Kaleidoscope Design Build, LLC

Daria and Jamie worked to make our dream a reality and with a heavy renovation plus an addition, this was no small feat. They were consistent and professional throughout the duration of our project. Having never gone through this process ourselves (building a house), they made it painless, making time to answer all of our questions and address all our concerns. We couldn't recommend them highly enough!

We have complete trust in these two in terms of design and execution. Jamie helped update our kitchen years ago and when we were ready for a big garage apartment/pool renovation, we could think of no one else that we would rather work with, but we were kindly told that they don't take friends as clients. We interviewed another design/build firm in the area, but felt that for our first large construction project, we could not have the same trust in the process as we did with KDB. Luckily, we wore them down enough to accept us as clients, and here we are, still friends! We've got an amazing reno that serves an admittedly long laundry list of our "needs" and "wants" including a custom above ground concrete pool, 2-story garage and apartment with a theatre room, outdoor kitchen, an updated bathroom in the main house and reconfigured upstairs hallway leading to an outdoor deck and the garage apartment. Daria blended functionality and an earthy modern feel beautifully and we were totally confident in Jamie's high standards for the details and the ability to materialize the vision. They have respectful and solid relationships with their sub-contractors, some of whom they've worked with for years. They can navigate the city bureaucracy well (bless them). They are honest about the time that it takes to fully execute the project, the price structure (unlike other builders who will quote a lower price to win your business, and then surprise you with tons of change orders) and how much add-ons will affect the bottom line (we added many things). They are experienced and expert problem solvers when it comes to the unanticipated issues that inevitably come up. We have friends that are building with other contractors and have had to deal with cost overruns, shoddy workmanship and major miscommunication issues that have lead to more additional costs, none of which we had to deal with. We are a few months out and have had a few touch-ups resolved in a timely manner. We are loving our new spaces and could not have imagined how beautiful they've turned out and how much more we are utilizing our space.

Couldn’t be more pleased with the design-build experience with Kaleidoscope this year. When we set out to find a group to work with, we were advised by another “too busy” design-build firm, to expect that quotes and timeframes may go up at any time. Additionally, they told us that problems were guaranteed to cross our path. Ultimately they advised we get a few quotes and find a company where we had both a respect for the work and portfolio, but also a group we could trust and collaborate with if trouble came up. Price was deemed 3rd. We met with three groups and decided on Kaleidoscope based on this guidance. When we engaged with Kaleidoscope, Jamie and Daria were very clear that they were busy and that if we were in a rush, then we shouldn’t go with them. We planned to live in our renovation (an upgraded kitchen knocked into a previous double garage that was to be converted to living space) we had an option to build a makeshift interim kitchen, and we wanted to do the job right, so we said yes. Well, it did take a while, but we were prepared for that so no complaints there. I had draft sketches and an approximate 3D model of the general ideas we wanted. Daria did a great job interpreting my designs, our preferences, and turning them into viable architectural renders (and options) with careful consideration of how to best optimize the space. Her understanding and experience uncovered new spaces we didn’t know we had and made for a wonderfully optimized layout for practical living. This proved particularly valuable in the kitchen space. Over 7 months, we had several crews in and out of our house. Overall, they were a pleasure to deal with, Jamie runs a tight ship with high expectations of nightly cleanup. This is not only for cleanliness but also for safety since we have two small kids (and we would step through the renovation via zipped tarps to access our upstairs regularly.) We ran into a few problems on the way, including issues with our house we were unaware of, and some brick and work that we weren’t satisfied with. Jamie was excellent the whole way at hearing our concerns. He made sure that his teams did whatever necessary to be sure we were pleased with the result. Design-wise Kaleidoscope made good material and fixture suggestions with a leaning towards practicality and minimal waste material, but they were equally open to our ideas. Also, they worked with us on a handful of zany requests (such as a custom hideaway desk and a walled-in fake stained glass window I made myself). It was important to pay attention and question when something was not right, but Jamie always listened with patience and did the right thing every time. Finally, how did it all turn out? Amazing. We couldn’t be happier and really have nothing in the space we would change. Overall we are very impressed with the design, the work, the service, and the quality. These guys are knowledgeable, professional, talented, and above all - good people you can trust.

