Kitchen Design Specialists

• Excellent job with cabinet installation, painting, door installations.  
• Top notch carpentry.
• Energetic, conscientious workers.
• Sales person very helpful with the selection process.
• Poor job on sub floor in kitchen and main bathroom.  Porcelain tiles began to pop.  At first year several cracked tiles were replaced in the kitchen.  At second year numerous cracked tiles.  Kitchen Design Specialists did not return my calls or emails.  When the tiles were fixed after year one, I expressed concern that the tiles would continue to crack based on what I had learned was a botched subfloor install.  (3/8 new plywood installed over existing 44 year old plywood.)  Even tiles that they had replaced after the first year were cracked again at year two.  When I expressed my concern at year one that the warranty was up I was told by the owner's son, the main installer,  not to worry, that he would take care of any issues.  I emailed him and called him several times, no response.  I called the business and left several messages for two other family business members and received no replies.

In one of the bathrooms a wall was knocked out for a new shower.  The salesman told me that they would match up the plaster (sand swirled plaster textured finish)  They used smooth drywall, which did not match up with the plaster, and told me that the texture was painted on.  Since I had decided to do the painting myself in that room, they told me, it was my job.  They were clearly unaware of textured plastering procedures used in the 1960s.
The tiled shower that was built in the main bathroom was not well planned.  Bull nose edge tiles were not ordered in time, and the glass installer installed the shower doors an inch or so farther back into the shower. The Corian seat was not sized correctly, and protrudes over the tiles on the end that sticks out through the glass, but is flush on the surface inside the shower.  The small piece of drywall framing the shower and separating it from the closet became waterlogged shortly after the remodel.  The installer said that water was running off of the lip of the shower base on the outside when the door was being opened.  He put an odd piece of tile as a cove baseboard on that wall.  Overall, the tile contractor did a fabulous job with the tile work in the shower.
When the owner himself came to inspect the job (and collect his money) these complaints were all expressed to him.  He seemed to think everything looked good and showed little or no concern about the issues we had.  At the time we did not press the issues, since we had just gone through 2 1/2 months with our house torn apart.  I was assured that the tile issues would be resolved as needed.
We can live with the small oddities of the shower, because overall it looks great.  But I would sure like to have a long-term resolution on the floors.  If they had the professional courtesy to return my calls, and took action to fix my floors, I would consider recommending them.  At this point, I cannot recommend this company.

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In short, this project was fantastic and exceeded our expectations.
We had our old kitchen completely gutted and replaced. Chris came up with a design that met our needs perfectly with respect to spacing, storage and appliance location. We are all electric but have an LP tank for a fireplace. Chris suggested purchasing a gas cooktop. Since I love cooking on gas, I thought this was a tremendous idea and is possibly my favorite feature of the new kitchen.
We have a large family and can now easily move through the kitchen and work together where previously we were crowded and impeded each other to our frustration.
We literally look at this kitchen every day and can't believe it's ours. Jeremy ran the job and kept to the schedule like it was a CIA operation. The quality of his work is outstanding; we couldn't be happier. We had a few adders, like installation of a floor that I was initially going to do myself, which were very reasonably priced. I rated pricing a B because it's an expensive job. However, I suspect that comparable work from other contractors would have been priced comparably.
Kristy did an amazing job helping us to pick out cabinetry and making suggestions. This team worked together wonderfully and produced something that we never could have pictured.
KDS is on my very short list for any future work

Meh. Cantly of KDS did a stellar job. Sub-contractors were clean, polite and competent.

I'm not happy with the finished result around the peninsula and base cabinet because the wood grain and finish do not match my existing cabinets at all. The company has not been responsive to my request to replace and fix the wood. Their response has been that if the company that makes the panels judge they fall within their quality for wood grain and finish then there is nothing Kitchen Design Specialists will do to fix my problem. I allowed the installer to put on the panels, even after I told him it didn't look right and didn't match. His exact response was and quot;We can order a replacement, but there is no guarantee it won't look worseand quot;. I felt pressured to allow him to complete the work because I was assured the company would stand behind their work by the salesman/designer. I also paid for the work as requested on completion when I should have with held the final payment. I have been very patient in waiting for a response from the salesman/designer I dealt with, calling multiple times and waiting days to get a return call. I took pictures of the wood panels and forwarded them to the KDS as requested only to find out later that they couldn't find them. The salesman came out to my home and took pictures and again I waited to hear from him, no call back for over 2 weeks. Weeks passed between comunication.
I have asked several times to speak to the owner of the company and so far have not gotten a call back. The salesman/designer told me several times that the company and its owner would not let me be unhappy with the work done, but so far this has not been true.
I am still waiting for a resolution to this problem. The maker of the panels has not gotten in touch with me, and KDS has not informed me of any decision pending. I paid promptly and have been patient and polite in all comunication with this business. My kitchen now looks like cabinets that don't match and work that was done without any regard to the finished product.

