Sometimes you have a vision for a centerpiece in your home that can't be accomplished with out-of-the-box cabinets from the hardware store. When that happens you might think of having custom cabinets made. But custom can be expensive, so here's a trick to save money: ask about semi-custom cabinets. Today I'll show you an example of a semi-custom job and how well it turned out. It started with a phone call from local interior designer Liz Hackett. One of her clients, a couple living in West Asheville, loves to entertain and wanted to create a cocktail bar in their dining room. After meeting to look at the space and review the project budget, we determined that a semi-custom project would be the best choice. We started with these cabinets from Lowes... ...and then carefully considered them from all angles. They were very plain on the sides, and would look odd sticking out into the room like that, so we suggested adding end panels. Liz also wanted to incorporate a mini-fridge, so we designed an end panel to surround the fridge, too. Once the cabinet arrived at our workshop, we got busy building and attaching the panels. We also sourced custom pull-out drawers to make it easier to access the items in the cabinets. This is another advantage of semi-custom: the pull-outs wouldn't have worked in the stock cabinets. We had to add interior supports to attach them to. When we stepped back and snapped a photo, it looked a lot like our original drawing. (Except for the countertop, which was installed by another company.) Liz's clients were thrilled with the way it turned out, and tagged us in their story on Instagram. There are times when semi-custom cabinets won't work well. If the cabinet will be fit into a niche, it really does need to be custom built for the space, like on this project: Semi-custom works best when the cabinet will be free-standing, like a kitchen island... ...or placed up against the wall with three sides visible, like the dry bar we just showed off.
So if you've got a "custom" cabinet project, it may be possible to save a little on cost by doing a "semi custom" installation. All you have to do is click the big orange button and contact us to find out. I just got a new toy to tinker with at home (because even on my days off I'm not content to sit around and do nothing... I need a project to mess around with). Stick with me, there are money-saving and life-saving lessons in this. My new hobby is a vintage Mark Twain speedboat from 1977, and it needs a little work. That is to say, all of the interior wood is rotten. I need to strip it all the way down to the hull and totally rebuild it. At first I was let down. This is a huge repair and I definitely won't have the boat on the water this summer. Just call me Captain Drydock. But once I got used to the idea, I got excited and started researching the right way to fix it. Now whenever I'm working on my custom cabinets and need to stop for a minute while the paint dries or the glue sets up, I'll hop in the boat and rip out the floor for half an hour. Since boating is a new world for me, I've been studying boating forums and Youtube channels to see how this kind of project is done. A lot of the guys doing the demonstration are hobbyists as well, and outside of boat remodeling, many of them don't have a lot of experience doing handyman or carpentry work. And there's a big mistake I've noticed amateurs making again and again when they DIY their boat repair: They use cheap materials. Think about it: you're about to spend the only resource you can't recover or get back... a resource that in some ways is even more precious than your money... your time. In the case of a total boat repair like this, you'd be spending about 300 hours of your life. Yet instead of choosing marine-grade materials that will last for a long time, some of these guys are using the cheapest plywood available and just trusting in their fiberglass coating to do the work. Since it's hard to add a perfect waterproof coating, changes are that the plywood is going to rot in ten years and all of that time will be wasted. And the money they spent on the cheap materials will be wasted, too. And here's another mistake to avoid making... and this is one that even the pros make all the time... and it drives me crazy because it's really dangerous... They don't wear proper masks or safety gear. Heck, some of them don't even use ventilation! Your health is just as precious as your time. And wood dust causes cancer. When you breathe wood dust, you're basically breathing in silica (the stuff they make glass out of) and the worst part is, the most dangerous dust is the finest dust. It hangs in the air longer, you can't see it, and most masks don't filter it out. If you are going to DIY a project, always buy the best mask you can afford and work with the best available ventilation. That's why even though I have a professional workshop with the best ventilation I can buy... ...I still leave the windows and doors open in good weather, and I wear my powered-air dust filter. Is it overkill? I have good reason to believe that it is not. I'm fortunate (if that's the word) to have an allergy to wood dust because I spent so many years breathing it in. If I expose myself to a dangerous cancer-causing level of dust, my body reacts as if I've just inhaled a handful of pollen. And if I don't wear my powered air mask and use good ventilation for even a few minutes of light sanding, I get that allergy. If you're not "lucky" enough to have a wood dust allergy, you can easily expose yourself to a dangerous level of carcinogens without ever knowing it. Don't believe me? Ask the American National Cancer Institute and the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Those are just the first two that came up on my Google search. The evidence is there. And speaking of carcinogens, I have an outdoor work table which I like to use when painting, because even with low-VOC paint there can still be dangerous fumes, and I don't trust my spray booth to clear the air as well as a strong breeze. I'm not saying you shouldn't DIY your household projects. But don't save money at the expense of the more important things in life... the things you can't get back once they're gone... your time, and the health of you and your loved ones. OK, I'll climb down off my soapbox now.