We were one of the unfortunate people that had flood damage due to Hurricane Harvey. End result of the flooding was that we had to rebuild the first floor of our home. We opted to use the opportunity to do a little remodeling work in the process. Kaleidoscope came recommended by my neighbor across the street who had already started his rebuilding project. I talked to Jamie from Kaleidoscope as well as two other contractors to secure bids. Kaleidoscope came in cost competitive, but more importantly I felt more comfortable with Jamie than with other contractors. Jamie spent much more time working through the options with me, explained everything clearly and generally gave me much more confidence that this wasn't going to be one of those projects where I felt frustrated and disappointed at the end and was in the dark on what was going on or where I'd constantly have to chase after and push the contractor. That proved to be an accurate expectation throughout the process. While it wasn't a remodeling we would have chosen to take on, it was a good experience. Jamie was always available to talk, work through things, talk through alternatives, talk through costs of different options and I found him to be extremely flexible. His team was very professional, got work done efficiently and did a good job. Where sub-contractors came into play, given strong demand for workers I knew going in that there might be delays or other issues. Any time contractor availability became a challenge, Jamie always had a secondary plan ready to be implemented and everything moved along pretty smoothly. In the end, we had to slow down the project on our end as our insurance adjuster was slow and it began to look likely we'd be finished before ever receiving a flood insurance check. While I'm sure he would have liked to press forward and finish the work, he was more than happy to slow things down and time completion to where we wouldn't be put under a financial squeeze. Since completion, as you'd expect we have had a couple of things pop up and Jamie has dealt with them immediately and resolved the issue. He didn't just disappear once the job was done, he's been available to handle issues as well as to provide advice on things unrelated to the job. The experience was for us so positive that when we needed to tear our our walkway and replace it later on in the year, we went straight to Jamie and were again happy with the results.

Jamie is not your average contractor. He took over our post-Harvey rebuild when we cut ties with our previous contractor. There are bound to be challenges with any project, and Jamie handled them all professionally and with courtesy. Communication was easy and Jamie provided updates often. Would recommend.

While our project faced many challenges, all throughout the process, Jamie was a rock. He produced our goals of a beautiful home with clean lines and high levels of energy efficiency. In his no-nonsense way, he worked through various challenges in the original architect plans and the trials that the city presented. He was in constant contact with us regarding progress and clarifications, and finished our new home in time for our move-in date. I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting a competent, knowledgeable builder.

The service was professional, patient, accommodating, fair, and generous. The quality of the work was superb. I'd recommend them to anyone. Transparency and availability are key. And they provide it. Along with timeliness.

We highly recommend this dynamic duo. It's the little things in life--the details put into this reno--that have made us so happy with the results. This kitchen update was the result of a bad refrigerator leak. We ended up with mold and damaged flooring and sub-flooring in half of the kitchen and half of the dining room. We decided to go ahead an update the kitchen along with the floors and drywall. Jamie managed a reliable, friendly and competent crew while we were out of the country. We trusted them wholly and they came through with every detail--they knocked out a few cabinets to make room for bar stools, changed a few cabinets into trash drawers, sanded and repainted the cabinets, replaced some flooring, sanded and stained the entire first floor, in a little over one week. As result, we have a brighter, happier and more functional kitchen, for a very reasonable price. They were communicative throughout the process, and Daria carefully helped us choose a beautiful floor stain via texts while we were out of town. It could have been a stressful process; it was anything but. We are thrilled with the results.

