Custom Furniture

Although most of my work time is spent on larger projects like staircase remodels and custom cabinetry, my occasional opportunities to create custom furniture are some of my favorite projects. From building a tortoise habitat and a wayside shrine to refinishing a well-loved table and crafting a wine rack out of mahogany, these unique pieces are challenging and fun to create.

Tortoise Habitat

A 5-yr old’s mom approached me about creating a habitat for his tortoise (don’t call it a turtle). He had done a great deal of research on what his pet needed in his new home, and we worked together to create just the right space. The design included a house for the tortoise to burrow into, a heat lamp for basking, and a bit of room to move around. There were many factors to consider ensuring the habitat would be comfortable, healthy and safe for the tortoise. This project was probably my most unique one yet! You can read more about this project here.

Family Heirloom

While I was completing a custom cabinetry project in their home, my clients approached me about refinishing a treasured family heirloom. According to the wife, “My father-in-law made the table while he was in the navy stationed in the Philippines on a warship in the mid-1950s. It had a thick varnish on it that had yellowed over time, and it had not been well cared for. The legs were broken. Doug took the old varnish off, added a new poly finish and fixed the legs. It’s a gorgeous piece now! It sits in my husband’s office/guest bedroom where it is appreciated every day.” It is always gratifying to help bring a valued family piece back to life.

Wayside Shrine

My client and her husband had been inspired by the wayside shrines they saw as they traveled through Austria years ago. When they returned, he built one for their deck as a unique reminder of their trip and their faith. The shrine had suffered from being outside for many years, and the wife was looking to have it repaired as a memorial to her now late spouse. I tried to keep as much of the original material as I could while bringing it back to its original beauty. It was incredibly gratifying to install the refreshed piece for her. There were tears all around. You can read more about this project here.

Custom Wine Rack

One of my long-standing clients hired me to help them enhance the unique architecture in their historic Ft Benjamin Harrison home. We added crown molding, a mini-kitchen in the lower level, and a mahogany fireplace mantel – all projects I had experience with before. After discussing the main kitchen design, my clients decided they wanted a wine rack added to some cabinetry. “The point of that wine rack was to make the end of the kitchen cabinets interesting,” said my client. “Because it’s an open kitchen, I wanted something better-looking than just the flat, boring end of a cabinet. Doug co-designed the wine rack with me, basing it off our old one.” You can read more about this project here.

Refurbished Wood Cabinet

I recently completed another custom piece where I reconfigured a treasured family cabinet to make it useable today. My client’s grandfather had a wood cabinet in his shop the whole time she was growing up. From the 1950’s he used it to store small things like nuts, bolts, washers, etc. My client wanted to repurpose the cabinetry into a piece that could sit on the floor in her family room. I created a base for stability as well as a cabinet to sit between the pieces and the TV would be mounted above it. She did not want the original patina to be changed, so my job was to create additions that looked natural to the old piece. Crafting something new that blends perfectly into something old is a challenge I enjoy greatly.