Our Story
Casa Bonita Design started while I was working at San Diego State University. I designed the Faculty/Staff Lounge for the College of Business. Faculty and staff noticed it and they started to ask me to help them with their homes. I was studying, by then, interior design at Mesa College and was helping friends and family with their interior design projects. Now retired from SDSU, Casa Bonita is my new full-time career and passion.
Teresa Donahue
design principal
My passion is design. My mission is to create beautiful spaces at an affordable price. My approach to interior design is eclectic. I adapt to the unique needs of each client, depending on the design challenges. I strive to specify approaches for the interior design of whatever seems the best or most useful styles and design items rather than following a single style approach. I specialize in affordable design such as just simply rearranging existing furniture to transform a home, or I introduce affordable items such as curtains or slipcovers to change a space.
Client Testimonials
I contracted with Teresa for interior design services for my living-family-dining open space. She began with a questionnaire and then met with me to discuss my style, budget and timeline. She provided computer renderings which were invaluable to making decisions on furniture, spatial arrangement, paint, and décor. As we proceeded to shop and work together, the renderings were updated and modified. This was very helpful in making selections.
Teresa is professional, responsive and creative. It was a pleasure to work with her and I am delighted with my space!
Christine Rychel
Teresa is an exceptionally talented interior and landscape designer. She is fully dedicated to provide a solution that fits a client's personal needs and tastes and is excellent in working within a given budget. Plus, her sunny disposition makes the process fun! I would recommend her any time!
Martina
Teresa Donahue of Casa Bonita Design embodies all that is good in interior and landscape design. Highly professional, enthusiastic about her craft, wonderfully creative, fun to work with, and best of all, she knows how to transform space from ordinary and uninspired to stylish and extraordinary. Although my project was very small, her and her team treated me like royalty! The problem they addressed was to update my hippish-looking bedroom to something more sophisticated and also stay within my limited budget. In a very brief time, my bedroom was transformed. Every morning I now wake up surrounded by cheerful margaritas (Spanish for daisies) in the fabric of the drapes and other accessories in the room. It's a happy place, which has a positive impact on me. What a difference creative design, imagination, and generosity of spirit can make. Thank you Teresa and Casa Bonita Design for taking such good care of me. It's truly a joy to spend time in my beautifully appointed room and I sleep more soundly than ever.
Linda Guzzo
When we bought our home four years ago we knew we would need to update the kitchen. When the time was right, Teresa Donahue helped get our renovation off the ground. She expertly measured our existing layout and designed three beautiful options that were within our budget. It was a big help seeing each design rendering displayed in her power point presentation. Wow! We could never have visualized these options without her help. Teresa has also guided us in finding the right company to work with. It was a pleasure working with her. We highly recommend Teresa, and can't wait to see our beautiful new kitchen materialize!
Susan
I have worked with Teresa from Casa Bonita Design on several projects and I am always impressed by her vision and perspective. She is able to visualize a room's potential and work within your budget to help realize your goals. In the most recent project I worked on with her, an office break room, we had a small budget and she was able to create a relaxing and inviting environment for all the employees. On another better funded project, she created a stunning shared space for employees to come together for celebrations, meetings, or simply a shared lunch. Her consultation on my mother-in-laws major home remodel was what was needed when we were stuck in the planning phase and could not figure out how to best use the space. I cannot say enough positive things about Casa Bonita Design!
Sarah Mercado
Teresa from Casa Bonita Designs is the best! I love her creativity and dedication to her craft. Our office has never looked better. If you have a home or office that needs help, please consider giving Teresa a call. You won't be disappointed.
Debra Bertram
I am local home inspector that visits homes on a daily basis. I have decades of experience evaluating all aspects of a house. Teresa's designs are gorgeous, well thought out, and I was amazed by the quality and thouroughness of each room. The thought put into each design is remarkable and I was highly impressed with Teresa's with Casa Bonitas work! A+ work!
Jonathan Salmon
I recently had the pleasure of working with Teresa from Casa Bonita Design, and I cannot recommend her highly enough! From our very first meeting, Teresa was incredibly professional, attentive, and genuinely invested in bringing my vision to life. She took the time to understand my personal style and preferences, offering creative solutions that perfectly balanced functionality and aesthetics. Her eye for detail and mastery of color transformed my space into a warm, inviting environment. I was especially impressed by how Teresa sourced unique decor items that truly reflected my personality. Communication with her throughout the process was seamless, with regular updates that made me feel involved and informed. The entire project was completed on time and within budget—such a rarity in the design world! If you're looking for a talented interior designer in the triad area, look no further than Teresa at Casa Bonita Design. She truly exceeded my expectations.
Steven Montgomery
Mrs. Donahue was professional, knowledgeable and extremely patient. She started by drawing renderings of the rooms we were going to work on, which help me to visualize my ideas. The end results of the entire project were amazing, even better than what I had in mind.
America Cisneros Thornton
Ms. Donahue has a wonderful eye for beauty. She transformed my boring, cluttered bedroom into a place where I say, "ahhhh" when I enter it. It is neat, light and airy now. Her aim is to use your own favorite things in the room, if possible. I am proud of this room and her ideas that made it come to fruition. After the difference in the bedroom, I decided that my living room/dining room area needed to be refurbished. We agreed that this room needed freshening, too, and continued the theme of making it open and inviting. She had really good ideas on how to approach this room to make it really stand out. It's pink! And I love it! We used frames on the walls to break up the flat wall look. Ms. Donahue helped me with choosing paint, countertops, floor tile and carpeting for my 2nd home, also. And when it was all ready, she placed furniture and pictures. She was a great help in all areas of making it "home," a warm friendly place.
Claudia Allen
Teresa Donahue was AMAZING! She used my existing furniture and accessories in ways that I never dreamed would look so good. When I needed new window coverings, she helped me choose fabric and materials for a custom solution that was much cheaper than anything I could buy in a store. I used her services twice - once when I moved in and once when I got new windows. Teresa listened to my wants and needs (I have pets, so certain design issues had to be considered) and she made the interior of my mid-century modern home look amazing and functional.