Get matched with top designers/decorators in Leucadia, CA

"I am a young professional man and recently purchased my first (the 1950s and VERY) outdated home with my wife. I desired a contemporary style, so shortly thereafter employed the services of Cdesigns. I have to say that working with Connie nothing short of amazing. She completely understood what I wanted but went on to explain we needed to blend my style and my wife's style with the age and architecture of the house for a cohesive design. Connie designed a floor plan to remove a wall and blend the small kitchen, dining and living room together. Now we have a beautiful open concept home that includes new cabinets with loads of storage; a LARGE kitchen island around which to gather and entertain, new appliances, updated flooring throughout and a remodeled bathroom. The home is light, airy and more spaciously with an efficient flow of traffic and a style that reflects our personalities. We have hosted multiple social events at our place since the remodel and we constantly receive compliments on the choices we (Connie) made for our home! We would not hesitate to hire her again and look forward to when we can purchase another property and bring her in to make it the best it can be. Thank you Connie and Cdesigns for an amazing experience!!"

"Sarah is wonderful! Do not hesitate to use her. She has done multiple projects for us. She resigned out kitchen on a budget and it looks beautiful. She worked with us to pick out living and dinning room furniture. She designed/reimagined our primary and primary bathroom. Year later she designed my son's nursery. She is detailed and works closely with her clients. I still get compliments on my home bc of her. I refer her to anyone who needs help with designing a beautiful home."

"My husband and I enjoyed working with Susie and are beyond happy with the results. She took time to understand our tastes and was very mindful of our budget. Getting the highest quality furnishings for our dollar was very important to us and them items we purchased have exceeded our expectations. We always felt like our satisfaction was her top priority."

"Charles is super talented, professional, punctual and responsive...so are all his contractors! You can rely on him for all facets of your design and decorating. He can either create the entire vision or keep you on point with your own. We loved how he made suggestions that were outside of the box (some of which we incorporated) but was not in the least offended when we decided to stick to our own choices. We couldn't have done it with him!"

"Denise was very helpful and was even willing to shop for me while I wasnâ t with her! This was especially helpful because I had a new baby at home. By her bringing me the samples and designs to my home, the experience was so easy! She also has great taste in interior design. I highly recommend hiring Denise in order to elevate any space in your home! -Lauren"

"Dina has a great taste. She can suggest the best way to decorate your home and to plan out the space efficiently. I love to learn from her the last trends in design . The job is done in timely manner, she helps to find the furniture and materials with the best prices and good brands."

"After they redid our counter tops and island, we had them paint out cabinets and build shelves up to the ceiling. The communication was on point this time and the results speak for themselves. Would definitely recommend them to anyone for any home project."

"There were several challenges specific to this project. First, it is was our first remodel ever - so we were novice clients and needed a GC that could provide an extra level of guidance for us. Second, the project was done remotely - we lived 500 miles away and could only visit the project periodically, so we needed someone who was a very good communicator and easy to access. Finally, the home had never been updated, so there were many unknowns about what might be discovered during the demo and remodel stages. We bought the home in 2012 on a short sale "as-is" and rented it out until we started the remodel.

At the bid stage, Danny Montijo (CEO of DM Building) provided the most detailed proposal by far. His pricing was also very competitive. He had been recommended by the architect who had drawn up our plans and he was at the top of our Angie's list search as well. We made our decision to go with Danny based on the referrals, his bid and phone conversations. He proved to be a very good communicator throughout. Since he doesn't do any of the hands-on work himself, he was very prompt in returning calls - phone/txt/email are his main personal tools. His very detailed bid/estimate proved to be a very helpful document throughout the project, as it was easy to see what was included and what wasn't. 

Quality-wise, the project was first class. During our periodic visits, we were able to talk not only to some of his team, but also to some of his subcontractors. Danny's requirement for high quality was constantly brought up unsolicited. Subtle aspects of higher quality were regularly pointed out. - from tile work, to painting, to cleaning up. Really, at every step, every decision.

