If your family loves to do paperwork (or homework) in the dining room, this is a great solution for keeping everything tidy.

At first glance it's a cozy built-in banquette... which is already really cool... but wait, there's more!

​It opens up to reveal a hidden "secretary" desk where you can stash your papers and books.

We started by building the case in our studio. As you can see, the benches are also hollow, with flip-top lids to hide large objects. You could even hide a computer router in here, and stash the laptop behind the seat, to make a home office that's invisible when it's not in use.

The dining room we installed it in was fairly small...

...so the built-in banquette seating made efficient use of the space.

You may notice that there were a few changes to the design. For example, we added two doors to the back instead of one, and painted the bottom kick to match the baseboard. That's what sets custom furniture apart: the ability to customize it to your preferences.

With cushions and pillows, the built-in windowseat became a comfortable place to relax with a book and a mug of tea.

If you've got stuff all over the dining room table, this banquette could help you reclaim your eating area but still have a place to stash things out of site. Give us a call to get one for your home, so you can be beautifully organized.

Our latest project is perfect for when you've all been playing in the snow and you need a place to capture those wet boots and mittens.

Our customers have a goal of becoming a "no shoe" household to preserve their white carpets, but there was no place for people to sit down and take off their shoes.

As usual, we worked with them to create a 3D model. They weren't sure whether they wanted to use horizontal ship-lap or vertical V-groove panels, and this really helped them visualize it.

That's just the first draft; there were several rounds of revisions to add and remove features.

We eventually included a pair of figures in the model so we could put the hooks at the right height for kids to reach them, while making them high enough to be easy for Dad to use.

Models are always theoretical, and the customers and I made a few small tweaks while I was building the cubbies. We had hoped to build a bench with a single span from wall to wall, and I even tested several methods support it in the middle. But in the end we decided that there was still too much flex, especially since several people might be sitting on the bench together.


Speaking of the bench, the homeowners requested a hardwood seat. I used a beautiful piece of oak which I stained to coordinate with the floors.

The final piece turned out really well. One of the homeowners said that she was surprised that such a big piece of furniture would make a small room feel larger.

On the other side of the foyer is a pair of French doors which I also installed, so the whole space has that elegant feeling which traditional moldings bring to a room.

We can bring the same beautiful style to your home. Just shoot us an email with your ideas. We'll be glad to help.

No pun intended, but is this fireplace hot or what?

I've had this project on the website for awhile now, but I recently got a chance to stop by and snap a picture with the books on it.

Here's what the room looked like before we added the shelves, mantel and cabinets. It was a nice, airy room but somewhat bland.

​And as with most fireplaces, the chimney breast butted out into the room, leaving awkward niches on either side.

We filled those niches with cabinets which are perfect for hiding electronics.

We've done several projects where we've turned the awkward space next to the fireplace into useful and beautiful storage.

We can help you design a solution for the little niches next to your fireplace. Just give us a call.

One of the cool things about custom furniture is that it can be created to blend in with existing cabinetry. For example, we recently finished a project which added a lot of storage above this plain desk.

Our client was an attorney who does most of her work from her home office. She uses this large cabinet as a desk (it has a hidden keyboard drawer) but she needed a place to keep her files and reference books.

We started by creating a 3D model to show her how the new shelving would work with the old desk.

This was one of those times where the model was really helpful in making design decisions, because the existing cabinets weren't symmetrical. If you look closely, you can see that there's an extra spacer on the right side, and to compensate for this, the right-hand arch on the model is a little bit wider.

Once we finalized the design, I got started in my workshop.

I pre-assembled all of the pieces beforehand to make sure they looked good...

...then reassembled them in the office.

The final piece works well with the Colonial style of the home.

If you have a piece of existing furniture that needs a little more "oomph" to make it more useful, give us a call. We can make something that looks like it's always been there.