I give them one star because I have to. I had a dozen windows replaced and siding on a large home…read moreand 3.5 car garage and shed. The installs were very good with good staff and work ethic. Fast forward a year and the siding they recommended is defective with white spots all over it from the injection molding process. The spots are oxidation spots. There are thousands of them varying from the size of a pencil eraser and larger on every run of siding from top to bottom and left to right and they are all about 5 or 6 inches apart. They will not come out or off. The siding company went out of business within that year so there goes my life time warranty. Side Tex would in no way help me. I tried numerous times to work with side tex. They washed their hands of us. They wanted us to pay full labor and material to do the job over. Then they had the nerve to tell my neighbor a few houses a way what a good job they did on my home. I told my neighbor to stay clear. They are great at taking your money but then do not back up the work or companies they recommend.

After a few years of living in our 1930s home with windows that were painted shut, paint feeling…read moreoff, broken glass, etc, we finally decided it was time to replace them. From what I've heard, new windows will cut energy costs 20-30%, but this wasn't a big deal for us as our bills are low already after replacing our boiler. But I digress. Dealing with housing contractors is usually a pain, but this was the first time I was 100% satisfied with everything. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but really they were professional, courteous, on schedule, etc. We had received quotes from 3 companies, and their prices were mid-range but were offering much better quality vinyl windows (and we were replacing 24!). We liked their small showroom and the fact Paul Knapp and Co. gave us plenty of time to look around without pressuring us. We were able to talk to a previous customer who had had the windows a few years and that also gave us confidence before taking on such an expensive project. After committing, they gave us a date a month later when the windows would be in and they would install them and lo and behold that was the actual week they were ready to install! Brad and the other guys (Joe and ?) were very friendly, clean, and ON TIME (Yay!). The job took 2.5 days just like they said it would. And finally, I can be very uptight about these things, and when I noticed the caulking had a few (very very tiny) gaps in a few windows that probably no one else would notice, they were there the next day to make things to my satisfaction. Great customer service. I would definitely use them again.

We weren't really sure what we wanted to do in our office, but Starlet came in and listened to each…read moreconcern, offered amazing ideas and suggestions with her wonderful sense of design and color, and did it within our budget. She is also extremely communicative and no question was too silly to be asked! Highly, highly recommend working wih her.

From the owner: Visualize your dream home in 3D! Starlet Jacobs Design will create realistic room layouts and…read morerenderings the help you see how much better your home can be. Contact us for a consultation and pricing.

Jonathan Gordon is a brilliant designer. Our first major project with Jonathan was our primary…read morebathroom. The transformation is truly incredible. Jonathan is so creative and he has an impeccable eye for details from fixtures to finishes and beyond that really elevate your experience in the space. For example, it was Jonathan's idea to put a rain shower head over the shower bench and every time I sit there and rinse the stress of the day away I think of what a genius he is. Jonathan is patient with his clients and takes the time to answer questions and discuss the details. This is especially important for first time home renovators! He also really respects your personal tastes and tries to create a space that reflects that. One thing you may not know if you haven't renovated before is that the decisions you have to make don't stop once the build begins. Questions will come up from your contractor. I really appreciated how available Jonathan continued to be throughout the build. He even met with our contractor to go through some details and questions. It was so helpful to have him as a trusted resource throughout the project. We look forward to working with Jonathan again on another project.

One of the Jonathans had consulted a family member on interior design and given great advice, so we…read morehired their team for a renovation project. Lana has designed two baths for us and is working with contractors she found for the project. She is AMAZING. Brilliant, kind, patient, GREAT TASTE, and she thinks of so many things we never could have, big and small. Our only frustration is not knowing how much things will cost when making decisions about the design, but this is an industry not a Lana problem. We love working with Lana and would hire her and the Jonathans again for any project. The contractors are wonderful too (Hovan Brothers), and it's helpful that they work well together. Oh and you really do need the digital renderings that the Jonathans will tell you you need... take it from someone who wasted a lot of money trying to work with a cheaper designer before hiring The Jonathans.

