What my Customers have to say.

Fred is an exceptionally great cabinetmaker whose creativity, depth of knowledge and attention to detail put him in a league of his own. Fred’s passion and dedication to his profession and each project he undertakes make him one of those rare professionals who instill confidence in everything they do. I have worked with Fred on more than one occasion and plan to continue working with him on future projects. He is honest, reliable and fair. Above all, Fred is a pleasure to work with as he has a naturaly ability to connect with people and understand their needs.

Mario Salvagio, Toronto

Owner of Arts & Crafts Cherry Kitchen – http://www.canadianwoodcraftsman.com/Kitchen/Arts&CraftsKitchen

Design Firm References

These designers are responsible for Kitchen designs built by myself.
We can be mutually recommended for design & build services.

Building your own boxes? Just want doors & drawer fronts?

Click here Cabinet Doors

Painted Wood with Traditional Proportions

Inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement (1890-1929)

Why buy custom made Kitchen Cabinets from a small producer?

There are a lot of good reasons to buy custom made cabinets. The best being to get whatís current in design or as most often the case with the smaller cabinet shops, whatís on the leading edge of design. Large cabinet manufacturers crank out cabinets at a rate of 3 to 10 kitchens per week by using a large production work force of semi skilled workers. As tooling up for production is expensive they like to go with designs that will sell repeatedly. They will most often wait and see what shows up on a regular basis in the design magazines & journals. Small shops with a small but very skilled workforce can easily satisfy someone looking for a unique expression in their kitchen. They thrive on individual designs as tooling up costs are not as relevant and it gives them something to offer that others donít. There are many more reasons to buy from a small producer and I speak from my own shops example.

1- My shop employs myself and one other skilled tradesman who has worked with me in excess of 20 years. The same two people are responsible for each & every kitchen that leaves my shop.

2- A small shop that mimics what the big boys do is in my opinion a disastrous business plan and one doomed to fail. In order to have an edge in a very competitive world you have to be totally flexible to the customer or designers ideas, be very creative and forthcoming with your own and perhaps most importantly communicate those ideas back and forth which means listening as much or more than speaking.

3- We work on one job at a time in my shop. This allows better direct communication with the customer (as my communications are not confused with 100 different details from 10 different kitchens). Regular emailed progress reports including pictures of works in progress are part of every Kitchen contract I embark upon.

4- In my case as with many small shops working on the edge of design we build every element of our kitchens including cabinet doors & drawer fronts. This is not the case with most of the large cabinet manufacturers. They only build the boxes and buy the doors from a specialty manufacturer that just produces doors. We can build exactly what you want in kitchen design with ease by using a small very skilled workforce. This does not necessarily compute to high costs as lower overhead costs can offset the increased cost of very skilled workers.

5- With 27 years of design build experience I have developed some very reliable designs skills around cabinets but also work well with designers and do so on a regular basis.

6- Attention to detail is an item that is very difficult to control in any large manufacturing operation where in a small shop it is not difficult at all. Little things that only an experienced design eye would catch like cutting a run of drawer fronts from one board so the grain continues from one front to the next are easily accomplished in a small shop setting. Gluing together boards to form panels in a fashion that conceals glue lines is another example of where skilled tradesmen excel. It takes little effort to match grain and colour when gluing panels up. It is the single biggest item that has kept me from using the specialty door manufacturers, as colour matching seems to have been skipped over in their how to book.

Having said the above it is important to note that not all small shops produce better work and not all large shops produce generic work. If you like individual works that stand clear of that ìoff the shelf lookî you can generally do well in the small environment of cabinetmakers. Small shop settings are never easy. There is a very slim formula for success. There is always a trade off of less money for greater satisfaction. At the end of the day you have to be proud to put your name on your brand of cabinets. I feel this is where I have got it right over my 27 years in the cabinets business. I am still here & I still love it. I will see that you love it to.

There are many good reasons to put high quality cabinets in your home.

This Real Estate listing says it best.

Custom Cabinets produced for the international market are designed, detailed and priced by correspondence. Once the job is secured by deposit I then travel by air for site dimensions previous to starting. Upon completion I ship or deliver myself your kitchen for installation. My work is warranted for 5 years and I always look after my customers.