Imagine That Design Center

Excellent design ideas and quality materials ......everything was delivered as promised. Kitchen design looks fantastic.

Overall project went pretty much as described and in the time frame estimate given to us. Communication was good, subcontractors all did quality work and respected the home while in it. We always knew what was happening when and what the next steps were. As with any project of this scale, I always recommend inspecting the work along the way. We were able to catch a couple of small issues that were communication breakdowns in the original design (on both sides) and get them back on track before fixing them would have been a much higher cost effort. Jeff was always responsive to the issue at hand and we were able to reach acceptable resolutions. Final cost was exactly as bid.

I contacted Imagine That Design Center after seeing a business card. I checked the internet and was impressed with the web site. I went by the business and talked with Amy Ontiberoz and Jeff Ontiberoz regarding remodeling my kitchen. They have a lovely showroom and Amy was very friendly and nice. They carry products from several suppliers. After stating I was interested in a kitchen remodel, and revealed my budget, an appointment was made for Jeff Ontiberoz to come by and see my kitchen, He stated that it would be better to tear out my cabinets and totally replace them, new granite countertops that would be installed with seams that would be less noticeable than what I had. He then scheduled his 30 year experienced cabinet maker (he stressed they had 30 years experience many times) to come out. Thereafter Jeff and a young man named Albert came out and we discussed what I would like in the way of new cabinets. I had pictures and went into detail regarding several organizational ideas. Several weeks later Jeff submitted me a price which he stated was close to my original budget. This bid was closer to double than my original budget and did not include any new appliances, sink or faucet. My husband had met Jeff on the previous appointments and we decided to go ahead and spend the additional money, so I could have my dream kitchen. I was told on several occasions they would be finished before Christmas. We agreed to have Imagine That Design Center do the work and the cabinet maker was scheduled for a final measuring and specifications to be drawn to accomodate appliances, etc. We needed to purchase any new appliances so the cabinet maker could make these all built in, this we did: a refrigerator, microwave, wine/beverage cooler, cooktop, sink and faucet along with our dishwasher. The specifications were given to Image That Design Center a couple of days later. We were told in the beginning 50% up front and the balance upon completion; however, when I signed the contract it was 60% up front. Amy assisted me in picking the granite and tile for flooring and backsplash. I thought her role was a designer/decorator, but all she really did was act in the capacity of a salesperson. Demolition took place on 1/18/2013 and beginning in December cabinets were installed. The cabinet company submitted a final drawing for the cabinets and pantry, but did not follow their drawing. This is when the problems began. Painting was to be done on site, I complained about the dimples on the front of the doors before painting began, and was ignored both by Jeff and the cabinet guy. The odor from the paint fumes were so bad I had to leave the house for two nights, even after I returned it was horrible and continued that way for about 3 more days. The painters outlined the cabinets with a stain, and in places it looks like my 5 year old grandson was doing the work. It is wavy, outside of lines, smeared and in places blobbed. Later we noticed that they had painted some of the hinges and not others, not painted the tops of the cabinets and had made numerous mistakes and in general sloppy work. No one cared and I mean no one. When the granite guy came in, he stated that the sink and faucet could not work together, it was a friday and Jeff happened to be there. After making some phone calls to the supply store, I asked him if he was taking the sink back, as the granite guys were here for 1 day. He told me "I'm going out of town". I told him I could not go and he did go and exchange the sink and I have no idea if I had a refund in price exchange or not. The week right before Xmas, Amy Ontiberoz called about getting 20% more money, I stated I thought the money was due at the end, I told her I would have to discuss this with my husband. The plumber was here installing sink and garbage disposal, and Jeff shows up and starts trying to put in the wine/cooler. Well the wine cooler would not fit. The cabinet people had made the cabinet too short, and had not looked at the drawings so the cabinet would accomodate the wine cooler. Well Jeff said nothing about more money and left. Next I get another call from Imagine That Design Center trying to get more money and I said Jeff was just here and he didn't mention a word and that we were having problems with the wine cooler, she told me he doesn't get involved in the money part. Then Jeff called to beg for more money and we agreed. Wrong thing to have done. Oh, he told me during this visit that the wine cooler not fitting "wasn't going to ruin his Christmas". The next week tempers were running high and I had had enough. He brought another man from the cabinet company. He stated they would pay for the wine cooler, didn't happen, all we got was the restocking fee and are still waiting for a credit. We had to buy a different type of wine/bev cooler, they didn't make it in a smaller size. So we bought a different one and I was very disappointed, since we could not find a company that made two separate zones for white and red wine, along with a beverage cooler. To keep from ripping out the massive counter, removing the granite, we agreed. Then they wanted to come back in and repaint the kitchen cabinets. No way. We 'll just try and touch up. At this point, we were through, we just wanted them out. I had had six weeks of mess and destruction in my house. The electrician finished up and a couple of other jobs were done. Thereafter, they tried 4 times to put the microwave in and had to add and remove wood trying to make it fit. It took his contractor 3 hours to put in the ovens and microwave. The refrigerator had a gap at the top but they cut a piece of wood and glued or nailed it in. The oven had to have a piece of trim glued in to make it look built in. The pantry we had built had to have the holes for the pegs redone, as it fell in on me when I tried to put groceries on shelves. The tile backsplash is wavy, the grout was falling out where it met the countertop and we bought some grout and grouted. There are skips and marks still on the cabinets. There are still holes in places where I have hardwood floors that weren't replaced. By the by countertops have the same seams as before, nothing changed. Early on I decided to go ahead and have new shutters made for the dining area. On 1/27/2014 they were installed, another mess, frames inside of windows don't line up with shutters. We have an appliance repair man come next week to see what they did to the ovens, they make so much noise when u turn them on. There was no supervision during the contruction of this project, only thing done was scheduling another sub to come. No supervision that work was done in an efficient and professional manner. In short, this is a group of people that hire all subs, do not check the work in advance to be sure things will go smoothly or follow up on any re-work. They are involved as little as possible and you feel they are interested only in how much money they can make. I should have run them off after Christmas, but was already too far into paying them. It was the second week of January, 2014 the last sub installed the glass in a couple of cabinets. I wish I could have seen this review before I hired them, as I did try to investigate their reputation, but there was little or nothing on them. Their web site sings their praises, but they must be made up. My dream kitchen became a nightmare. We are still trying to get things straightened out.