Love this gem. Perfect place to get a good gift or unique home finds. Every time I go the staff is…read moreincredibly helpful and the place is updated regularly with new items.

From the owner: The Blue Dodo is the realization of a life-long dream by artist Betsy DeMarco. The Blue Dodo…read morefeatures an ever-changing inventory of unique home decor including contemporary and custom painted furniture, accessories, gifts, cards and art. The store has everything to inspire an artful home.

My husband and I decided to add on a first floor bedroom and bath, as well as an all-season porch…read moreto our 60's colonial home. It became a "while you're at it" project, and we wound up gutting the whole first floor, as well as the 2 upstairs bathrooms. Kevin joined us at the outset and immediately grasped our life style and our tastes and created spaces that reflect who we are and the way we live. He miraculously updated the interior while maintaining the original colonial architecture and character, creating timeless spaces. He was generous with his time and energy, giving us time to make choices and decisions, gently nudging us in another direction when he intuitively knew we would be happier with the end result. Kevin maintained a positive attitude throughout the process, buoying up us as we hit all the inevitable snags and delays, and remains a good friend and advisor to this day. He comes with our highest compliments and recommendation.

Kevin Dix designed a new build of a 3600 sq ft coastal vacation home used by my family a friends…read more He quickly understood my goals for the property and was able to translate that into an architectural design that fit the way I wanted to use the home. The house beautifully fit on the island where it is located and Kevin designed the home to take into account the best attributes of my lot. He also took care of all of the design as well with thoughtful interior finishes that beautifully fit the form and function of the vacation home. He worked from the beginning to get our feedback on the direction he was recommending and to unify the big picture decisions for the build with the details that would create the feel and style of the finished project. His vision in the architectural design was then effectively brought to life through excellent communications with the general contractor overseeing the construction after I selected a contractor using his design documentation in the bidding process. Our vacation home is a joy for my family and all of the extended family and friends with whom we share time in this special place. The design makes a wow first impression, but more importantly it has had an enduring quality for family and loved ones who love having time with one another in this home. I can't imagine how Ii would have built a vacation home like this without the vision and attention to detail that Kevin brought to the project.

