Attention To Every Detail Pays Off

Being attentive to details and conscientious rewards you in many ways. One of the jobs we are working on right now came about because the customer recognized that in us.

An architect that we work with owns a very nice bungalow style home and he’s renovated it himself with his own personal style. He understands that the devil is in the details and when he wanted to do his stairs, he chose us.
We went with Long Leaf Pine to match the existing flooring and keep the historical integrity of his home.

Long Leaf Pine is a material that I am very familiar with: I’ve done everything that you can do with wood to it, from market it to miter it. To say I like it would be an understatement. Each piece is a little “living history”, and what you’re holding was probably an established tree when the Pilgrims were landing at Plymouth Rock. It’s a beautiful wood, ranging in color from electric yellows to deep reds and browns, very tight grained, and hard. While there a lot of “Antique Heart Pine” products out there, really only Long Leaf looks like Long Leaf. Loblolly can be nice and even some old Southern Yellow can look really good, but Long Leaf stands above the rest.

It is an expensive product, ranging from about what you’d pay for a nice African Mahogany and up, depending on clarity and sizes. That being said, it is worth every penny.

We just finished his project this week, and I have to say it turned out very well.

As we got into the project, the scope grew, and we added cladding the walls and ceilings of his loft with tongue and groove clear yellow pine, the walls of the stairwell, and even the underside of the stairs, seen from below. We also built and installed a sliding door system at the first floor. The project looks amazing, and the customer is extremely satisfied. Mission accomplished, Team!

Winder grain running correctly, around the corner, it takes more time but it’s worth the effort We had to maintain straight and level lines of the tongue and groove around the room and clad the closet doors as well with an 1/8” clearance

Our customer wanted to be able to separate off his office, so we worked with him to design this sliding door. We had the door and the wall material’s horizontal lines match up, which presented an interesting challenge.

Cabinet Brochure- Full of Ideas

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Modern Rustic Design

The sleek lines and clean understated look of modern design have always appealed to me. But, I also enjoy the rustic look of ceiling beams, wood flooring and worn antiques.

Lets take the challenge of making a modern room look warm and inviting. Modern smooth surfaces, sharp angles, geometric shapes, and crisp lines form the foundation of the look. But it needs some added warmth to look and feel appealing and homey. So how do you get that warmth without sacrificing the bold look you wanted in the first place. With texture and a touch of rustic.

Here are a few rooms that do that well. Building a very modern wall unit, for example out of a rustic knotty pecan wood for example. Notice how in monochromatic rooms, the contrast of woods texture can warm it up and create a unique look.

Shades Of Green

Here are a few suggestions on what you can do to make sure your new cabinets are as green as they come, no matter where you have them installed.
Cost vs. Value and Going Green with Cabinetry
First and foremost, many people are concerned with the budget implications of going green with cabinetry. Many may ask if going green is worth the trouble where cabinets are concerned. Going green with your kitchen, bath, or other cabinetry project isn't about finding the cheapest price. From a green remodeling perspective, greening your cabinets means eliminating common health risks associated with economy cabinetry materials.

• Avoid MDF, Interior Grade Plywood, and Particleboard—Every one of these products is a major ingredient in stock and semi-custom residential cabinetry. They also all contain urea formaldehyde based adhesives, a proven carcinogen that can off-gas into your home for years after installation. If you can, avoid cabinetry made from medium density fiberboard, interior grade plywood, and particleboard.
• Seal MDF, Interior Grade Plywood, and Particleboard—If you do purchase cabinetry made from these materials (most cabinets you can purchase contain these materials to some degree), be sure to paint over any exposed surfaces with several coats of a paint or sealer before installation.
• Choose Custom Cabinetry Made with Formaldehyde-free products—From a health perspective, the greenest cabinetry on the market is custom cabinetry. It also happens to be the most beautiful and functional cabinetry solution, since it's custom built for you, your space, and your needs.
• Use Low- or no-VOC Paints, Stains, and Sealers—Paints, sealers, stains, and other finishes used on cabinetry can off-gas a host of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into your indoor environment, including some that have been implicated in skin disorders, respiratory problems, and even cancer. By choosing low- or no-VOC paints, stains, and sealers, you'll reduce your exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals, or eliminate them all together.

Which Shade of Green is Right for You?
While thinking green when it comes to cabinetry is a smart choice for your health and the environment, it's not unusual for homeowners to feel a little overwhelmed when presented with the full scope of green remodeling options. If you're feeling unsure about how green you're willing to go with your new cabinetry installation, there's no need to worry. Going green isn't an all-or-nothing proposition, and any step you take in a green direction is a smart one whether you paint an old set of cabinets with low-VOC paints or spring for a set of custom built cabinetry for your kitchen or bath remodel.

We're having a good time

We’re never bored here at LWi. One of the things that we really enjoy is the diversity of work that we do. Since we not only build custom cabinets, furniture, and specialty woodwork but also restore and refinish antiques, the day may find one of us doing something unusual and the whole shop gets involved. Last Friday as the day was winding down, we all gathered around an antique steamer chest that was being painted and took up a brush. It was fun, and a chance for us to have a laugh after a week of activity. We get some funny requests, like turning a broken old oak table into a bookcase, or making a table out of a bookcase. Either way, you can bet that on a Friday afternoon, there will be a shopful of skilled craftsmen working on it. Cabinets are fun and easy, but it seems like when something funky has to be done, the minds come together and before you know it, problem solved. With a recent customer, we did a complete home’s worth of cabinets, refinished 7 or 8 pieces of furniture, and modified an antique to become a vanity sink cabinet. It was nice to be able to get so much work from one customer, but the thing we like best is the variety of services that we offer. If you’re considering a remodel, and you want to update your furniture as well, let us know, and we’ll help you make it happen

We Put On Green Drawers!

LWi Custom Cabinets now offers two new “Green” choices for drawer boxes. We’re already doing all we can to make sure that our cabinets are constructed in environmentally responsible materials, and our drawer boxes are no different. The first choice is European Sycamore, harvested responsibly from managed forests; this wood is strong and durable with some color variation. The second choice is finger-jointed White Birch. By utilizing scraps destined for a landfill, this is true Lean and Green at its best. Since its White Birch, the color and grade are fairly consistent, and the boxes are durable. Both products are available at the same price as Baltic Birch plywood boxes, but give the “Wow” factor of a solid wood drawer box. We’ve made the full switch to the solid boxes, and enjoy knowing that we are doing our part. We hope you’ll feel the same. Either choice you make, you can rest assured it’ll be a good choice.