2014 Wood Diamond Award

Main Category: Showroom
Sub Category: Design

Briefly describe your business and the type of products manufactured.
I build completely custom cabinetry and other kinds of woodwork, as well as some furniture. I love a challenge, so I love building things that people can’t get anywhere else. I like to integrate local artists work in my pieces when possible, and I build almost everything myself, from the boxes to the doors, here in my shop.

What materials/species were used in this project/item?
In this kitchen I used: rustic hickory for the cabinets and some trim, beetle killed pine (crown), pine transition in the floor, Brazilian cherry flooring, ceramic tile for the floor, pine for shelving and other trim, knotty alder in the ceiling, pine logs throughout, reclaimed aspen for spindles in the railing, pine for the ladder, maple melamine, real mule and whitetail deer horns, Blum under mount slides, KV side mount slides, Blum 3/4 extension side mount slides, Blum soft close, adjustable hinges, Titebond glue, screws, brad nails, Minwax Ipswich Pine stain, Minwax Polycrylic Finish in clear satin, clear and rain pattern glass, glass etched by a local artist, marble tile with a Rainforest pattern for around the cooking area, Wilson Art laminate, particle board, Wilson Art adhesive, NSL xenon mini puck lights, NORA puck lights, a can light, Pony transformers, Kohler stainless steel sink, Delta brushed nickel faucet, Sears Kenmore stove, Sears Kenmore refrigerator, and a GE microwave/hood.

Describe, in detail, the project/item’s construction.
I used a Grizzly table saw, Grizzly jointer, Grizzly planer, Grizzly shaper, DeWalt chop saw, Porter Cable sanders, PC routers, a dovetail jig, DeWalt drills, DeWalt circular saw, a Power Glide 4.5 inch grinder for cutting tile around the transition board, a wet tile saw, CMT saw blades, DeWalt and Insty bit drill bits, and Wood tech router bits. I also used knives for peeling the logs and reclaimed aspen, a custom made router lathe for turning the ladder rung tenons.
We can think of 3 obstacles we needed to overcome in this project.
First, my wife really wanted to use a board from a tree which her grandfather had planted when he was a boy. She wanted it to be a transition between the two floors in our showroom. I had cut the tree when it was time, and then had the Amish saw it for us. Her father gave to her. I had to cut the tile to fit around one length of the board, and then I had to cut the Brazilian cherry to fit the other side. I thought the tile was hard enough, but the cherry was the more difficult of the two. It is gorgeous, but I don’t want to do it again.
Second, the corner to the right of the refrigerator was not a normal size, so I had to build the upper cabinet as a corner cabinet with one side shorter, and the doors were joined together as one door with an angle in it. Also, instead of a lower Lazy Susan, I built a set of corner drawers, but the left side is shorter than the right. You can’t open it when the refrigerator is open, but I did it deliberately so I can show my customers both what to consider when placing appliances, and that we can build to fit their needs, exactly, even if the space is unconventional.
The final challenge was building and fitting the beetle killed pine crown moulding with bark. It was tough to line up every little angle on each level, and still have the bark meet at the mitred corners. Most of it did. There are a few little places that the bark is off, but it is beautiful and our customers have responded very well to it. It was very time consuming to install.

What is the most unusual aspect or outstanding characteristic of this entry?
I guess the most outstanding characteristic is the obvious passion Scott poured into our showroom. It makes it a joy to share with customers.
The whole showroom is a piece of artwork, according to our customers. They often remark about the way the grain flows throughout the room. Scott numbers each board, so that each door and drawer set is made from the same board. That way he can carry the pattern through the cabinet, and it is gorgeous.
The transition board may have been a pain, but all of our customers notice and rave about it. It was worth the work (make sure you tell him I was right.)
The antlers really work well with the hickory, and they set off the pine and hickory shelves that go over the door and window.
I love the look of the beetle killed pine as crown on the cabinets. I think hickory, especially, lends itself well to mixing with reclaimed wood. It is just the right touch for a rustic showroom.

List any items that were outsourced (not produced by you or your shop).
We hired a local artist to do the custom glass etching to match the room.
We also hired a local log furniture maker to build the log stools with horns, but Scott built the hickory seats for them. They are capped in pine.
Scott made the tongue and groove ceiling, the cabinetry, all trim, the boxes, dovetailed pull-outs and drawers, doors and drawer fronts, Lazy Susans, corner drawers, shelving with and without antlers, ladder and railing. We peeled the logs and installed them with a friend’s help. Scott built the crown moulding, the seats for the stools, and he put in all the flooring. He built the countertop and installed the tile. He also made the antlers into handles.

Please provide a synopsis of how your business has implemented the category and how your business has changed as a result of that process.
It took a long time to get our building built. We mostly worked out of the shop. We didn’t always have cabinets ready to show interested customers, and that was difficult. People need to see your work up close and try it out.
Now that the showroom is mostly finished (I am sure we will keep changing things,) it is great to have customers in all the time and always have our product available to them. It is also nice because we can be comfortable showing Scott’s work in the evenings and on weekends, without having to take people into our other customers’ homes. (Our customers have always been generous in offering to show their kitchens and other pieces of Scott’s work.)
It is nice to have the showroom attached to the workshop, because we naturally can take the customer from the process to the product, and offer a cup of coffee while we sit together at the breakfast bar and work on details.
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Please offer a brief explanation of how being a member of the CMA has benefited you and/or your business. 
There is a lot of networking with the CMA, through Linked In, various forums and newsletters, subscriptions to online and traditional magazines, and shows. We enjoy the access to good information, as well as the opportunity to connect with others and ask questions.
The Wood Diamond Contest has afforded us many marketing opportunities, with excellent press releases.