They value themselves very highly and prove it by being very expensive for design services received. I contacted them to talk about assistance with renovation of our tiny (144 sq ft) kitchen. I got very little for those services - a set of links to selections on Houzz, including a refrigerator far too deep for the counter space it has to fit, and a quick concept sketch of 3 new cabinets (no dimensions). This shopping on Houzz was charged at more than $1000.00 as the deliverable, no actual samples or working drawings of any kind. I had selected the paint colors and lighting myself in advance. All they did with those was to add the links into Houzz.
No contract was offered before starting to charge their time, and I had to ask before they presented one. Every time they communicated, the estimate of design hours went up. First it was 5-8 hours in initial email, then 8-10 hours at the first meeting, then 10-12 hours when the contract for design services was finally presented. Since they charged me 10 hours without a contract, I'm not sure how high the cost of design services would have risen if I had signed a contract and they completed a workable design.
According to my network of architects and interior designers, the going rate for project management of this type of work is 10-15% of construction cost. They quoted 20% for managing the renovation work, which is very high for the work needed. Maybe they were planning to pay themselves each 10%?
Then, they harassed me for not mailing them a check within a few days, emailing, calling and texting my business phone. I paid their invoice for the (lack of) design services but would not recommend them to anyone. read more
