Designers Showcase Kitchens Inc.

After hiring professionals to design our kitchen, I have to further lower the score to 1 star. EJ and Gayle did not listen to our needs and wants, recklessly exceeded the budget without even thinking of contacting us, and delivering a pencil drawing that is absolutely worthless. Do yourself a favor and hire someone who is professional, listens to you, sticks to the budget, and does CAD drawings. ============================================== old review: We contracted EJ and Gayle to come up with a design for our kitchen. They appeared to be very professional and in our initial meeting we verbally discussed our requirements: open concept where guests can enjoy the view of our back yard while at the same time talk to the cook (me). They quoted us $350 per hour and EJ said it would take 10hrs (with revisions to accommodate our feedback already included). Considering that a our budget is around $50k, it didn't sound too bad and we paid a 2.5k deposit. After not hearing a single word from them for 3 weeks,  we followed up and were able to schedule a review of the preliminary drawings. However,  EJ had already planned every detail of the design - which would have been nice if he 1) had considered our requirements 2) didn't have spend 16.5hrs on it. EJ's design for our 1000+sqft kitchen only included seating for 6 people in a straight line facing away from the backyard. Moreover, the stove was placed almost at the opposite end of the kitchen. During our initial meeting, I already raised concerns over this specific stove placement but he simply ignored my input. With regards to the time spend, he reduced his hours to 14 by himself and after some negotiation to 12. Nontheless, any changes to accommodate our feedback would cost extra (as he put it: nothing in this world is free). After this experience, we consulted with our lawyer but the amount is simply not worth pursuing. We met EJ and Gayle again at their show home in stoney creek and EJ came up with a different design by himself - a simplistic drawing of a hibachi grill that he made fun of. Any changes to accommodate our input would cost extra. The quality of their work in their show home is ok.  However,  due the severe shortcomings in the design and the very poor process,  we decided to cut our losses and start over again with someone else. If you still decide to go with EJ and Gayle, I highly encourage you to get everything in writing - especially if they say that you don't need a formal contract!

Designer showcase was super helpful in finding us the products/ materials we were looking for when designing our custom kitchen. They fit into our budget, timeline and were very accomodating when working with us. They installed our kitchen on CANADA DAY long weekend to beat the presence of our new born baby that came 4 days ish after install. Any deficientcies were addressed and corrected as timely as humanly possible. One thing I liked is how welcoming they were to our kids when we brought them in before knowing what we were even looking for. We weren't shunned out because we were a young family with loud kids, but welcomed, helped, and presented with a good plan for our kitchen after telling them our needs and wants.

It was my pleasure to have purchased our new kitchen from you. Beginning with the very first phone call through to completion, you illustrated a personal commitment, integrity and knowledge surpassed by most industry leaders. Your attention to detail, both in your ability to plan as well as your product, has made our kitchen the beauty it is. As an avid consumer, I did my homework on various kitchen suppliers and chose you for a combination of reasons, mainly cost, quality and service. We are very pleased with how you stayed in touch with us as well, seeing the whole process through to the end, with every detail included. In today's age, with so much competition, quality and cost no longer seem to go hand in hand. As a client service provider myself, with high expectations, I appreciated your customer focus and involvement, beyond the average purchaser. Our kitchen is gorgeous, elegant and truly an enormous investment in our home that has added value, both in pleasure and monetary. We highly recommend you to anyone needing to replace/rebuild a new kitchen that is looking for quality at a fantastic price. I will be referring my clients to you when they are selling or buying a home with confidence. (Originally from Oakville) Price range $35,000 - $ 40,000 TSM Grimsby, ON

It has been such a pleasure watching the professional work crew from Designers Showcase work so hard and efficiently to make our home look so amazing. The workmanship and attention to detail speaks for itself. E.J. is truly a professional. My husband and I went to visit E.J. at the show home in Stoney Creek and let me tell you it was absolutely amazing. He gave us the grand tour and it was truly remarkable to see how the rooms were set up and the attention to detail. When E.J. first walked into our home the first thing he did was do a drawing with measurements. It took approximately 50 days from start to finish to complete our kitchen with white uppers, grey lowers, a white counter top with small grey veins running through it, granite sinks, faucets, lighting and paint. He also installed new flooring throughout the kitchen and living room (open concept). Jo-Ann helped us make our home so cozy and inviting with selection choices. My husband and I could not be more pleased and we want to thank Designers Showcase for all the hard work they did. DRMC, Welland, ON

I am writing this letter to express our appreciation for the kitchen renovation you undertook last September. The complete transformation of our kitchen area and main staircase has the feel of a new main floor. Our family now spends most of their time in the kitchen, specifically our children, who prefer to do their homework, projects, and eat at the raised bar on our second island. With the potential nightmare of a kitchen renovation of this size looming, we were very thankful to have your expert trades on site. Your personal attention to detail and ability to make problems vanish was particularly comforting to us. There are always unforeseen snags on a project like this and working together mitigated or eliminated their impact altogether. It was very helpful to have a single point of contact to ensure everyone was on the same page. When we came to you with our thoughts, you opened a whole new chapter of possibilities. Your step-by-step process worked quite well for us calling for our decisions and choices when needed. Your design seemed ambitious at first but seeing your scheduling and efficiency in action quickly waylaid any concerns. One month after the completion of the project, we could not be happier with the result. There is a great flow in the kitchen, we are used to the appliances we did not have before and the second sink is very helpful. Renovating the kitchen was a good decision on our part. Using your expertise to do so made it great. Price Range - $100,000 - $125,000 J & T H Burlington, ON

In late 2019 we had EJ and his team install our new kitchen. They were great to work with in the design process and had ideas that my wife and I would never have thought of ourselves. Besides having to traverse a change in the company when Gayle left, and some mild communication issues (from both sides) and some factory delays that were out of EJs hands at the beginning of the installation, we had a great experience. The crew working in our home (Dana and Peter) were top notch. They consulted us consistently when things were not exactly going to plan, offered multiple options and delivered a great product. We love our new space, we enjoyed working with this team of professionals and would love to do so again in the future. Welland, ON

For many years we lived with a kitchen that was tired, cramped and not functional at all. Our kitchen; to put it mildly; was in need of some serious help! We dropped into Designer Showcase and were met with E.J. and Jo-ann. E.J. designed a kitchen for us utilizing all of our available space making it much more functional ( no more tripping over each other when preparing a meal or entertaining!). Jo-ann was patient and helped us to make choices that were right for us...from the cabinet colors to the counter and backsplash. Our new kitchen space is almost complete now and is something to be proud of! It is no longer dark and dismal but is now light, bright, spacious with a contemporary feel. It features a gorgeous waterfall counter and a luxurious mother of pearl backsplash..... the quality of the cabinetry is second to none! We are very pleased with our new kitchen! JTR fonthill