Decisions, not more options
Most design advice adds to the pile. A consultation subtracts from it. You leave with a shorter list than you arrived with, and every item on it has a reason attached.
bumfuzzledjane.com Interior design consulting for the beautifully overwhelmed
Bumfuzzled /ˈbʌm.fʌz.əld/ — thoroughly confused by something that was supposed to be enjoyable. Such as your own living room. We turn 400 saved images and three contradictory quotes into one costed plan you can actually build.
Remote consultations nationwide · No supplier commission, ever
11
years
Independent practice, 2014 to today. No showroom to sell you out of.
$0
commission
Taken from suppliers, brands or contractors. You are the only client.
240+ homes un-bumfuzzled since 2014
- Allied member, ASID
- Member, NKBA
- EPA Lead-Safe renovation literate
- Featured in Portland Home & Garden
- 240+ projects · 38 states
Why homeowners choose us
Why homeowners choose bumfuzzledjane.com
There is no shortage of interior design inspiration. There is a severe shortage of someone willing to tell you which of it applies to your house, your budget and your actual life.
Paid by you, and only you
We take no trade commission, no affiliate margin and no supplier kickback. When bumfuzzledjane.com recommends something, the only thing in it for us is that you are pleased in five years.
Plans your budget survives
Every plan is costed line by line and phased, so it can be executed over a weekend or over three years. Nothing is specified that we have not priced.
The real problem
You are not bad at this. You are bumfuzzled.
Almost nobody who contacts bumfuzzledjane.com has bad taste. They have too much information and no way to rank it. Nine hundred pins, four influencers who contradict each other, a partner who wants something else, and a quote with a line item called “miscellaneous — $8,400”.
That is not a taste problem. It is a decision problem, and decision problems are solved by constraints. Our entire job is to give you fewer, better options and the confidence to commit to one.
- Your saved images already contain a coherent style. We name it.
- Three finishes chosen well beat thirty compared endlessly.
- The expensive mistakes are structural, not decorative. We flag those first.
Average saved images per client
412
Average number we keep: 9
Sellwood kitchen, three bids
- Bid A$63,400
- Bid B$22,100
- Bid C$58,900
Bid B omitted all electrical and the countertop.
Renovation advisory
Someone on your side of the table
A contractor is not your enemy, but they are not your advocate either. When three bids on the same kitchen arrive $41,000 apart, the cheap one is rarely a bargain — it is usually a different, smaller job wearing the same job’s name.
bumfuzzledjane.com reads the quotes line by line, normalizes the scope so you are comparing like with like, and holds the specification through the build. We will also tell you when a change order is entirely fair, because most of them are.
- Scope normalized across every bid before you sign anything
- Change orders reviewed and explained within 24 hours
- Permit, lead-paint and ventilation questions raised early, not on site
Ways to work together
Interior design consulting, at four different depths
Start with a single call or hand over a whole house. Everything is quoted flat before it begins, so the price you are told is the price you pay.
01
Design Direction Call
$29590 minutes
One focused video call for the person holding six paint chips and no decision. We work through your actual room, on camera, and you leave with a direction rather than more options.
- Live walkthrough of the room on video
- A named palette with specific paint codes
- Layout fix for whatever is not working
- Written recap within 48 hours
Best for one stuck room, or a second opinion before you commit.
Details & scope →
02
Room Design Plan
from $1,450per room, 3 to 4 weeks
A complete, buildable plan for a single room. Every item specified, priced and linked, with a scale drawing so your contractor and your budget agree with each other.
- To-scale floor plan and elevations
- Full finish and furniture schedule with live links
- Budget broken out line by line
- Two rounds of revisions
- Ordering checklist and lead times
Best for a living room, primary bedroom or home office you want done once, properly.
Details & scope →
03
Whole-Home Concept
from $4,800per home, 6 to 8 weeks
The document that keeps a house from becoming five unrelated rooms. One palette, one material language, one sequence, so you can renovate in stages over years without it looking like it.
- Whole-house color and material strategy
- Room-by-room priority and phasing plan
- Flooring, trim, hardware and lighting standards
- Staged budget across 12 to 36 months
- Quarterly check-in calls for a year
Best for a new-to-you house, or a long renovation you plan to do in phases.
Details & scope →
04
Renovation Advisory
from $2,200monthly retainer
Your side of the table during a live build. We read the quotes, question the line items, hold the spec and tell you in plain English when a change order is reasonable and when it is not.
- Contractor bid review and comparison
- Specification pack your trades can build from
- Change-order review within 24 hours
- Biweekly site-progress calls
- Snag list and closeout review
Best for kitchen, bathroom or structural work above roughly $40,000.
Details & scope →The process
How the bumfuzzledjane.com process works
Four steps, no mystery, and nothing that requires you to tidy up first.
-
01
Send the mess
Photos, floor plans, the screenshot folder, the quote you do not understand. There is no wrong format and nothing needs tidying first.
