the products needed to be commercial but the overall effect had be like a home.
Certain areas were then complicated further when they had to reflect the individual donor or sponsor of the space, literally we had to merge commercial representation with homely décor. Frances worked diligently and passionately to ensure every box on our very long list was ticked for us. Our Trust now has a wonderful facility which meets our original design brief and our ongoing and future needs, our donors and sponsors are delighted to have space which they are very proud to have their name associated with.
All was achieved well under budget without concession. Thanks to Frances’ creative ability and talent, our families now have a place, which is not only light, bright and welcoming but is also visually inspiring and rejuvenates their spirit, giving them the energy to face the next day with their sick child. A place they are proud to call their home.”
David Mould
Associate, Archaus Architects
“Frances is the consummate professional, terrifically talented and a real pleasure to work along side. From our first meeting I could tell that she was passionate about design and that she would embrace the project with excitement and focus. Frances approached the new Ronald McDonald House interior with a design ethos that was methodical, sophisticated and set a clear vision from the offset. Her design layouts, choice of materials, colours and furniture design were innovative, edgy and thoughtfully prepared. Her uncanny ability to collaborate with our client, design team members and suppliers with a minimum of instruction, manifested in a shared and enhanced vision, to what was an extremely challenging large scale project. Frances has a magic touch and a fantastic sense of style. Hopefully our paths will cross again on future projects. I would have no hesitation in recommending Frances’ Company Honour Creative to future clients.”
Sandra & Mike Pope
Apartment Owners
“From the very first meeting with Frances we knew she was the perfect person to guide and help us decorate our new apartment. It was a great pleasure to work withsuch a talented designer whose creativity, passion and special understanding and caring of our needs encouraged us to be more adventurous. Nothing was ever too much trouble for her. My husband remarks frequently when he walks in that he loves our home and everything Frances has created for us. We now have a sophisticated, stylish and very liveable apartment which we just love and enjoy greatly. We unreservedly recommend Frances.”
Judith Watson
Home Owner
“Over the last 12 months we have undergone renovations within our home and we asked Frances if she could be the interior designer for these. From the very first meeting with her, Frances did an excellent job of listening to what we wanted, steering and guiding us on both the big picture and every intricate detail, and yet always making us feel like we were very much a part of the process and yet able to own the results.
This was an extensive renovation and Frances’ commitment to the project never wavered. Her ideas are clever and she uses a mix of architectural design and interior decorating flair that make for a very exciting end product. She is innovative and creative, but not at the expense of what our particular place and style required. She pushed us outside of the box, and we trusted her to do so, knowing what we would get would be an outstanding outcome.
Frances places great store on communication and because of this, her relationships with all those involved in this project were excellent. She is open to discussion and is always prompt in response to any problems or queries. Frances strove to keep a difficult balance between aiming for quality of products, materials and design, and yet being conscious of our budget. She kept us up to date with this, using clear, regular spreadsheets, and she was consistently open to any discussion or clarification we required. Frances is passionate about her work and she has every right to be. She is a talented designer and we feel lucky that we had her lead us through this daunting task. We would certainly recommend her, wholeheartedly.”
Louise Hockley
Chiropractor, Back To Living
“I have had the pleasure of working with Frances to create a great office space for myself and my team members which has met all our expectations. What makes Frances so talented is her ability to take ideas and expand them into something great! Frances saw the challenges with our vision for the small reception area and tactfully and with the confidence of a true professional moved us to a much better solution. The colours of our space are peaceful whilst still feeling fresh and modern which is exactly the atmosphere we wanted to achieve. I would recommend Frances to others as a truly professional and motivated individual with great ideas and confidence to meet the task at hand.”
Craig & Claudia Hill
Home Owners
“We began the process of completely remodelling the bathroom and kitchen in our 1910 Villa ourselves and realised we needed a fresh perspective. We chose Frances because of her willingness to listen to our initial thoughts and incorporate our ideas throughout the design process, her high energy level, enthusiasm for the job, creative design ideas and obvious commitment to quality.We had a small bathroom with limited design options and we got a bit lost working out functionality and design. Frances came up with creative ways to maximize the space, both functionally and aesthetically. People walk into our bathroom and their breath is taken away by what has been accomplished.
Frances gave us different design options for both the bathroom and kitchen and we were able to transform them into new amazing spaces together. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the entire process.”
Michael & Kate Slade
Home Owners
“We talked Frances through what we were after, showed her some pictures and then walked through the existing space. Frances took all this information away and came back quick quickly with a design pack that gave us clear direction on colour schemes and design options for each space. Included were interesting design elements we had not thought of, which ended up being firm favourites. This was the real value add for us. The pack turned out to be invaluable as we often referred to it when making purchasing decisions and construction decisions with the builder. We also appreciated Frances setting realistic expectations about what was and what was not achievable on our budget. Frances listened well, responded promptly and was genuinely enthusiastic about our project.
We also felt that our experience working with Frances was one of the best across all the building tradespeople we dealt with during the renovation.”
Sue McCabe
Home Owner
“We are delighted with the result of the design, advice and project management work Frances from Honour Creative did when we undertook a renovation of our villa. Frances guided usto identify the look and feel we wanted that would also work with our style of house, and then provided advice and options for products that fitted with our vision. Frances is professional and pleasant to work with, and communicated really well and transparently with us. Frances worked effectively with a range of other tradespeople involved in our house renovation which helped itgo more smoothly. It is obvious Frances has high standards and cares about customer satisfaction and the quality of the end result. Frances is practical as well as creative, so our house not only looks good, but it’s also very functional.”
Letitia Montford
Trust Board Member Ronald McDonald House Wellington and McDonald’s Franchisee
“During 2009/2010 it was decided that the existing Ronald McDonald House in Wellington needed to be demolished and a brand new facility built. The Board was looking at a $15 million project and we needed to make this 34 bedroom House into a very special home!
As a Trust Board Member of Ronald McDonald House Wellington and on the Interior Design Team for the new build, the CEO Lesley Slieker and I wished to engage a Wellington based Interior Designer to lead us through the project.
In December 2011, we procured the services of a newly qualified Frances Fraser. We knew instantly that Frances was the one to join the two of us on this momentous journey, and what would be a massive undertaking. Frances came from a graphic design background and had recently graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Design with Distinction from Massey University in Wellington. She came to us with a number of valuable contacts and lots of innovative ideas!!
Frances listened to the significant brief for the project and began to interpret this into design schemes and ultimately reality for us. Frances was always a few steps ahead of us and always come to our meetings well prepared and ‘creative juices’ flowing. Frances has the ability to not only deliver professional concepts through to reality but work effectively in a team so that all our strengths could be capitalised on.
Frances kept all our interior design subcontractors and suppliers well supported, keeping them in the loop of our deadlines and making sure they had everything they needed to complete their work. Maintaining professional and frequent communication allowed us to be kept up to date with the progress and assured that all targets were met.
We thoroughly enjoyed working with Frances and that was a wonderful bonus. The new Ronald McDonald House was a challenging but hugely rewarding project of significance for hundreds of future families and Wellington as a city, we needed to get it right!
I would have no hesitation in recommending Frances Fraser for Interior Design work big or small – residential or commercial. Personally, I wish her every success as she embarks on her next journey and designing and creating wonderful spaces for her clients.”
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