I have nothing but positive things to say about this company. I had my stair rails redone in iron and the baseboard and rails faux painted. They did an AMAZING job! From the original design, (Henry is the master-mind) to Philipe and his crew of workers, they were careful, and skillful. I was warned that it would be a very messy job, and they were right. But they took all necessary precautions to keep the mess to a minimum. They even touched up something that I hadn't noticed. The price was about average, maybe somewhat on the higher end. But it is a very custom job that some other companies can't do. I would recommend these guys to anyone! read more

Excellent quality work, I'm very pleased. Complete cabinet re-facing done for a large kitchen and master bathroom.

This is not the company to use if you are looking for decent cabinetry work. They are the textbook example of overpromising and underdelivering. As part of a kitchen remodel, we were mostly looking for 2 drawer modifications, a small bookcase, 2 very simple shelving units, 2 additional drawers, and soft close hinges everywhere. We ran into many issues. To name a few: the "master designer" is unaware of the City Code; poor communication between the designer and the installer; the installer either does not show up or is several hours late; our rather small job required 10 visits over the course of 8 weeks requiring us to reschedule the fabricator multiple times; measurements were wrong and the work had to be redone multiple times; nails were sticking out, leaving the wood of the shelves chipped; the 4 new drawer fronts did not match the existing kitchen cabinets, both in design as well as material (they actually tried to get away with wood substitutions, using maple and MDF instead of oak); the invoice amounts were wrong. We ended up project managing Idel, and tracking in detail what was still outstanding while keeping in touch via email. Most emails included the owner Denise, who not once reached out to help move the project along and to apologize for all the delays and the poor workmanship. The silver lining is that we are very grateful to not have hired this company to also do the countertop and the cabinet refinishing work. read more

My wife and I had Idel Designs strip & paint our stair railings and some cabinet areas in our home , along with restaining our front doors. They were recommended by neighbors. We are pleased with outcome . The price was very fair , the quailty good. The workers, Fernando & Richie were hard working young men , very polite and curteous . I felt Henry was a little agressive in the beginning , and would suggest going slowly and put everything in writing . Once that's done you should be happy with the outcome of your project. read more

Idel designs refinished my kitchen cabinets. The finished product exceeded my expectations. Great job. read more

We had Idel Designs (owner Henry Belkin) redo our kitchen cabinets and counters on our house in Ramona. I got Henry's contact information from HomeAdvisor along with several other kitchen contractors. His was one of 3 bids I got. Henry's bid and one other were comparable, but Henry could do the granite counters and the other couldn't and the 3rd bid was almost $20,000 higher than the first two, so I had Idel Designs do the work. I am so thrilled with my new kitchen! What impressed me as unique (beyond the very reasonable price) was that Henry invited me to visit his shop where his team does the work, so I could see their resources and work in progress. And he took me over to the granite yard and personally helped me pick out a lovely granite that would complement my cabinets. He was always willing to give advice, but clearly wanted to fit his advice to my taste so I would be happy with the result. I offered to put a deposit on the work so Henry would know I was serious, but Henry won't take a dime until the work is finished. He was responsive to my phone calls, and assigned Oscar, a project manager, to the job to make sure I would always have a contact person. Oscar was very nice and quite responsive the two times I called him. I will say that I was not on a tight schedule for the work to get done, and I told Henry to fit things in as his workmen were able. Even so the work was completed in 2 weeks start to finish. Had I been on a tight schedule, I would have worked with Oscar and asked for a specific schedule. I had beautiful hardwood cabinets, but they were not a color I liked and there were some areas where the finish had worn off and old stains were present. I hate waste so I didn't want them replaced, but that color was awful. I worked with the Idel team to get a custom stain color and they were incredibly nice and helpful to work with! They met me at the shop and they mixed several different shades for me until they got just the cherry-wood shade I wanted. They took all the cupboard doors to his shop to do as much of the work there as possible, keeping mess in my house to the minimum. His guys warned us that since they had to sand the sides and frames of the cupboards, there would be some mess. However, they carefully covered everything and put up a plastic barrier between the kitchen and the family room (that was all a big open space), and did a great job of cleaning up, so for me, there was minimal cleaning needed. The workmen were so nice! The whole team made the process-which could have been unpleasant, as easy as possible. Henry found us a perfect sink for several hundred dollars less than we could get the same sink ourselves. Our old baseboards were a mess, and I didn't know what to do about that, but Henry knew exactly what to do. His guys made baseboards and trim to match the cupboards and the work is just beautiful. I was surprised and delighted His work added way more to the value of my home that what it cost me to have the work done. All in all, an excellent job. I can give Idel Designs an unqualified 5 stars! read more