-
02
We find the thread
Before we meet, Jane reads everything and works out what your saved images have in common. Usually you already know what you like; you just have not seen it named.
-
03
The working session
Ninety minutes on video, in your actual room. Layout, light, color, order of operations. This is where the decisions get made rather than discussed.
-
04
You get it in writing
A recap, a palette with real paint codes, a schedule with prices and links, and a sequence. Then you buy and build at whatever pace suits your life.
Who you actually speak to
Meet Jane, the consultant behind bumfuzzledjane.com
Jane Halloway spent nine years specifying commercial interiors before realizing the people who needed help most were homeowners being sold a lifestyle instead of a plan. She started this practice in 2014 with one rule that has never changed: the client pays, so the client is the only interest served.
Every inquiry to bumfuzzledjane.com is read by Jane. Every call is run by Jane. There is no junior designer, no account manager and no queue — which is also why the calendar is genuinely finite.
- Practicing since
- 2014
- Homes advised
- 240+
- States served
- 38
- Supplier commission
- None
Selected work
Recent projects
A consultancy is judged on rooms people still like two years later. These are a few of them.
In their words
What clients say
I had 480 saved images and no idea what any of them had in common. Jane found the thread in about twenty minutes and then told me which four things to buy. The rest I already owned.
Marisa LedbetterHomeowner, Alberta Street Bungalow
The bid review paid for itself on the first page. Two of our three contractors had left out the electrical, which is exactly why one of them looked so cheap.
Devon ArriagaHomeowner, Sellwood Family Kitchen
What I actually needed was permission to stop looking. The whole-home concept gave us a sequence, so we stopped relitigating the bathroom every six weeks.
Omar SedilloHomeowner, Laurelhurst
I expected to be talked into an expensive taste I do not have. Instead she specified three things from a big-box store and one very good chair, and the room looks like money.
Priya RaghunathanRenter, Mississippi Avenue
The journal
Advice we would give you anyway
Long-form, specific and free. If an article solves your problem and you never hire us, that is a perfectly good outcome.
Hiring · 10 min read
How to Hire an Interior Designer, and When You Really Should Not
Designer, decorator, consultant or nobody at all. What each one actually does, what each one costs, and the four questions that expose a bad fit in ten minutes.
Lighting · 8 min read
Lighting Layers: The Three-Height Rule Every Room Needs
One ceiling fixture is why your room looks flat at night. Light belongs at three heights, in one color temperature, on separate switches. Here is the method.
Planning · 7 min read
Measure Twice, Buy Once: How to Measure a Room Properly
Most returned furniture was never going to fit. A twenty-minute measuring routine, the eight numbers you actually need, and the doorway math people forget.
Questions
bumfuzzledjane.com — frequently asked
If yours is not here, ask it directly. Jane answers her own email.
What does bumfuzzledjane.com actually do?
We are an interior design consultancy, not a furniture shop and not a contractor. You bring a room, a house or a renovation you have stalled on, and we produce the decisions: palette, layout, materials, budget and sequence. You keep control of buying and building, and we make sure what you build is worth building.
How is a design consultant different from an interior decorator?
A decorator is generally hired to select and install finishes and furnishings. A consultant is hired for judgment: what to do, in what order, at what cost, and what to leave alone. Many clients come to bumfuzzledjane.com for the plan, then hire a decorator, a contractor, or nobody at all to carry it out.
Do I have to buy everything you specify?
No. Every plan is built to be bought in stages, and each schedule flags what is structural, meaning expensive to undo, versus what is soft and can wait. Clients routinely execute a room plan over a year or more.
Do you work with clients outside Portland?
Yes. Direction calls, room plans and whole-home concepts are all delivered remotely, and roughly two thirds of our work is out of state. Renovation advisory works remotely too, though we ask for a local project manager or contractor we can speak to directly.
What does interior design consulting cost?
A ninety-minute Design Direction Call is $295. Room plans start at $1,450, whole-home concepts at $4,800, and renovation advisory at $2,200 a month. Every engagement is quoted flat before it starts. We do not bill hourly and we do not take commission from suppliers, which is deliberate.
Do you take commission or trade kickbacks from brands?
Never. bumfuzzledjane.com is paid by you and only by you. If we recommend a sofa it is because it suits the room and will survive your household, not because it carries a trade margin. This is the single biggest reason people hire an independent consultant.
How soon can we start?
Direction calls are usually available within seven to ten days. Room plans and whole-home concepts typically begin three to five weeks out. If you have a contractor waiting on a decision, say so when you get in touch and we will tell you honestly whether we can help in time.
What if I dislike the direction you propose?
Then we have learned something useful and we revise. Room plans include two rounds of revisions as standard. If the first concept is wrong, saying so early is the cheapest thing you will ever do on a project.
Begin here
Stop opening new tabs. Start making decisions.
Tell us about the room, the house or the quote that has you stuck. You will hear back from Jane within one working day, and the first reply is always a real answer rather than a sales call.