KB Design

I waited a few months post design completion and living in the updated space before submitting this review. We hired KB Design to help us navigate a major home remodel and avoid common first-timer mistakes. While the final result may look beautiful to an outsider, the process was filled with missteps, oversights, and a lack of practical design guidance—many of which I expected a professional team to help us avoid. I’ll start with the good. The 2 times I met with Katie Beth she was infectious, charming and knowledgeable. I felt like I was in capable hands. She was not my primary designer. The team has a beautiful design aesthetic and ladies I worked with were kind and easy to be around. The not so good. There were basic functionality issues that were overlooked: cabinets were designed over existing outlets with no suggestions on relocating them, an appliance garage was improperly planned, and the custom lift-door was too low to be usable (we had to work directly with the cabinet company to fix this—KB Design wasn’t involved in the solution). The firm charges a 30% markup—common in the industry—but I was surprised to learn it was on retail prices, not discounted designer rates. It’s on me for not fully understanding the pricing structure but this created what felt like an incentive to recommend higher-priced items regardless of practicality. For example, I paid nearly $300 for a soap dispenser. Pricing was rarely disclosed up front, and we were reassured that things were “within budget” but no consideration to what I would spend if purchasing in my everyday life. I never would have paid that much for a soap dispenser or around $200 for salt and pepper grinders. The mark up is on top of the design fee paid for each space or project. Selections were frustrating. I asked for cement-look pendant lights over the kitchen island and sent multiple references. None of the options presented matched the look. I eventually gave up and now have oversized glass pendants that feel off and are impractical for a kitchen. Months later, I saw the exact pendants I originally wanted installed in another project by this team—with a nearly identical aesthetic. Design inconsistencies were everywhere: pendant lights were too big, eat-in area light too small, a bench cushion was too thick and it blocked a cabinet door (I was told it would “flatten”—it hasn’t so we barely use the cabinet), and I received no support on achieving a white oak island look. I ended up painting the island after wasting $1,800 to make it stainable—completely defeating the purpose.this was after about a month of different stain samples and additional charges. The design team bought a few stains to try and come up with one to achieve the look, they did samples and I approved what I liked. The sample provided was nowhere near what it looked like on the sample from the cabinet company because the application is completely different. This useless exercise was never acknowledged. Our fireplace surround stone cracked after the first use, the built-ins don’t align with the original design, and the fixes are still pending months later. During install day, someone got finger prints on our $2,000 TV and left smudges—when I raised this, the response was “try Windex.” When I expressed my concerns, much of the blame was shifted to subcontractors. As part of this blame shifting they mentioned the cabinet guy was selected by Quality Stone and Concepts without KB Designs knowledge. They said they had no idea “who this man was” and painted him in a shady light with no appreciation that this is someone that was in my home with me and my kids for the last few months. The stair railing redo was the final straw. Originally quoted around $2,500, it ballooned to $10,000 and still looks misaligned. Some of the stained wood feels rough and doesn’t match. This could have been prevented with a better understanding of materials and process—or with proper oversight. In total, we spent about $100,000. While the team was kind and professional in demeanor, the lack of foresight, transparency, and practical knowledge made this process incredibly frustrating.

I couldn't be happier with the meeting room space that KB Design did at our office. The experience and results are top-notch. 10/10 recommend!