I actually live in San Marcos. I hired Idel Design in September of 2019 to paint cabinets and install new quartz counters, and they did a great job, on time, with no issues for resolving the minor misses that can occur in any project. The owner was honest and I recommended him to a few friends, and assured me he would take care of any issues that might arise after the project was done - he built his company and reputation on his customer service. Last week I contacted Idel to correct a few tiny nicks on the counter edge that i just discovered; I absolutely know I did not make the nicks, it had to have been during fabrication. I learned the business was sold in January 2020, the new owner will not stand behind any previous workmanship or committments; repairs to the counter are not not her responsibiltiy, and to quote "someone has to pay for it" and it would be at my expense. When I stated that I felt as a new owner you assume the reputation and responsibility of workmanship for the company, she said she would check and call me back. I followed up by leaving two voice mails, sent three emails with no response over a two week period. Finally, she answer my call after I blocked my caller ID. Her response, 'We will send you Henry's phone number' (the former owner) then hung up. Of course, I have not received Henry's phone number and of course, I wouldn't expect him to be involved as he sold the business. The new owner is rude and unprofessional in her communications, and I would not expect new clients to have a similar experience at some point in their project life. I recommend to continue your search for a new company to do business with. read more

I called Idel because they were offering a good deal on granite countertops through Angie's List. I seem to remember the price was $1,600, but I've cancelled my Angie's List subscription. Anyway, it was our first experience with a contractor other than one who is a close personal friend. What a mistake. Henry arrived and wooed us. He appeared to be very knowledgeable and confident. Unfortunately, he was all sizzle and no steak. He took us to look at the slab of granite and then to a store for the backsplash tiles. There were no decisions to make, as he told us what he was going to use. I would have preferred to have had a choice between two or three designs, colors, etc. Meanwhile, the backsplash design did not go off as expected because of the placement of our outlets. He knew the size of the tiles, so he should have known the accent tiles were not going to work where he said they would go. Now they are hidden behind the toaster oven and coffeemaker. The workers were pretty good, except for one no-show/no-call day, which was very inconvenient. The tile and granite installs went well. Unfortunately, the granite does not have the sheen that is so pretty on all my friends' countertops. When asked about this, Henry said, "what do you expect for a $500 piece of granite." Thanks, Henry. The job did not exactly cost what you advertised in the Angie's List ad, either. More about the money later... We also asked him to install a new mantel over the fireplace. I go ballistic every time I think of it. It is not flush to the wall, and the space is filled with a brown putty substance. Since the putty is soft, it messed up the paint above the mantel. Now we have to paint. He told us he could enclose a pantry and make it look exactly like our kitchen cabinets. While I expected a very slight color variation, the center rails and design were nothing like the cabinet doors. When I mentioned this he shrugged and said "Shaker." The kitchen cabinets are not Shaker design but now the pantry is. Henry gave us an estimate of $6,000. He doesn't take a deposit, but don't be fooled by this ploy. He did the math wrong on the estimate, and got angry when we said we hadn't budgeted for the $7,000 he wanted. We offered to split the outstanding $1,000 if he would polish the granite and fix the mantel. He then said some very unflattering things about my husband. Here are my complaints about the workmanship...new pantry doors look nothing like those on our cabinets. Veneer is not the same color as cabinets (he said the pantry would look EXACTLY like the cabinets). Mantel does not fit well over the fireplace and the putty is not a fix. Granite has no shine whatsoever and looks like it has water marks all over it. Countertop dips so low that I can't open one of my kitchen drawers. Here's my complaint about the man...friendly and helpful when trying to get your business, condescending and rude when you want something done right. We had just had our garage totally renovated with demolition of old cabinets, a new room built around our water heater, a new epoxy paint job on the floor, and a gorgeous paint job on the walls and ceiling for less than $5,000. From Henry we got lousy countertops, four poorly designed doors, a little cutting and gluing of veneer for the side of the pantry, and a fireplace mantel that makes me go GGGGRRRRRRR...all this for $6,000 and the aggravation of haggling over the $1,000 math error. BTW, we do not mind spending $$$ when the job is well done. We should have done more homework, but his Angie's list rating and charm and confidence won us over. I'd steer clear of him. read more

Henry's pitch was so great, he promises the world. DO NOT USE THEM! I was so fed up trying to deal with Henry that we eventually gave up! He recieved full payment (big mistake) and i have a staircase where the stain is peeling up, some places were laquered while other places were not. (he told me to just brush some laquer over it) I have a built in that was scratched by the installers. They took the wrong measurments so I have a door that wont close and numerous other problems. I actually picked up the stain from him so I could fix it myself and the stain is the wrong color.They came out a few times to "fix" things but did nothing. Horrible experience, do not waste your money on this company! read more

