Michael James Design, Inc.

Michael James Design is a Methuen kitchen and bath showroom Michael and Maureen Hovnanian have run together since 2004, when they opened it as a boutique-style design shop; three years in, they doubled the space and became an authorized Sub-Zero and Wolf dealer, a status the business still holds. Michael brings 35+ years in the kitchen and bath trade, Maureen more than 20 in design and interior decorating, according to the company's own site. The written Google record is thin — three reviews between 2018 and 2021 — but each is specific. In a 2019 review, a customer renovating two kitchens in a two-family house they'd condo'd (one to sell, one to keep) said Mike and Maureen were practical and fun to work with, walked them through cabinets, counters, sinks, faucets and hardware, and helped them balance personal taste against what would sell the second unit. In a 2018 review, another customer called the design work patient and said Mike and Maureen helped with every decorating decision. That small Google sample sits beside a much bigger, sustained record on Houzz: a 5.0★ average across 47 reviews and 24 posted projects, with Best of Houzz honors in six different years running from 2015 through 2021, plus a 2015 Merrimack Valley Magazine readers' choice award for kitchen design. The core of the business is custom cabinetry and kitchen-and-bath design rather than whole-room remodeling on their own — Houzz lists the company under custom cabinets, custom bathroom vanities and kitchen & bath design, and the reviews on file describe selecting and installing cabinets, counters and fixtures rather than coordinating a full gut renovation. For a homeowner planning a kitchen or bath refresh centered on cabinetry, appliances or a design consult — especially with Sub-Zero or Wolf appliances in the mix — this is a shop with a long, consistently well-reviewed history behind it.