Design Center West

Design Center West is a showroom first: tile, flooring, cabinetry, countertops, window treatments and furniture under one roof at 326 Main St in Northborough. The company says it has served New England since 1977 — 49 years by its own count — and its BBB page names Jeremy Roussel as president of a three-person business that started in January 1977 and incorporated in 1980. What customers wrote about is the whole arc from picking materials to installing them. In a September 2023 review a homeowner described a full kitchen renovation that finished faster than expected, crediting Jeremy with keeping communication tight on a large job. Another from April 2023 walked through counters, backsplash, sink and plumbing across a kitchen and half bath, plus kitchen walls quoted and painted within two days. A June 2023 customer working through kitchen, bath, fireplace and flooring design named Jeremy and Ofelia as the people who understood what they were after. The written record is short and it is dated: nine reviews spanning 2021 to 2023, with Google's 4.5 stars drawn from 11 ratings. Its Houzz profile carries no reviews at all. The BBB has accredited the business since March 2021 and grades it A+. The complaint worth reading is from October 2023, and it is specific. A homeowner detailed a new kitchen tile floor with ridges between tiles, tiles sitting higher or lower than their neighbors, lippage across many of them, one tile loose enough to push down and another replaced with double-sided tape instead of glue — with glue still being cleaned off weeks later. That is an account of workmanship, not a service gripe, and it is the sharpest warning anyone hiring them to install rather than to specify should read. One more thing to settle before signing: the Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration on file for Design Center West Company, number 202133, is expired in the state registry. For material selection and design work, the showroom is the draw and 2023 customers were consistent about that. For a full remodel, ask who actually sets the tile, and ask where the registration stands today.