Built In Solutions:

Story of the Church Classroom Storage Unit

The Director of Children's Education Programs at a moderately large downtown church was tired of running back and forth from the Sunday School closet to the classroom, which was also used during the week by a pre-school. She wanted to have Solutions in Wood duplicate the large storage unit which was at one end of the room, only wanted an open counter in the middle of it.

Just one problem. The preschool meets there weekday mornings, so the cabinets had to be installed during a vacation time, or else just work in the afternoons.

The full unit is 25 ft. wide, 10 ft. high and 27" deep. There are five adjustable shelves in each of the four tall sections. ...And Noah's Ark is right in the center of the opening.

The Director, committee, and Pastors all marveled at the enormity and beauty of the project.

Story of the New Baby's Room Shelf

He wasn't even born yet, but expectant Mom and Dad wanted to transform the den and prepare the small room for the new family member. The approximately 12' x 12' room has dark pine paneling on the walls and white painted woodwork. "We need a changing table, room for storage of diapers and clothes, and a place to hang up the little outfits.... some shelves, some drawers, some cabinets."

Dimensions are 95" wide, 96" tall, and 24" deep with a 32" high base. There are 3 sections with arched tops, 7 adjustable shelves, 3 drawers, and 4 cabinets. All doors and drawers feature soft close hinges and drawer slides. A fuzzy little animal sits in front of the still accessible light switch.

This baby's room has it all! "The built-ins... have tons of storage and the room is really starting to look like a baby room!! We are using the center for a changing table and have a little armoire to the right that his clothes fit in perfectly! They turned out exactly how we had hoped!" said Mom in an e-mail to her friends.

Yes, It's a Boy!

Story of the Lake Front Home Office

Before: The deck stretched clear across the back of the house. The portion behind the bedroom was covered, which made the perfect place to enclose and create a home office.
A home remodeling company of Lake Lure, NC engaged Solutions in Wood to design and construct the built-in computer desk and bookcases.

Birch stained to match the other interior woodwork, adjustable shelves for books and other treasures take up an entire wall. The computer desk which accommodates His and Her work stations face the windows and spectacular view of the lake and boathouse below.

A cabinet below the computer desk houses the printer/fax. --> To quote our customers " We are extremely happy with the
work Don did. Thanks again."

Story of the Collector's Bookcase

Before: Solutions in Wood was called to create a combination computer stand, cabinet, and bookcase across the end wall of the home office to accommodate the many albums and catalogues, computer equipment and have the beloved photo of the Carolina Girl in the center. No, not a desk; he already has a beautiful walnut desk. This wall unit should go with the desk, so it must be in walnut. This "before" picture shows the computer equipment and Carolina Girl photo. The albums and catalogues were packed in boxes.

After: The final result provides organized accessible storage, matches the desk, and is beautiful! We love our happy customers!

Wow, what a difference!

Story of the Victorian Linen Press

These customers are in the process of restoring their beautiful Victorian home, doing much of the work themselves. In the upstairs hallway, there are several ugly water pipes going up in the corner. They wanted a built -in linen press there, but could not figure out how to build it, when they called Solutions in Wood.

Since the walls and ceilings tend to be uneven in old houses, Don used a story pole for precise measuring. Note the water pipes in the corner. ->

A cupboard on the left balances the pipe cover up on the right.

 
 
 
The bottom right drawer is custom fit to accommodate the hidden water pipes ->

These customers did the painting themselves. The end result is spectacular! We LOVE our happy customers!

Story of the Corner Cupboard

The corner cupboard is one of my first cabinetry projects, thirty plus years ago. It was built in the basement as a wedding gift for my wife, to add an architectural feature to an otherwise plain home, and to display some family heirlooms. It is an original design featuring custom made crown molding. The custom waist molding has been extended around the dining room as a chair rail. The cupboard and chair rail are painted to match the woodwork in the house to give the appearance that it was built in.
Pine, Painted, 38"w, 28"d, 80"h

Story of the China Cabinet

This china cabinet was designed and built in to provide display and storage in a dinning room that is too narrow for a stand alone piece of furniture. The back actually extends into the garage wall. The doors and drawer fronts match the adjoining cherry kitchen. The happy customers were us, when we lived in Massachusetts!
Cherry, 72"w, 15"d, 90"h

Story of the Kitchen Fire Restoration

The customer had a small grease fire in the kitchen. The Building Group, Inc., a local fire and water damage restoration company, called on Solutions in Wood to make new cabinets to match the ones that didn't need to be replaced.

The new cabinet doors exactly match the old doors. New on the left, old on the right.
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And a new pantry was built in place of old upper and lower cabinets, adding much needed storage. Our customers loved it!
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Story of the Home Office Solution

His and Hers Computer Station Matching Printer Stand >>>

These customers had a small 12’ x 12’ room in their home, with the door entering diagonally at one corner. They wanted "His" and "Hers" computer stations, with room for the CPU’s, files, and drawers in the base, and shelves on top. It was designed to their specifications, 144" wide x 24" deep, and built of White Oak. Next, they needed a matching printer stand. They were so pleased with the result, that they decided to have me build the rest of the room, a matching writing desk, book cases and display shelves unit, 104" wide x 83" tall. Curved corner shelves soften the entrance to the room and are perfect for displaying nick knacks. We LOVE our happy customers!

Home Office Writing Desk A closer look at the detail

Story of the Ambrosia Maple Vanity

This customer wanted a taller vanity than the one in her older master bath. The top needed replacing anyway, and a lighter wood would be nice in such a small room. Don, at Solutions in Wood, showed her some Ambrosia Maple. "Wow!, This is beautiful, but what is it?" she asked.

Ambrosia Maple has an unusual spalting pattern, formed when the Ambrosia Beetle, which attacks only recently killed/cut trees, logs, and green lumber, causes pinholes 1/100 - 1/4" in diameter. The beetle does not consume the wood, but when he excavates his "tunnel", he introduces two types of fungus. One, called Ambrosia, is consumed by the beetle for nourishment; the other is a staining fungus which causes greenish-gray or bluish-black staining around the pinholes. The Ambrosia name was passed on to include the beetle and ultimately the affected wood. These detailed designs in the wood are highly sought after, especially since the strength is not compromised.

Notice that the top two drawers and center panel on the front of the vanity are cut from the same board, extending the grain across the piece. The drawers on either side, as well as the vertical sides of the door panels, are cut and matched the same way.

<-This vanity is 34" high, 36" wide, and 21 1/2" deep. If you would like something built in wood with a spectacular grain, similar to this, Solutions in Wood would be happy to work with you to design such a piece. Call (828) 553-5055, now.

Here is another vanity built with the Abrosia Maple. -->

Story of the Bathroom Vanity

The bathroom is too narrow, so the left hand end of this vanity is only 16" deep to accommodate the limited space while maximizing storage. The top was custom made by an outside vendor according my drawing. The happy customers were us, when we lived in Massachusetts!
Cherry, 78"w, 16" to18"d, 32"h

Story of the Reception Desk and Wall Unit

These units were designed by a student at the New England School of Architectural Woodworking. I assisted with final assembly and installation at the Northampton, MA Chamber of Commerce.
Maple 78"w, 54:d, 45"h