Design Center by CalAtlantic Homes in Tampa, FL

Reviews about Design Center by CalAtlantic Homes

• ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

  August 15, 2020, by Jessica Reyna
  I wish I took more pictures of the center than my choices, because the pictures don't accurately reflect the location or choices. Everything is really very structured to their process regarding appointment times or info. This can be really helpful if you live in the area, or exceptionally inconvenient and difficult if you live out of market like we do with hours during business hours M-F only in 4 hour increments that cannot be flexed to midday. Again, not an issue if you live in the Tampa DMA. However, once you are in there for your design session, the process is pretty organized. There are plenty of great choices for electric, plumbing fixtures, flooring, tile, cabinets, countertops, exterior colors. There are more limited choices when it comes to pavers, interior paint, outdoor lighting, doors. You don't get a chance to change anything, so be sure you have investigated the brands, colors, and materials that are important to you before coming out. This helped us out tremendously. Bring an interior designer if you need help. They are your consultant, not CalAtlantic, so they know you, your style, family, guest life and furniture. CalAtlantic staff know their taste and products, which is helpful, but someone who is the expert on you is immensely helpful. Things I wish CalAtlantic would do differently to improve experiences - 1. Have a kids area. Most people cannot get a sitter during work hours, and those of us coming from out of the area and no clue when we can expect to return to our market will have kids along. Or have a weekend option for those who don't live in the Tampa area. 2. It's 2016. Give your designers a tablet and an app. It's pointless, frustrating for them to ask us what our budget is and find out that you're spending double what you plan to at the end, then having to go back through and figure out what you want to change and have both your designer and the other on staff say no one stays on budget. I get you want to make money, we all do, but imagine the kind of positive experience you can create and WOM if you can help people manage their expectations from a budget and decide if they want to splurge and go over. We planned 20k and only at the end were told 40k. I'm sure your designers knew where we were at, but your customers do not. Having to go back through everything with kids is not fun for your customers, design staff or other customers in the design center. 3. Make sure your design center options line up with the actual house. We found out that our front of our home can't actually house carriage lights correctly, so it's one in a weird spot or none. I think if these 3 were addressed it would be a 5 star experience. The products and options are great, just the experience needs help