Have you ever had this thought: “Maybe someday we’ll all do our work from a Lazy-Boy!”

The idea of doing all my work from a reclined dentist chair sounds like paradise. Over the years I’ve made a lot of improvements to the ergonomics of my own home office, but — due to logistical and cost constraints — I still do my work sitting upright in an office chair. While I don’t have any pains resulting from this arrangement, I’ve always sensed that leaning back — or even laying down — would allow a more relaxed, free-flowing type of office environment.

And now, vindication has arrived in the form of a recent study by Scottish and Canadian researchers: (more…)

It’s always a tough call: Should you go with Free-Standing or Built-In Cabinets for that [insert needed item here: bookshelf, office, entertainment center] that you’ve been needing? Free-Standing will always win on cost, but it’s your home and Built Ins would be so nice…

For a little extra, a custom cabinetmaker can make a built-in so that it can be moved like a free-standing unit. But this presents some problems:

1. If a cabinet can be moved somewhere else and look just as good, it wasn’t a “truly great” built-in. To understand what makes for a “truly great”, you’ll want to take my free built-ins course. A one-sentence summary would be: (more…)

I was doing research on the American Foursquare style today and came across this quote in Residential Architect from the Nov-Dec, 2004  issue in an article by Meghan Drueding:

 And because it [the American Foursquare] was typically constructed around the turn of the century, when skilled labor was cheap and materials such as plaster walls and wood windows were standard, the foursquare has held up beautifully. “The more solidly a house is built, the easier it is to remodel,” says Minneapolis architect Robert Gerloff, AIA. “It stays truer and is easier to rework.”

After writing my previous post, it occurred to me what a godsend this built-in cabinets series is going to be for owners of Ranch-style homes.  There are bazillions of them out there and I’m one.  We really struggle when it comes to making this kind of house into something really special that we want to grow old in.  In the past, our options have been: (more…)

A well-informed consumer is always the best defense against “word inflation”. Word inflation occurs as salespersons continually try to get away with calling their products something that they are not.

Classic example: “Solid Wood”. It comes as a surprise to many people to find out that (more…)

Occasionally you overhear something truly memorable.

While earning my Physics degree, I overheard a conversation which I have never forgotten. I was in a computer lab in the science building. (more…)

The House Plans industry has taken off over the last decade as more and more Americans build custom homes. Increasingly, I’ve seen add-on services offered to accompany these plans. For example, get your house plans modified by a professional kitchen designer, home theater expert, etc.

Well, I think the time has come for a built-in cabinetry add-in service. (more…)

Sticker shock is very common among those confronted with the real cost of a custom cabinet project. Most folks understand that custom work won’t be priced like something available from Office Depot, et al., but they fail to anticipate the large difference in the pricing.

Custom cabinet cost, surprisingly, is driven mostly by the design and interaction time required. Think about it… (more…)

Update: Click here for some enlightening Built-Ins Videos.

In the first year or two of my custom cabinets business, it really grated on me that so many people wanted white cabinets for their built-in casework. Stained wood just seemed so much more rich and interesting to me, but time and again I was asked for white. I think I even had a mentality of white = generic, and resented that my portfolio was so tilted toward white woodwork.

But I’ve had a change of heart on this. Here’s how it happened. (more…)

Having been heavily involved on the cabinet end of construction for several years and being always interested in modeling and rendering technologies, I thought I would take a moment to give my perspective on the cabinet design software known as Twenty Twenty, 2020, or 20 20. (more…)