The Design Haüs — Local services in Clayton

First of all, I never write reviews, but I feel like the town of Clayton should know who they are dealing with. Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience with the Design Haus. My husband and I first asked for Michael's assistance when we were building our home. We paid the $250 that was required, and went for our first consultation. The meeting was an absolute joke. Michael and his assistant scrambled around looking for our blue prints that were emailed prior to the appointment trying to throw them up on their screen. They offered absolutely NO advice that was helpful except for pointing out a weird space next to our fire place, and making a joke that the space was only good for a Christmas Tree. We didn't go back in, but Micheal had no trouble keeping the initial fee of $250.

2 years later after our home was built, we walked into the Design Haus yet again, hoping that Michael had gained some professionalism and experience since the last time that we met with him. He claimed that he had installers for wallpaper and curtains, which we were needing. Wanting to support small businesses in our area, we tried again with the Design Haus.

The process went as follows..... Michael came over to our house, insulted everything that we had done so far, and wouldn't listen to anything that we wanted. He even said that grasscloth wallpaper was out of style, along with other ideas that we suggested. With his gauche attitude, my husband and I figured that he knew what he was talking about, and decided to let him go with his ideas to see what he could do. That evening, Michael had us sign a contract stating that we would pay him for the hours that he spent researching and pulling ideas together.

The time came for our meeting. We were really excited because it had taken him weeks. We thought that it was strange that we were meeting at his store instead of him bringing his presentation and selections to our home, but we just figured that this was part of his process.

We went to his store, sat down, and listened to the most unprofessional, amateur presentation that I’ve ever heard. It consisted of about 15 slides that looked as if he had pulled them from Pinterest that morning. Most weren't even relevant to our house. A 10 year old could have put this presentation together better than he did. He scrambled yet again for wallpaper samples, and couldn't even find the ones that he had in his slide to show the texture. When we got to curtains, it was the same story. More of Michael not listening and laying out the ugliest hotel room examples that I've ever seen. Nothing remotely close to what we had said that we wanted. I'm talking painting wainscoting dark grey in our living room, and hanging black wallpaper that had swirls on it. He finished the meeting trying to sell us furniture from his show room to replace the basically new furniture in our home.

At the end of our meeting, he charged us for 17 hours of work. This was comical. Blindsided, we paid him over $2,400 for his "ideas." After discussing the meeting that night with my husband, we obviously called the next day with our concerns. We contacted Michael and he could have cared less. He got his money, and that was obviously all that he cared about. We contacted our CC company to dispute the charges. He disputed our claim, but he never cared to resolve the issue. We would have been more than happy working out a store credit for furniture in exchange for the hours that he claimed that he spent on the Pinterest slide show. We left this experience with no ideas, no curtains, and no wallpaper.

This place is at the very best a high priced furniture store. Buy your furniture there, but PLEASE refrain from letting Michael trick you into believing that he's a designer. Save your money and find a reputable designer somewhere else. Don't let his store...

I am exceptionally pleased to have been able to custom order the dining table and chairs exactly as I desired through The Design Haus!

I "wanted" "my vision" of the table shape, where the legs were placed (at the corners), the type of finished edge, the type of wood and color of the stain used, and that I wanted it to be extendable and got the lengths that I wanted with optional width choices in the leaves available. I am sooo happy!

Their selection of chairs is large and wonderful; mine will be made using the same wood and stain color chosen for my table and upholstered in the fabric of my choice (so many choices)!

I'd already searched for weeks at retail stores and online, and to have found "right in town" The Design Haus was the cherry on top (Clayton, NC). Mike and Desiree were a dream to work with and made sure my wishes and wants were met, and bonus, I never once felt pressure; they listened well to what it was that I was looking for! I cannot say enough about them, their shop and their services.

Note: my quality furniture choice will be built by the Amish, we all know that's "quality" work! Pricing was reasonable as well.

Thanks The Design Haus, I am beyond...

We met Michael several years ago while looking for furniture for our last house. Since that time, we moved into our new home and Michael has been a part of the decorating process every step of the way. With Michael’s help, we’ve turned our builder’s beige house into a stylish home that combines my and my husband’s tastes seamlessly. From the old house to the new, we learned that it was to our advantage to work with a designer, as it helped us understand how to budget our decorating dollars to make the best choices for furniture, paint colors, wallpaper, drapes, etc. Michael’s understanding of design, scale, color combinations, and our vision for our home, made the selection process quick and easy, which I didn’t even know was possible! When professional assistance was needed for paint, electrical, and general contracting, Michael knew just who to contact to ensure the work was done with the highest quality. We’ve had such a great experience with Michael and I highly recommend him to anyone who might be looking for design help. It’s worth the time and money to have a designer assist with your next project because the result will be better than anything you can envision...