We contacted KDS in March, 2012. The owner came to our home and took notes and pictures of our kitchen. We met again two weeks later to go over in detail what we wanted. One week later, we met again at the office to pick our design and color for the doors, signed the contract and made a deposit. The actual work began on June 20, 2012 and was completed on July 20, 2012.
We are very pleased with the outcome. The workers were punctual and very pleasant to have in our home. We would definitely use this company again and recommend them highly.

I thought they were good. They took care of everything. They subcontracted different aspects like the painting of the ceiling, they took care of the lighting, they took care of the electrical, and they took care of the plumbing. They just took care of everything. They gave us an agenda for each day on who was coming and what was going to be done.

This was a very positive experience. The KDS home office is in the Lancaster area, however a Camp Hill office has been since early 2011. The Camp Hill office is convenient to anyone living in the greater Harrisburg area.

A KDS representative visited our home and carefully listened to our ideas about the modifications we had in mind. Within a short period of time we were presented with a tentative proposal that described the scope of the project and a preliminary estimate of costs. After accepting the tentative proposal we worked with a design specialist (Adam) to select the new countertop, lighting and plumbing fixtures, etc. This
part of the project was fun. We especially appreciated the good suggestions from Adam that were presented with humor but with no pressure.

With all of the choices made, the next step was a detailed proposal and the signing of the contract to proceed with the work. Construction began shortly thereafter.

At this point it is appropriate to mention that KDS is a family owned and operated business. Adam, our designer, is the son of the company's owner. Our construction crew was made up of two more family members; Adam's brother Jeremy and their brother-in-law, Cantlee. These young men are best characterized as being skilled and professional and having an outstanding work ethic. We enjoyed having them in our home and appreciated the work they did. Never was a minute wasted. Wen a small problem arose there was always a creative resolution. During the project there were two unforeseen issues that arose. In both cases we were presented with options for solutions, the pros and cons of the alternatives, and an estimate of the costs involved.

Our project took roughly three weeks. There were brief periods when no work was being done at our home. We would have been happier if the schedule had been different and if the job had been completed sooner. In the end, however, the result was outstanding. All of our expectations have been met and we are quite happy with the finished project.

Kitchen Design Specialsts are recommended from their professionalism, their skill, ann their honesty. Working with them was a pleasure.

Kitchen Design Specialists is a family owned and operated business, headquartered in Lancaster, and with an office in Camp Hill. Our first encounter with KDS was at their display at the Harrisburg Home Builders Show. We were impressed by the quality of the products on display, the willingness of their representative to provide straightforward answers to our questions, and by the friendly and professional demeanor of their staff.

After talking to representatives of other contractors we decided to return to the the KDS booth to learn more about Kitchen Design Specialists and how they could meet our needs.

A few days later a kitchen designer, Adam, met with us in our home. Adam listened carefully as we described our wish list; he made suggestions, and provided alternate ideas as our meeting progressed. What was remarkable about this meeting was Adam's knowledge of the products available and the pros and cons of each. And we noticed his artistic flair, a quality that would become even more apparent later.

Within a week we were presented with a tentative plan and budget for our kitchen renewal project. Satisfied with both, we decided to contract with KDS to do the job.

Over the next week or two we met with Adam several more times. He took us to the showrooms of the suppliers of plumbing products, lighting fixtures, and tile. In KDS's Camp Hill showroom we were able to looks at paint colors and samples of countertops. It was during this phase that Adam's creativity became more obvious. He has a great eye for color and an outstanding sense of style. He was having fun helping us; that made the process enjoyable as well as productive.

Once the choices were made, the final plan was developed, and the contract was signed we were ready to move on to the project of remodeling our kitchen.

Within just a few days we met two more members of the KDS family; Jeremy and Cantlee did the bulk of the work on our project. The hallmarks of their work are great skill, a knack for problem solving, a solid work ethic, patience, good humor, and more.

One of the tasks they performed was to shorten, by four inches, the cabinet above our range. This was done to accommodate an over the range microwave and hood. One would be very hard put to look at the cabinet and determine that it had been modified at all. The same pride in workmanship was evident in every task involved with the remodeling. Equally important, perhaps, was our confidence that we were dealing with honest and ethical persons; we had no hesitation to have them in our home even if we were not present.

As with any project of this dimension, there were frustrations; most of them were minor. We would have been happier if the work could have been finished a bit sooner. There were several days when no one was working in our home. But, delay is common in such projects, and the work was finished just a few days past the target completion date.

In the end, we have a beautifully remodeled kitchen and the work was done by creative, skilled, and trustworthy KDS staff members. I strongly recommend Kitchen Design Specialists, and do so without hesitation.