I had a guest bedroom closet done by Closets by Design. I wanted it more for crafts and office configuration with lots of shelves and drawers. I had quotes from both California Closets (CC) and Closets by Design (CBD). Price wise they were similar and are constructed with similar materials. The CBD went to the floor and I like that for this particular closet because I wanted additional bottom storage shelves and a drawer. They did a great job and it definitely meets my needs.

Like the previous poster, they don't do anything to the walls after they tear it out. So I had them tear out the closet, hired someone to re-texture and paint the walls (I wanted color coming through) and CBD came back several days later to install the closet. I chose CBD because I felt my consultant for CBD was more experienced, designed a better closet and was more detailed. She gave me pros and cons of things I had considered and suggested. She was great!

I had both CBD and CC come out to give estimates when I was ready to do my Master Closet. Because of the unusual configuration of my master closet (not a square or rectangle shape), I did not feel that either company was able to give me what I wanted as far as functionality and specifics that I wanted in my Master Closet. CBD may have been able to fulfill my needs if my previous CBD designer was avaialbe, but the designer they sent measured incorrectly and was high pressure sales for a lackluster design that did not meet my needs.

There was one other company that I received an estimate from that was similar in construction to CBD and CC and their prices were half of what their costs were. If I had decided to go with a laminent look and wanted to remove my entire closet I would have chosen this company instead of CBD or CC since he did the best job in designing and pricing their products and services. If you are looking for that type of construction (laminate) you may want to look at other alternative companies.

I decided to hire a carpenter to build exactly what I wanted. The other thing with the Master closet was that I did not want a complete tear out because I liked some parts of my closet. For the Master closet the estimates I received ranged from about $8000 to $12K! The carpenter I selected built cabinets, shoe storage, dresser units and more using real wood. The cost was about $3500 and looks like it was original to the house. I love it and I am having the carpenter re-do other closets in my home. I am completely thrilled with the carpenters work and since my master BR closet, they have also reconstructed my walk-in pantry which is also phenomenal. I can't imagine using anyone other than my carpenter for my future projects. I think the garage will he next.

I have some built-ins by Closets by Design (sewing room) and we want to remove them to take them with us to a new home. They are not coming up with answers for us (they're busy) so does anybody know how to get the 'un-install' started? We had them done in the Dallas area, so if any of you know of an installer, we will pay him/her to remove these. Thanks. I'm very frustrated with their lack of caring. Great product but poor customer service.

Can anyone suggest any good cabinet makers? cabinet builder in the Michigan area?

Closets by Design was terrible. DO NOT USE THEM. I had trouble from day one and wished I had not hired them. Getting ready to do my pantry and I guarantee it won't be Closets by Design.

Who did you do with for your pantry, Sandra? I’m trying to figure out who to go with for a bedroom closet and my laundry closet. Thx

Does anyone know if either company can custom build different lengths for drawers or do they have preset dimensions? This is basically the deal breaker for me on whether or not I spend extra money or wait for a local contractor. It’s just a small master reach in closet thats 4.6ft wide and 3 feet deep.

Alissa, CBD makes everything custom. This is especially important if working around windows and outlets. Even with their sale discounts, price is still high. My perimeter storage in guest room didn't even afford doors or drawers, just open shelves and hanging space, coming in at just over $4k. Also, lead time is several weeks from October 2020, in central Florida

Sandra, what kinds of problems did you have with CBD? We are contemplating getting cbd in our closet.

You should make sure they give you a final clean design with all dimensions before you pay anything. They give that final design to the contractor. Our plans were a mass of hen scratches with missing dimensions- not surprisingly many of the delivered cabinets were wrongly sized. A big mess and lengthy delays and compromises for the sake of expediency and empathy for the contractor (who is a subcontractor to CBD).

We have had two closet systems installed Closets by Design. Both times we had positive experiences with the install; just be clear whether you want it to be notched in the back for baseboard, in my opinion it looks better to remove your baseboard so it’s not notched. It’s also worth it to add the baseboard and crown, and increase the height of the system to the ceiling. The salespeople do have a “poor mentality” to make sure they get the sale so you really have to push to add these extras. We are pretty handy, so the third closet system we did ourselves using Menard’s Dakota system for a third of the cost or less. It looks as nice and sturdy the rest.

We used CBD to do our office. They started the first part of March and took the balance of the payment when they showed up for the install. As of November 4 the office is incomplete and CBD is "missing in action-calls not returned. On one of my Facebook post, they did say we had been contacted which is not true. Save yourself a world of hurt and frustration by choosing someone different.

I will never work with CBD again; I am so horrified by the their service, craftsmanship, pricing, and project management. A horrible experience from start to finish. Save yourself the hassle and hire a real carpenter!

I used CBD twice and they did an excellent job.

I used California Closets when l lived in N.J. They did a master and second bedroom, a linen closet and a very small hallway coat closet and l was very pleased how it came out.

closets by design designed my closet and now i cannot access my electrical outlet... love other aspects however. I called and complained but nothing they could do after install.

Closets by Design did 2 bedroom closets, and they came out nice.

The fly in the ointment was that the saleslady gave me the wrong color for the walls, they are shades off the white of their (laminated?) boards. Much harder to redo after the install. Of course we never heard from her after the order was placed.

We did have floors and toe kicks put in, which I think makes it look better.

Not happy with the customer service responsiveness and follow up provided. The Initial sales service is excellent as they like to get you to sign the contract for work. Once everything is confirmed they were able to accommodate and get the closet done in 3.5 weeks
But the disaster started when the technicians came to install the closet. Parts were completely missing, some sections measurements were wrong, people were so grumpy if we asked any questions.
It's been 4 weeks now and we still don't have missing parts from them.
Office folks do not answer or follow up to see if issue is resolved or addressed and/or when they do we get only VM

I really wish I could have gone with IKEA or another vendor to do the job right 1st time or at least provide timely resolution if any issue
Please choose someone else as these people will quote you like 40% discount and then additional discount etc. but eventually you have to deal with these customer service issues

I am sorry to hear that your experience didn’t go so well. There was a minor situation that occurred with one of ours too, a drawer face or something, however they scheduled the date (probably 4-6 weeks out, cannot remember exactly) so we knew when they would be returning to complete it. The installers were professional and even helped us to decide proper height for the drawer placement on one of the sections. The missing item wasn’t a big deal in our situation as it was a new build and in the end they did resolve it to our satisfaction.