Interior Designer Reviews

We engaged DSOD interior to renovate our new house at Bukit Panjang. We were so happy with their service, from its breathtaking aesthetics to its flawless execution. Don and his team had shown that they are very professional. Upon receiving the brief from us, Don guide us through the whole renovation process, from layout, design and execution. During the design process, we make several changes due to the size of our house and we have 2elderly at home, so safety was our priority. Every element has been thoughtfully curated to enhance our daily lives, with practical considerations seamlessly integrated into the design. When the renovation started, we decided to totally trust him and his team to our house renovation as we believed in their profession. We felt at any job, if there is many interruption, the whole process will not be smooth and happy. Don also set up a WhatsApp group to update us on the process. He will constantly send us photos and update us. We were so happy to see our newly renovated house less than 2months!. And the elderly in the house commented that they really like DSOD's service. Thank You Don and DSOD!!! We will surely engaged you again for our next house and recommend your service to our friends. Lastly our house were nicely renovated and even much nicer than the 3D he had shown us:)

Very skeptical on their bad review. After seeing their website and fb and we must say their design is good therefore we decided to contact Don, designer. During the meet up, we notice he's quite chatty and naggy but we feel he's not the salesman type. During the presentation, we are quite impressed that they are using smart whiteboard TV to present rather than laptop. After a month of discussion and selection, we decided to confirm DSOD as our ID. After 2week, we visit back to their office to discuss drawing. To be honest, I think is too technical for owner to understand but we know is their procedure. The real nightmare that everyone afraid; RENOVATION starts. Over 7week of reno period, we truly believe they are passion towards to their works, never delay the hand over and they also help us style our living room to look nice. Overall is an enjoyable process they showed us and we love it. Although we don't have much budget to play with it but we really love our home. We highly recommend DSOD Interior to all owners.

