Michelle Dupre Design & Company

I rarely write reviews but my experience with Michelle Dupre Design & Company has been so utterly terrible that I feel it necessary to warn others who are considering using this business. The extent of sheer incompetence and the inability to perform the simplest of tasks to meet a single deadline whatsoever is astonishing. Avoid using this businessthere are multiple others which are far more reputable and trustworthy that can be used instead.

I live in an 850sqft apartment and hired Michelle to install lighting, new flooring, new kitchen, bathroom and fireplace tile, and some basic drywall. Demolition started on Sept 23, 2022, and I was told the floors, electrical, and bathroom would be completed within approximately 2 weeks while I was away on vacation, with the kitchen being completed shortly after I returned. To my extreme disappointment, when I returned from vacation my apartment was still in demolition phase and nowwhere near livable.

It would be about another month and a half until I moved back in. Numerous weeks went by where no work was done whatsoever with no explanation at all. The whole time, I received little to no communication from Michelle on what was happening or when it would be livable again. There was obviously no concern for her client who was without a home, as it was up to me to inquire on the status of the project each time. During this period, I was forced to commute twice the distance, wasting my time and hundreds of dollars in additional fuel costs.

More recently, I was told my kitchen would be arriving mid November, and I paid Michelle thousands of dollars in deposit for this portion of the project. That date came and went, with no work done, and no explanation. Michelle failed to answer numerous phone calls and messages, only sending sporadic emails to schedule appointments through December where again, no work was completed. Starting January 25th 2023, I made multiple attempts to contact Michelle but she screened my calls and read messages without responding. Finally on Feb 6th, I received an email response from her after emailing myself. An additional appointment was scheduled for Feb 10th, which was once again missed.

So, to the date of writing this review on Feb 12th 2023, almost 5 months later, the project remains unfinished in what should have realistically taken only 2 months, with no end in sight. There are other examples supporting this terrible experience but there is honestly just too much to write. The constant missed deadlines, nonexistent communication, and lack of any concern whatsoever for a client has been an atrocious display of how a business should conduct itself. The entire project has been a display of sheer incompetence and complete lack of any professional whatsoever. Given the way Ive been treated, its a wonder that this business is still operating at all. Michelle may try to refute this, but other reviews can be found sharing similar experiences.

If you are interested in home design or renovation at all, use ANYONE else to avoid the constant headaches that others and I have gone through.

I concur with the other reviewer. I had a similar experience with Michelle Dupre Design. On my Initial meeting everything seemed quite good but things turned sour very quickly. My experience was not the best. Some of the quotes Michelle Dupre Designs provided were misleading and she made a couple of invoicing errors. For example, we discussed repainting all the ceilings and even though the quote stated ceiling"s" she later claimed it only included one ceiling. Trims were also quoted but only included baseboards.
We had a couple of surprise invoices billed to us after the fact even though the additional costs were not discussed. Most importantly, as you will see from the photos below, her work was beyond armature. We spent thousands of dollars correcting her work. We hired a professional company to create a full professional report detailing the errors in work and I can send it on request.
Overall, as you will see from the photos below, I found the work displayed lack of care and unprofessionalism. Please contact me for the full professional deficiency report.

***Update: We took Michelle Dupre Designs to court and won, however, collecting the monies owed is difficult. If you value your peace of mind find someone else. Before suing, this woman kept threatening me how she would put liens on my home and sue me for slander etc but she never followed through. Check her history with BC Courts before committing to her work. You will find I am not the only one who has taken her to court.

It’s been hard for me to post this but I owe it to anyone interested to share my experience about the design services of Michelle Dupre Design aka Design with Confidence aka Colour with Confidence.
When we first met and discussed the renovation and redesign of my condo I was so hopeful. Everything we discussed was agreed to as if it would be so very easy. The job involved new flooring, bathroom tile, light fixtures, painting and blinds. I also discussed furniture selection and accessories to give the home a soft sophisticated look. There was no restructuring, system upgrades, cabinets, appliances or bathroom fixtures. I was told at first that it would be 2 1/2 weeks but that was adjusted to 3-4 weeks and I was assured that would be faster if I vacated the house and put most of my furniture in storage. There was less than 24 hours notice to pack up my things. I kept being reassured the floors only took 2 days, and they were right. It actually only took one. But it took them 5 1/2 weeks to get to that point. I came to see what was being done I was horrified to find young children along with the floor installers.If I hadn’t already paid a huge deposit on the work I would have pulled the plug earlier. In the time it took to have my possessions and bigger furniture returned I was sick of staying with relatives friends and at hotels. If I had been warned earlier I would have sublet a place somewhere. The final straw was being told they couldn’t move the furniture back or do the baseboards because the truck had a flat tire. I chose to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor.
But it wasn’t just the insane excuses and delays. I didn’t get the kind of design support or site monitoring needed from Michelle. Flooring choices were made from the limited number of small samples in her “showroom”. Many of the requests I made during our consultation were not communicated to the workers. I’ve worked with designers and contractors before. They monitored the work as it was being done. She also agreed to a number of changes here that either didn’t fit, couldn’t be done or were much more complex than she allowed for.
Even though I didn’t like many of the changes being made, like the flooring, and the tile work I can’t afford to have it redone. I kept telling myself that she was the designer and she knows what she’s doing but really I wasn’t listened to.
This review is getting too long so if you decide to work with Michelle Dupre make sure you do the following:
Get a written list of what’s going to be done. Include descriptions where possible.
Get a budget breakdown knowing that unforeseen things always come up.
Do the big jobs on your own. Life would have been much easier if I had the flooring and painting done by an outside company.
Monitor the work carefully.
In all fairness I should have been more vocal about my concerns on a daily basis early in the job. On the plus side her office assistant was very nice.
Financially I’m over budget without enough for new furniture and accessories. But it was also an enormous strain on my emotional and physical health. Some of the changes are fine but certainly not all of them.
If you decide to work with this company I hope you have a better experience.