MB Design Services, LLC

Unfortunately, we did not have a good experience. Maybe we weren't important enough because our home addition was small, compared to other projects Michael does. When he first explained the process, we hired him, but then things changed. He did not meet the timeline that he said he would. He would start on our plans, then disappear for a few weeks, then restart, instead of working until they were done. Also, he would add things to our plans that we never talked about, and things that were not in the scope of work, then he would have to correct those things. Had we known it would take so long we never would have hired him. The billable hours were also more than they should have been. In the very beginning, without even seeing our home, or knowing all of the details for the addition, he threw out a random number of estimated hours for the job. I asked how he came up with it, and he said it was just an estimate, and once he saw the house and the project he could get us a real number. He did not design the project, I sketched it out, sent it directly to him, he simply had to do some roof design to connect the addition to the current home. He told us how easy the project was, and what great customers we were making things easy for him. Of course, he ran the billable hours up all the way to the estimated number, which as he said, was really more of a guess. He would not justify the hours, or give us a breakdown of timing of work, so there really was nothing we could do but pay the amount he wanted. After talking to others we were definitely charged for more billable hours than what would have been needed to do the plans for our small project.. Just overall very disappointed.

Michael Bowling with MB Design is great! We worked with him for many many months designing our new home that is currently being built in Williamsburg, Virginia. This was our first time building and we are so grateful we found Michael to design our home. Michael is creative and has great ideas, he was very patient with us when we were indecisive on certain aspects. Michael was also quick to respond to our messages and listened closely to all of our desires and concerns for our dream home. Another thing we really enjoyed and found valuable was that Michael has up to date software, so we were able to see everything 3D and do a virtual walk through of our floor plan before any final decisions were made. I highly recommend Michael Bowling and am confident in his ability to design homes of all sizes, styles, and price points! Feel free to message me if you have any questions about our experience in working with Michael Bowling with MB Designs in Virginia.

My wife and I were ready to build our dream home, but we just couldn't find the right house for us, despite all these custom home builders in Richmond. We knew we needed to have custom plans drawn up, but didn't know where to start. Michael was referred to us from a well-known builder, and he helped us design OUR dream home. He was great to work with - great listener, full of great ideas, patient, always punctual. We had some very disorganized ideas in our heads, and Michael helped us get them all down on paper. We are absolutely thrilled with the finished project, and would strongly recommend Michael.

We would highly recommend Michael and his design services. He listened to what we wanted and had great ideas to incorporate the new and old spaces. We wanted our design to have character and not look like every other addition and he delivered! He was great to work with and would use him again!

Michael is an experienced and talented designer. His ability to listen to clients and develop plans to fit their needs is exceptional. We enjoy working with him and his designs deliver high quality finished projects for James River Construction.

Michael was extremely professional and continues to provide excellent service to my house project. I was in need of a designer that could provide builder ready designs that met county permit requirements. Michael was able to provide this. He asked many questions to get the design right, was patent for all of my changes and provided an engineering correct set that exceeded expectations and came in at cost. I will continue to use his services.

Michael helped us design our home to be exactly what we wanted and what worked the best on our lot. We combed through thousands of floor plans on many, many websites (so many hours spent) but couldn’t find a home that was the floor plan we were picturing, and we knew that modifying these existing plans would be very expensive and still not quite what we wanted. We decided to look into custom design. I found Michael’s page here on Houzz and really liked the look of his designs. After meeting with him, we knew we wanted to work with him, so we went for it! Also, his past clients have nothing but great things to say about him and his work. One thing we truly valued through this process was Michael’s attention to things like cost during the project. There were several times he saved us a lot of money by alerting us that something would add quite a bit of cost to the actual building of the house. It’s nice to know your designer is looking out for you in this regard. In our case, this extra cost would mean we may not even be able to afford the build, so needless to say, this was crucial for us. The process of home design can be frustrating, even with a professional designer, because you’re trying to communicate exactly what you are picturing and have someone make it work in the design. In our case, I had VERY specific ideas that I wanted drafted, and this can cause some frustration on both ends. But, trust me, push through the frustration of the process. It is absolutely worth it. Michael is very patient and was willing to work with us until we got EXACTLY what we wanted. I can’t wait to build our home!!

Michael was very professional and knowledgeable about my addition. He met with my wife and I twice and walked through our home to understand what we were looking to do and how we would use the space. Would definitely recommend him for your project!

My husband and I purchased property in Goochland County the summer of 2016. We knew nothing about the building process but did have a very clear vision of what we wanted to build. We "shopped" around and priced out different architects locally. We were both sticker shocked by their rates and felt "trapped" into creating something that expressed their signature style. We hired Michael to design our farmhouse in Goochland County after a contractor who had done some work at our current home suggested I call him. I gave Michael very specific details about how we hoped the floorplan could be laid out. I also provided him with many Pinterest vision boards. After hiring him, we all met up about 6 weeks later at dinner to review his drawings. I was honestly a bit skeptical to see if he had captured the "look and feel" we wanted within the perimeters provided (sq footage, floor plan, etc). When he showed us the first round of sketches we were blown away. He had been able to fit the floor plan we wanted into the "look" of a traditional farmhouse with the addition of a few well thought out "oh wow!" spaces. He exceeded our expectations! Michael was very pleasant to work with. Emails and phone call were always returned in a timely manor and changes or suggestions to the design were discussed and implemented easily. We are looking forward to completing this project with Michael and can't wait to see the end result in "real" life!!

Michael is incredibly skilled and understands how a home should be designed and built. Extremely flexible and doesn't mind working until it's exactly what you envisioned.

Michael Bowling designed our house and did a great job! Patient, thoughtful, and very knowledgeable about important design considerations, like energy efficiency.

Michael has a strong intuitive grasp for efficient design. The plans that he put together were virtually perfect and his professional and patient approach made me feel as though we were very well taken care of. I will definitely use his services the next time we need a house design.