Definitely would not recommend at this point in time. I'd engaged Don and his team since last Dec 2021 after several sales and design pitch and we got sold with all the governance and tightness of execution communicated. However, after 2 months into the execution from Feb 2022, my Attic has not been completed. There are issues with project and account management, there's no follow ups on what's next.. sometimes, no activities for the entire week and no updates and what's pending and when's the next activities. The devils are in the details which are frustrating as alot of these details were not discussed nor consulted and ended up with multiple rectifications. Many of the discussed requirements were not implemented and had to do "patch" jobs or insisted that it was either not included nor as per design when its not. Many a time was about - "this was how it was done in other projects.. etc". This is a personalised service, its about customizing to the lifestyle. Trying to turn this around right now and giving him the opportunity to redeem himself and the company... as we still have the rest of our house (2nd level, 1st level & Basement) that we had not even started - due to us living in during the renovation. If it continues to be as frustrating an experience as right now, we would have to explore a painful approach to rectifying this situation. More to come... Update 20th May 1) Phase 1: Attic still not complete - already after 3 months. - Double glaze sliding glass door delivered and installed, found that the sliding track sill is not recessed into the wooden flooring at the edge of the stairs and Don told me “it’s like that”. My 4yo daughter and dog has no way of going to the attic as the edges of the track sill were wide and think protruding out with sharp edges. Told him that I want it removed and took abit of argument for him to relent. - floor varnishing was not completed. Parts of the replaced wood were still uneven. Parts of the wooden floor area wasn’t done up as they claim that it’s being blocked by glass panel, which leaves an awful 1/2 done job. Kept insisting right from the start that it can be done and gave me a curve ball and say it can’t now after wasting so much time. He wants to charge me partial work done on varnishing which I refused and getting him to remove it out from the quote. I’m now left with rectifying the whole thing on my own and time wastage. Wanted to charge me extra for glass removal, so he can complete the job. Told him to go fly kite. - Decided to remove all wardrobe from the quote and source my own wardrobe contractor once the rooms are ready. 2) Phase 2 - Basement & 3 bedrooms. - Don insist of removing all the re-grouting activities, paint work and get me find my own contractor to do it. - I had also removed all varnishing works for the rest of my 4 bedrooms and got another contractor to do it independently. - last night he sent me a revised quote which was not right. And insist on me to pay him the remaining 70% which I declined till he provides a correct revised amount based on the changes. He threatened to stopped all works until I pay up. It’s time I engage CASE and lawyer up myself. 3) Phase 3 - Living, Dining, Kitchen & MBR - not started and configuration not finalized as yet. Update: 9th June 2022 (Phase 2 - Basement & Daughter's Room) As usual and similar to Phase 1, the design was just purely aesthetic and not once was there any ensurity that the functionalities and practicalities were put in place. I have a sink with no drain hole beneath it ( in my laundry yard) and I had to sort out the details with the worker & the project manager myself. Don was nowhere to be seen to take ownership to ensure the rectification or workaround was given. His project manager, being new on the job for 3 weeks was struggling not knowing head nor tail to the entire project phase. The Attic (Phase 1): is still not complete with the final cleaning only being scheduled this friday 10th June! - Now he is charging me for the replacement of basin drainer ($90!) and an extra planter hole to be drilled ($150) when its clearly committed that it will be done. - My ceiling fan is having issues with humming and ringing sound and he told me to deal with the dealer myself, when he was the one who brought us to the shop to purchase it. Phase 2: The lightings (which cost me $14k) was recommended by him and we trusted him that he will manage the entire project and coordination. - Ended up, he was not even checking if the lightings are correctly delivered or enough with design changes on the ground. I had to work with the electrician on site and do the coordination with the lighting vendor directly. Hardly seen him around at all during this period of time - perhaps only once when he was chasing after payment when he had not even finalised the detailed drawings. An extremely long journey but closing to the end which is currently targetted to complete by the 17th June 2022. Let's see if the schedule stays on time or like my Attic which lasted since Feb. Phase 3: Target to commence on the 20th June. - Have given him a dateline to get all the finalised drawings (3D, Dimension plans, Powerpoint plans and Lighting plans) to me by the 13th June. - Today (9th June), he sent me a set of 3D drawings which he had sent to me last week, which I had mentioned to him on some changes, which wasn't reflected. Sent me a quote to check and I had to push back that the quote is wrong based on the un-revised 3D drawings. - All interactions are through WhatsApp chat and still do not have the courtesy to physically walk me through to confirm on the changes and what not. I have not dealt with any ID where he sells the following during his presentation and NEVER DELIVERS!: 1) All his contractors will clean up the place once the job is done to enable the next contractor to start. - This is so so untrue! His contractors make a mess of the place, all the sliding glass doors and windows were abused and when I asked him to rectify, he does not respond. I had to engage my own contractor to rectify and charge it back to him. 2) His design - if you are not technical enough, be wary! you need to be extremely hands-on and be meticulous, as his design may not be implementable. My laundry yard basin now does not have a drain hole under it. a lot of patch work and work-around just like in phase 1. What is nice by design may not be implementable! He DOES NOT CHECK!!! 3) whatever he commits and sells to you - make sure it's in the QUOTE! he will increase the $ as and when the project moves along and then tells you the increment was due to the fact that what you asked for was not part of the quote initially. It becomes you say I say situation. I have given him a chance to turn the situation around in Phase 2 and now entering phase 3 - he's giving me the same crap again! I had derisked a lot of complex activities so far: 1) removed all wardrobe carpentries for all rooms - will engage my own later 2) engaged my own varnishing contractor - who does a much better job than what he had provided 3) engaged my own painting contractor - who are much more professional 4) reduced or eliminate any complex works - such as renovating a resale property and doing anything of an overhaul and keeping back some of the configurations. Right Now, I'm just waiting to see when he is going to arrange a meet up (when I suggested next Monday evening, he says he can't cost he has a presentation and want to meet me in the morning when my wife isn't around) to walk through the configuration details for Phase 3 (target to commence on the 20th June) or will he be chasing me for payment again and have to go through the entire process in my previous review.

- Oversold design through in-person presentation - Assigned us with project manager with zero experience who left the firm barely a few months into the job - Don accompanied us to buy supplies and then simply disappeared - no show, no phone calls, but superb in asking payment - When we moved in, house was 30% from completion (e.g. huge slabs of wall unpainted) - and we ended up living there while rectification was done - Client had to step in to manage DSOD's carpenters, electricians, painters and even do their job (e.g. cleaners) (might as well pay us!) - Not even one year into move-in, things are cracking - silicon peeling off, wall paint cracking, bidette hose rusting, LED light bulbs fused, cabinet shelve bent, supposedly marble top are discoloring (to name afew) - Persistently feigned denial of any wrongdoing - Awesome at avoiding face-to-face meetings; hides behind Whatsapp messages - When defects / errors are pointed out, you either get a half-baked or non-answer (what a snake) - Does a good job at dreaming up design that does NOT meet functionality and practicality Why would anyone want to engage DSOD? Hire at your own risk.