We enthusiastically recommend Kaleidoscope DB, after just completing a full renovation of our three bedroom 1950s home and adding a new master suite. We met with four companies, and chose Daria and Jaime due to the tours of their prior renovations/new builds, outstanding recommendations and aesthetic. Having heard some negative stories from people who had a similar scope of work and who used separate designers and GCs, we felt it was important to pick a company who integrated those services to ensure the architect and GC were in lock step. Another important factor in our decision was the fact that Kaleidoscope structures their contracts to avoid surprise cost - unless we submitted a change request or there were some unanticipated issue that had to be fixed and that was not in the plan, there were no additional costs. Initially, we had a lot of ideas on how to best use and reconfigure the existing space in the home, but were so impressed by how Daria took the meat of these, changed them and brought ideas that were so much better than anything we had envisioned. She worked with us on each step, laying out rooms down to shelves and cabinets. The flow of the home is fantastic, and every square foot is used thoughtfully. Probably the most difficult part was that we sometimes struggled with the interior design decisions (eg paint colors, materials), and Daria helped us to suggest color families or pick out tile and finishes. Another factor that impressed us was how unobtrusive the addition was viewed from the street - although it was a large, vaulted ceiling addition, it blended in very sophisticated manner with the lines of the existing footprint of the house. Jamie and his crews were detail-oriented, very trustworthy and did great work. Kaleidoscope only uses crews with whom they themselves trust, which contributed to things running smoothly but at times means that some work might be a bit delayed if a crew is not able to do a given set of tasks. Multiple inspectors commented many times at how impressed they were with their work. Jamie's communication was clear and regular, because he places such high value on customer service and satisfaction. In a project of this size, unexpected things are going to happen and you as a client are going to want to make tweaks. Jamie always offered multiple solutions, and when issues needed to be resolved was happy to address them as quickly as possible.

We couldn't be happier with the results of our addition that was designed and built by Kaleidoscope Design Build. First, a little background: We bought the cutest 1940s bungalow in Houston Heights area several years ago. When performing some pre-sale digging, we learned that this house was deemed the "Maxwell House" by the owners, who had added a master suite as well as updated the interior of the original house prior to selling it. We only knew the names of the owners, Jamie and Daria Conlan. After receiving a couple of cool design catalogues in the mail after we moved in, we learned that they owned a business called Kaleidoscope Design Build. Fast forward a couple of years - my husband and I hated the idea of leaving our house, but we required more space. I loved the updated interior of our house so much, I just wanted to hire a contractor who could come in, appreciate what had previously been done, and then create an addition that matched. It finally hit me --- we needed Kaleidoscope Design Build to design and build our addition. They had created a magical, updated bungalow that we couldn't bear to leave, and thus, they were the obvious choice for an addition. Jamie and Daria have been ridiculously impressive since the very first meeting we had with them. Daria's design aesthetic is classy but still unique, timeless but still funky (if you wish), and so clever. She puts so much thought into every nook of her design. Further, Jamie provides amazing oversight to the entire project. He ran a tight ship with respect to his subcontractors. Even more importantly, he provided daily updates on the status of the build and was always very responsive to our (sometimes incessant) questions. My husband and I are thrilled with the final outcome of our project. We received a unique and beautiful space that we never want to leave. Building an addition to your house (and most certainly, building an entire house from the ground up) can seem overwhelming and crazy, but Jamie and Daria made our project a reality and guided us through the process with a high standard of professionalism. My husband and I could not have spent the last several months with any other design/build team.

We have had a wonderful experience with Kaleidoscope Design Build. We remodeled a bungalow and they worked with us to bring our vision into reality while sticking within our budgetary constraints. They have been efficient, responsive, creative and fun to work with throughout the whole project. We loved working with them through the design process, which included budgets to give us an idea of how much our design decisions were going to cost. Through the building process and completion of the project they have been dedicated and extremely thorough on all the details. They kept the property tidy and resolved any issues that came along without our having to fret about it. We love our new home and can't recommend them highly enough!

My realtor noticed Kaleidoscope DB was working on a property near the land I purchased. I'm completely new to having a property to work with, but Jamie was very easy to talk to ask questions. He and his wife, Daria gave me advice on how to proceed with planning my future home and what the process would be like. I hired him to do demolition on the property. He was always quick to respond to e-mails or calls and coordinating to have everything done in a timely manner was a breeze. I received 6 different demolition quotes. There were two similarly priced quotes, but I chose to work with them because of their prompt response time.