Frequently asked questions

The studio is based in Safety Harbor, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area. Michele works throughout the region, including Tampa, Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Saint Petersburg, Westchase, Wesley Chapel, the Gulf beaches from St Pete Beach to Clearwater Beach, Apollo Beach, Anna Maria Island, Sarasota, Longboat Key and Lakewood Ranch. E-Design is offered anywhere, so clients well beyond Tampa Bay can work with the studio too.

Michele creates interiors that feel calm, elevated and deeply livable, balancing clean lines, natural materials and thoughtful detail. Her work is shaped by an eye for color and a love for texture, along with the places, cultures and architecture she discovers through travel. Each project is a collaboration grounded in your lifestyle, so the finished room tells your story rather than following a formula.

You will work directly with Michele Riley, principal and lead designer of Mia Bella Designs, who brings over 25 years of experience in interior design and space planning. She is an HSR Certified Professional Home Stager and Redesigner, a Certified Color Expert and an Expert E-Designer. Every project is a collaboration, guided by her commitment to quality, simplicity and lasting beauty.

It begins with a conversation about your project, budget and needs, to be sure the studio is the right fit. You fill out a design form, the studio schedules a time to talk, and Michele builds a design plan that lets you see each piece in your space before you commit to a purchase. The plan brings cohesion and harmony, careful attention to scale and proportion, and access to to-the-trade furnishings you will not find online.

Yes. Alongside full interior design, the studio offers kitchen and bath design, new build design and vacation rental design, as well as color consultation and sourcing of to-the-trade furnishings. Portfolio projects include the Eastlake Kitchen Remodel in Tampa and the Coastal Retreat in Indian Shores, a beach style home designed from the kitchen and bar through to the guest rooms.

E-Design is the studio's remote design service, bringing Michele's expertise to you wherever you live. It is often more cost effective and flexible than full service, because you invest in the design expertise itself rather than a designer's time spent shopping. It also lets you phase your project and keep complete control of your budget.

You receive a tailored design solution that includes mood boards, floor plans, color schemes and a curated shopping list with direct purchase links. Michele starts with what you already own and love, then builds upon it so each new piece works to scale and in harmony with the rest. The result is a clear visual plan you can follow at your own pace, one that helps you avoid costly mistakes.

Designer for a Day is a package for one room, priced at $1,250 and including 10 hours of total design time, initial consultation included. It covers a discovery call and consultation, a mood board with furniture, a product list, communication time, paint and finish selections, and one revision. It suits clients who want a single space thoughtfully resolved with a designer's guidance.

Home staging is the preparation of a home for sale by a professional who is trained and certified in this specialized form of design. A professional stager views your home objectively, as a product, highlighting its assets while downplaying its flaws. Sellers rarely have that distance, and many successful Realtors lack the time or trade resources to stage a home properly.

Our homes are a little like our children, and we do not always see their flaws. After living in a space, we grow used to how it looks, and changing it can be emotionally difficult. Without an objective view it is hard to market and package a home effectively, which is where an HSR Certified professional adds the most value.

Even in a strong market, a quick sale does not mean your home sold for all it could have. Only about 10% of buyers can truly visualize a home's potential, and in a vacant home, furniture gives them a frame of reference for size and scale. In a Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) study of more than 13,000 homes, professionally staged homes averaged 23 days on market, and 85% sold for 5 to 23% over list price. Michele's consultation walkthrough identifies the details that erode price, so you can make simple fixes that help maximize your return.

Yes. Michele partners with agents to strengthen their listing packages through occupied home consultations and photo-filled reports that give sellers a clear action plan, along with easy to understand materials that explain the staging process. Volume pricing is available for agents with several listings, and her HSR certification helps sellers trust that each recommendation is made in their best interest.