A cabinetmaker installing the hinges on a finished credenza. Each piece is carefully assembled by hand to ensure perfect fit and finish.

Do you have a showroom I can visit?
We do not have a showroom; we would much rather show you our main workshop, where you can see a wide variety of finished pieces, materials, and the entire construction process. Please call us at (610) 239-0142 for an appointment.

How do I place an order?
Call or e-mail us. We are in the shop from 9 to 5 weekdays, EST. Because we offer custom service on every order, there are always a number of functional considerations that we will want to discuss with you in order to settle on a final design. Once we have a design, we can figure out the final price, including taxes and delivery charges. A 50% deposit is required to schedule the job, with the balance due upon delivery. We take checks and credit cards.

How do you deliver the furniture?
We deliver our own work if you are within Pennsylvania. Charges for this vary with distance and size of the job. If you are further away, we ship using blanket wrapped delivery service. In either case, the furniture will be placed in your house where you direct, and assembled. Prices for this can vary, but a rule of thumb is that blanket wrapped service adds 6 to 12% to the price of the job.

What kind of woods do you use?
We generally use hardwoods from Pennsylvania and the Northeast - cherry, maple, red and white oak, walnut, ash and poplar. These woods are responsibly harvested from healthy forests, and because we are so close to the forest we have access to the very highest quality wood. For some pieces, we use veneers. These come from all over the world, and are chosen for their exotic figure and color.

Where do you buy your wood?
We buy solid wood through specialized hardwood lumber dealers, who buy it from the sawyers and process the boards by drying and sawing them to rough dimensions.

What about veneers? Aren't they for lower quality furniture?
Although the cheapest furniture is made from flakeboard covered with veneer (or even worse, pictures of veneer printed on vinyl), there is nothing about veneer material itself that implies lower quality. In fact, the most expensive furniture is also made using veneers - it is the scope and quality of the work, not the nature of the material, which makes the difference. The veneers that we use are from the same trees as the lumber - they are just cut out of the log differently (sliced thin, like prosciutto, whereas lumber is cut thicker, like a steak). They are carefully seamed and matched to create beautiful patterns, and then glued to a quality substrate. Because veneered panels have different (and often superior) structural qualities than solid wood panels, most of our case pieces are made with a mixture of veneered and solid elements. All of our chairs are made entirely from solid wood.

What kind of finish do you use?
After years of experimentation, we have settled on a finishing process which emulates the look of hand rubbed oil finishes, but has significant advantages. We start by applying a coat of penetrating oil (which may have stain mixed in) to give the wood a pleasing warm color and start the patination process. After that dries, we apply topcoats of catalyzed lacquer, which results in a very smooth, satin finish. Unlike oil finishes, this is completely waterproof, and never needs to be waxed or re-oiled. Like any wood finish, it can be scratched - but it is also possible to strip and refinish if that is necessary.

How long does it take to make a piece?
We measure our lead-time from the day that an order is placed to delivery. This generally runs from 8 to 16 weeks, depending upon how busy we are when the order is placed and how complicated the job is to build. Call or email us for current lead times.

How do you take your photos?
We are cabinetmakers, not photographers. We produce at least 2 new designs every week - so it would be way too expensive to have a professional do every photo. We set the pieces up in our workshop, shoot the shot with a digital camera, and edit as necessary. This does not produce magazine quality photos, but it does have the virtue of being fast and cheap. Sometimes we can get a good shot of our work in a clients' house, and you will see those photos here and there.