In a nutshell: outstanding service and quality. We went to…read morecheck out Affordable Granite based on a few reviews, and particularly because it was mentioned that they have a very fast turnaround from template to installation. We were on a very tight schedule with certain aspects of our whole-house renovation because we had a firm move-in date and needed a functioning kitchen. Affordable Granite delivered on absolutely everything we needed, and were completely respectful, professional, and friendly through the whole process -- and I ask a lot! We scheduled a date for templating based on our cabinet installer's commitment of when the base cabinets would be ready. He was one day off in his time estimation and needed an extra half day to finish. With only a few hours notice, Sara rescheduled our template appointment from late morning to the last appointment of the day, which allowed the extra time to complete the cabinet install without delaying our granite fabrication another week. Next, they worked very patiently with me until I felt completely satisfied with the layout. We have a tricky kitchen, with a large peninsula instead of an island, which necessitated a 90 degree turn without messing up the "movement" (similar to "grain" in wood) of the stone pattern. And we had chosen a pattern with a very definite movement direction. Plus the size of our kitchen (fairly large, and with most of the counters continuously connected) made it so a minimum of two seams would be needed. And the placement of our sink and dishwasher made it even trickier. I definitely wanted no seam around the sink, but this meant that we would either have to have three seams, or put one over the dishwasher. Bruno knows his business! He assured me that though it is usually preferable not to put a seam over the dishwasher, he had done it before with perfect results, so we went with it to minimize the number of seams. And the result was indeed perfect. I was really worried about visibility of the seams, and I must say, they did a BRILLIANT job of laying out the template to make the seams visibly almost non-existent. One seam is simply invisible because they placed both sides within a section of pattern with minimal movement. For the other seam, in a spot of fairly high visibility, they lined up the elements of the granite in such a way that the movement pattern continued perfectly gracefully across the seam, and even created an interesting figure that looks like it's a natural part of the granite! Every person who was invited in to see the counters after installation could not find the seams by visual inspection; they all had to find them by running their hands along and feeling for them. Affordable Granite has a one week turnaround from template to install. On top of that, we needed each of these tasks to be accomplished on a particular day, since we had one week between cabinet installation and the last day the plumber could install the sink before we had to move in. Again, Sara came through for us (she's an amazing office manager, very warm and friendly, knows her stone and her business, and super helpful and has fast communication responses). She scheduled us for the first installation of the day, at the earliest possible moment after fabrication was completed, so that we could have the plumber come in that evening to put in the sink. The installers included the same guys (very professional) who did the templating. Bruno, the owner, really knows his business, and knows how to deliver on all the details that make for a truly high quality outcome. (I worked for a high-end interior designer for a while, and I'm very particular about details.) He personally helped with laying out the template on the stone. And he came to my house to oversee the trickiest part of the installation and make sure everything came out to my satisfaction, including taking care to tread lightly in my home. One final comment: when I first went to their stone yard, my first impression caused me some definite hesitation. They were kind of hard to find (behind another business), the office was hard to spot, and their yard was small. I definitely prefer to have a very large selection so I can tweak my design details perfectly. I thought I would need to go to the giant wholesaler's yard to pick my stone, and have Bruno do the fabrication. But it turned out that Affordable Granite has a really good selection of stone, despite being a small yard. I was expecting the same cheaper, boring patterns as big box stores, but that was not what I found. I found a gorgeous variety of very interesting granite right in their small yard that fit my design beautifully. So while they don't have everything under the sun, their small selection is surprisingly well curated. We had an outstanding experience, start to finish, with this small business, who delivered excellence in all the ways that really count.

Josh the sales rep. is a great guy. They installers put a whole in my wall, damage 2 titles in the…read morebathroom that was just replaced and had to come back and redo the countertop in the laundry. I do have both countertops finally and they look great. The install was poor!!!

I am very happy with my decision to use Affordable Interior Design and with Stephanie, the designer…read moreI worked with. First, the design questionnaire was excellent - especially for someone like me who doesn't know much about interior design. It was able to identify my design preferences by showing different living rooms and asking which ones were to my liking. In addition, its questions served as a great preparation for the home visit, so Stephanie came well prepared for our meeting. Stephanie was very creative, professional, and helpful throughout the process. When she visited my place, we decided on a design together, in an efficient process, where she was able to translate my needs and preferences to interior design decisions and furniture choices. After two weeks, she assembled a furniture shopping list, within the budget I requested. I purchased all items she suggested. The furniture items were sourced from many furniture stores and I felt she did an excellent job finding items that were beautiful, fit the overall design, and reasonably priced. I get nothing but compliments about my place (even from my Architect friend who is quite stingy with design related complements...). Well done Stephanie! As to the cost-effectiveness of the service - had I done this process myself (even with friends help), I would have surely spent more time, more money, getting worse results. Finally, the service was well structured and transparent. Good stuff overall.

Paulina helped us get our dream bathroom! She has such a great eye and helped us save money on a…read morelot of materials too because she knew the right places to look. It's my favorite room in our house now, and I'm excited to work with AID on our kitchen renovation too.

I just used Valentina's Home Design for an upholstery project of a 40 year old sofa. She was so…read morehelpful with suggestions about fabrics and colors. I took several samples home before I settled on a color and fabric. She then made all the arrangements for the upholstering. The whole process took less than 2 weeks, from picking out the fabric, and the pick up and delivery of my now "new" and beautiful sofa! I loved working with her on this project and highly recommend her expertise in decorating. She also has a lovely shop of gifts and small accents for any home.