Marie had had a dream for her great room for over a decade – a beautiful way to store all her husband’s music paraphernalia and her books. “We moved into our house in 1993 and our long, narrow great room has always been difficult to arrange,” she said. “One wall is longer than the other and though I always liked the idea of bookshelves on both sides of the fireplace, my husband felt they would make the room feel even more narrow. We decided that custom built-ins around the window would be better and over the decades I would save pictures from magazines that had design elements that I liked. 28 years later it was finally time to do the project!
Our goals for the cabinetry and shelving were to 1) store my husband’s stereo equipment and large CD collection, 2) have a nice way to display the MANY pictures of our grandchildren and 3) store our books. We had purchased storage pieces in the room to handle the stereo equipment and CDs, and I had books stacked on the floor all over the house. We knew we needed something built just for us rather than buying another piece of furniture.
I had saved Doug’s ad in the Carmel Monthly from years ago since I knew this project would take more than an everyday carpenter. We interviewed Doug and by the end of our time, we knew we would not talk to anyone else. My husband usually likes to have three bids, but it was clear that Doug understood his work and paid attention to the details – the most important requirements for us. We felt it was more important to hire an experienced craftsman, rather than choose based on the lowest price. However, Doug was very sensitive to the costs of the materials/design we wanted and was upfront about how our choices would make things more expensive. We knew what we were getting into and trusted Doug to do a good job.
Doug developed the design of the built-ins so my husband’s speakers did not stand out and ran the wiring across the crown molding to hide them. He also added molding around the shelves that added an elegance to the piece that we did not know we wanted but the craftsman in him knew needed to happen. His attention to detail was amazing. I do not like functional things like vents, handles, hinges etc. to stand out. He built the cabinet doors with hidden hinges and stained the venting and handles to match the wood exactly. The entire piece blends perfectly with the rest of the stained woodwork throughout our home.
My husband was concerned about using certain types of wood for the cabinetry. He wanted Ash, but Doug was concerned about the intensity of the grain and how it would affect the stain. He also noted that this wood would increase the cost of the project. Doug showed us the colors on the wood he normally uses, but in the end, he went with what we wanted and worked very hard to make sure the staining was uniform.
Doug’s assistant Robin is so talented. I must admit that I was worried when I heard the word “assistant” since often a contractor will bid on a project and then you never see him/her again. Doug and Robin work extremely well together and it is clear she takes direction from him. For example, the built-in’s wall had an existing window seat and when Doug removed it, he found a large leak. We ended up having to do repair work and replace the window. The new one came unfinished, and we were very comfortable having Robin caulk and stain it rather than Doug.
Finally, Doug was always open to our suggestions and requests. For example, we wanted to light the shelving, but Doug was concerned that his standard puck lights would not give us the look we wanted. My granddaughter told me about strip lighting, and I showed it to Doug. He told me that he plans to use it all the time now since it can be easily hidden behind the molding and offers better lighting. This mutual trust made our project even better.
You don’t have to worry about being a perfectionist because Doug is one already! His attention to detail and talent as a craftsman gave us the perfect piece for our needs. We have a good friend who is also a craftsman, and he was impressed with Doug’s work from day one when we shared his website with him. I cannot recommend Doug more highly.”
I am happy Marie and her husband were pleased with the Marvelous Woodworking team’s work. Custom built-ins are just that – custom. If you have a storage problem in your home, reach out to me. Send me an email or give me a call at (317) 679-5890.
My client’s family owned a horse farm on Meridian Avenue in Indianapolis that had a storied past. Now that the property was to be sold and the barn that she had spent a lot of time in was to be torn down, she wanted to preserve a piece of her memories. She took me to the barn, and we removed the top portion of a horse stall door, cutting it out of its rusted bolts. She cleared it up and we mounted it with sliding hardware to the wall of her dining room.