If you have a project that you'd like to DIY, but don't have the time, know-how or safety equipment, give us a call. We'll take care of it for you. This is one of those rewarding projects that brings a big return on a small investment. Many new homes in Asheville are built with places for shelving, but since since the builders are trying to stay on budget, the shelves are left out and the homeowner has to install them later. This is especially common in pantries and closets... or in this case, in the niches around the fireplace in my customer's living room. These little nooks were even more awkward than usual, because one nook was deeper and wider than the other, so the homeowner couldn't just pick out a matching pair of credenzas. We worked together to come up with a plan to install semi-floating shelves on each side, and by making the shelves the same height and thickness, we were able to create a sense of visual unity. Here's our "proof of concept" sketch. You may notice that there aren't any shelves on the lower right. The homeowner wanted a place to keep her daughter's large toys, and since she was considering selling the home in the future, she also wanted to leave a place for the next occupant to install a large TV. Once we had the size and spacing of the shelving worked out, I went to work behind the scenes in my shop. The new shelves were painted to match the trim around the existing fireplace, so they looked like a natural extension of what was already there. Even without books and accessories, the niches around the fireplaces have a much more unified look. If you've got an awkward empty space that is crying out for cabinets or shelves, give us a call. We'll put in the pieces that the builder left out.
In last week's post I showed off a couple of custom Shaker-style barn doors that I've been working on in my studio.
So naturally this week's blog post is all about those doors, and where they ended up.
It all started when Leslie Huntley of Roost Interior Design contacted me about putting a pair of sliding barn doors in her clients' home office in their downtown condo. They had a perfectly good door there...
...but floor space in these condos is limited, and they wanted a new door that didn't swing open, so they could put more furniture on the wall.
We couldn't find any pre-made doors that would work well in the space, so I got to work in my shop.
By the way, check out that respirator! It's my new toy... top of the line and easy on the lungs.
Plus it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Side note: I never realized how many sci-fi astronauts are wearing standard dust-filter respirators until I started researching dust filtration. It seems to be a Hollywood shortcut: buy a mask from Lowe's, spraypaint everything black, and slap on a few extra gadgets and hoses.
And once I noticed that, I started noticing all kinds of things, like plastic French drains being used as spaceship "pipes." Low-budget Netflix space operas just haven't been the same since then. Anyway, back to the job... I also make custom cabinets at our sister company, Artisan Built-ins, so Leslie commissioned us to build a set of white bookcases with a custom shelf to hold a printer. Here's the 3D model we created so she could preview the design.
And here they are in our workshop, alongside another project for the same condo... an electric chimneyless fireplace.
As you can see, our model was very accurate.
Back on the job site, the office walls were painted a striking cobalt blue...
...the better to set off the crisp white sliding barn doors and the bookshelves.
If you've got sharp eyes, you might notice that the printer shelf is a little lower than it was in the drawing. That's because I planned ahead and made it repositionable or removable so that if they don't need a printer there any more, they can take the shelf off and have a plain bookcase once again.
The whole project came together beautifully, and the formerly bland room is now a striking office that looks just as interesting as the view of downtown Asheville.
If you've got a tight floor plan that needs a custom solution to make it workable, give us a call. We can come up with a plan that optimizes your office and makes it fun to go to work.
It's peak season for handyman work, and I'm keeping busy...
...making a pair of custom sliding barn doors among other things.
More pics of that to follow!
Meanwhile we still have a bit of fun in the summer, and last weekend I got a chance to indulge another favorite pastime: music. Since this tune is about Asheville, I thought I'd share it here.
I wrote this one when I moved here... could it be 20 years ago already?
Which is how I've gotten to know so many of the best local handymen. Give us a call when you're ready to get your projects done. |
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