I called them up and had them do several bids for me. The quotes were on the low end and the owner did them himself. The owner said there was no pressure to use them and I could pick and choose which jobs I wanted to use them for or not use them for. He specifically stated "if I want to use someone else for any part of the job it's ok". I decided to use them for the tile job they quoted but not for the vanity and countertop they quoted because I was able to get it cheaper elsewhere and from a company that could actually show me their products. (I repeatedly asked Idel for some samples of their cabinets but didn't get anything. It made me nervous about what I was actually going to get.) However when I called up the owner he was clearly dissatisfied with getting the tile work but not getting the vanity work and wanted to argue with me about the decision. (So much for his statement that it would be ok to use someone else if we wanted.) When I told him to stop his inquistion about the vanity work he got angry and hung up abruptly on me. What a stressful experience it was dealing with him and something not to be repeated. Also, it appears as though the owner offers discounts to people just so that they'll give him a good review. read more

I'm updating my review. My first impression was very bad. But he reached out and tried to make things right. That is the mark of someone who takes pride in his business. We all have bad days. Our work was completed by someone else but I will consider Idel for any future work. read more

We contracted with Idel Designs to design and supply new cabinets for a laundry room and to add/match cabinets in the kitchen and in our up-stairs hallway. Henry and his staff's work exceeded our expectations by having the added cabinets match the color and profiles of the existing wooden cabinets perfectly. The new laundry room cabinets are a dream - painted white with a satin finish; they operate well. The installers are first rate and did an exceptional job on the installation. The price is reasonable for the quality of the cabinets (NO mdf). The only area that needed work was communication and follow up of some dimensions...we had corrected a couple of dimensions on the plans, but not all of the changes were not incorporated into the fabrication. The installers were able to handle the needed changes in the field, and we are very happy with the work and job overall. read more

We hired Henry the owner to redo our kithchen the workmanship was not bad they made some mistakes but there CUSTOMER SERVICE IS TERRIBLE.. Our granite counter top is starting to serperate at the seams looks terrible. A custom furniture piece that he made for the kitchen is starting to fall of the apart I sent him pictures I have emailed him phoned him but he will not respond. Your taking a chance with them if customer service is important to you than Idel Design is not your contractor. If you do hire them just hope nothing goes wrong!!!! read more

We had two vanities made by idel designs. The design is just basic, but the workmanship is awful. The sinks were put in off center to the faucet and handles. Now 18 months later the stain is peeling off. I called Idel designs Henry told me to email him some pictures and he would get back to me. I am in the process, but I feel he should me the one running around to satisfy his customer. (He just lost at least one). Also, during this remodel he refinished my kitchen cabinets in off white paint. Now 18 months later the paint is peeling off and cracking. Furthermore, when they installed the handles they were all off center and crooked. They did come back and remedy this issue. But I WOULD NEVER USE HENRY AGAIN. read more

I will be honest, after reading some of the previous reviews on yelp I was a little nervous to work with Idel, but they have exceeded our expectations. We had our kitchen cabinets painted, granite put in, our kitchen island extended, granite fireplace created and a very modern intricate designed family room built -in created and installed. They were timely, professional and the work created was of excellent quality. I couldn't be happier. read more

Had a new bar put in just in time for the holidays costume made and topped with beautiful black and gold granite. It looks great, could not of dreamed of anything nicer. Thank you Henry and your team. You all did a awesome job 10 stars read more

Well it's been 2yrs since we've had our cabs reskined by Henry and his crew. Almost from the beginning the skins started to peel. I pressed them back on as told to do by his guys. After a year I couldn't take it anymore so I sent pictures to Henry. He was shocked. If you had just called 2wks earlier we were in your neighborhood. I'll send Oscar up asap. He comes up takes pictures and leaves. Months go by and I call again.Henry is again shocked. I'll come up and take care of this. More pictures and nothing. After 9 months I hire another Contractor. No word from Henry or his foreman Oscar. It's been 2yrs now. Now the finish is starting to come off the doors and drawers faces. $8000.00 flushed down the toilet. $4000.00 for granite which they messed up installing but was able to fix. Oh, his crew must not know what shop vac is WHAT A MESS. I hope my granite counters hold up better than the cabs. Probably 1 or 2 more yrs and I'll have to do this again. He sure talked a good line. Good luck if you use him. read more