The bid was fixed price; we never had a situation where Danny came back to us and complained about an aspect of the project going over budget if the task proved more difficult than expected. He was extremely fair and ethical. He was also straightforward - if he ran into a problem or felt he needed to recommend something that was originally outside the scope, he did so, provided a price, and we felt it was fair. Some of the discoveries during the demo and remodel were ugly ones in terms of budget and schedule (e.g. we learned we needed to re-pipe all hot & cold water and there was a recommendation to install all new drainage under the house, which we decided to do). We also made requests for additions/modifications that were outside of the original scope, such as adding some electrical, putting new insulation in the attic, etc. In a couple of cases, costs of the scope additions came back higher than expected, but we never felt like we were being taken advantage of - it was just a matter of the actual costs being higher than what we expected based on initial verbal discussions. 

Another positive aspect was Danny's willingness to provide his opinion (or say he didn't have one), if we asked him a design question. In a couple of cases where Danny had strong feelings about a particular design plan that we hadn't yet implemented, he volunteered his opinion. A couple of those recommendations proved to be very beneficial. Danny was also helpful in steering us toward products (e.g. doors & handles) where had no knowledge of what to order or specify. He recommendations were generally for high quality at a good price with a proven vendor.

Danny was also very skilled in managing interactions with inspectors. His good people and communication skills are very valuable in those aspects. He handled many behind-the-scenes aspects of the project without us having to worry about them. 

The only "problem" we had with the project was overall schedule. The project was supposed to take 4-5 months, but wound up taking much longer. One factor was the long-distance/remote nature of the project. Our general inexperience in remodeling/construction and our lack of availability when certain decisions needed to be made also played a role. Another factor was availability of subcontractors or crews. The project was done during a period of peak demand for good GCs and subs; one of the unpleasant learnings we had as clients was that project schedule was more dependent on subcontractor availability than anything else and that GCs have little to no control over that aspect. Even with his own staff, our project was competing with other commitments, so a delay on our end with a decision sometimes translated into subs or his own staff no longer being available. For quality and cost reasons, it appeared that Danny uses only certain subs, so if a key one is not available when the project is at the "ready" stage, it can be a problem. 

Good news conversations are easy to have; you find out about your GC and he finds out about you when you have to discuss bad news (such as ugly discoveries about the home's infrastructure that only become evident during demo or a schedule delay, etc). We found that we could have these difficult discussions in an open and respectful manner with no finger pointing or acrimony. 

His staff that we interacted with were very professional and polite and clearly had good chemistry when they were working together. He has very experienced staff who like working for someone with a focus on quality and doing things right. 

In the end, the overall result was outstanding in terms of how the remodel itself turned out. Danny lived up to his high marks on Angie's list. We have received many compliments about the remodel, including from subs who have worked on various aspects of it and know what they're looking at when they see the work of others on the project. After we moved into the home, if a problem popped up, Danny was very quick to respond and fix it. 

On the payment and financing side, everything went smoothly - Danny was easy to work with and very fair.


"

"Emily and her team at SD Premier Outdoor were absolutely amazing to work with, turning our front and back yard dreams into reality! We had never tackled a landscaping project, so we needed a partner to walk us through the entire process from start to finish. Emily first took our rough ideas and created an immersive 3D design to help us visualize what it would look like on our lot specifically. She sat with us and made live edits so we could tinker with the plans and ensure we were comfortable with the designs. She brought us to various projects in our neighborhood to inspire ideas and help us feel confident in our choices. She took us to look at paver options in person, and accompanied us to the nursery with her greenscape team to pick options. She even helped us through the process of submitting our landscaping application to the HOA, which was no walk in the park! The installation itself went very smoothly. She was able to accommodate a trip we had previously planned and use that time to install the pavers while we were out of town. While we were in town, her crew was extremely professional and easy to communicate with, and clearly expert craftsmen. Before, during, and after installation Emily was easy to work with, always available by phone or text, and generally a joy to interact with. We'd happily recommend Emily and SD Premier Outdoor to anyone looking to improve their landscaping!"

"I hired this landscape designer to transform my backyard and was thrilled with the end result. The designer was creative, attentive, and provided practical solutions to improve the functionality and beauty of my outdoor space. Highly recommend!"