Who We Are
(and why should you listen to us, anyway)

WHO ARE WE ANYWAY, AND WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO US?

Hello, let us introduce our selves! We're Steve and Crystal, and we’ve got over 30 years combined experience owning our own cabinet shop and helping people like you.

Don't worry if you know nothing about cabinets, or know lots. You'll find helpful tips for the beginner and the pro. But, how do we know anything at all?

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

Our shop was in northwestern Wisconsin. We had employees at times (up to five), but most often it was just us in our little, country shop. With Steve's streamlining acumen, we could design, build, and install a typical high-quality, oak kitchen in less than a month.

The most we put out were 38 kitchens in one year, and we've built and installed over 400 kitchens alone, not to mention all the bathroom vanities, entertainment centers, and odds 'n ends. - Yes, I know, brag, brag, brag - ha, ha.

Besides the kitchens, we tried it all:

• Refinished furniture
• Upholstery
• Matted and framed fine art  - Crystal's sister Connie, who passed away in January 1994, was a graduate of MCAD - Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Connie was the inspiration for what ultimately became our custom cabinet shop, and now this web site.

We originally started out framing paintings and prints (we had a Wild Wings Dealership), and made small entertainment centers. But, people's needs come first, and, with all the building going on at the time, people really needed kitchen cabinets, so, our business changed and grew.

STEVE'S BEEN AT IT FROM ALMOST INFANCY!!

Steve has been handy with wood for years, starting with helping his grandmother refinish and fix furniture as a youth. Grandma Ruthie owned and operated antique shops in Stillwater, Minnesota, and throughout Wisconsin (her most famous customer was Liberace).

When Steve wasn't busy helping Grandma Ruthie, he was creating his own woodworking projects in his dad's garage.

OUR WOODWORKING JOURNEY

In 1993, our business, Woodworks & More, was born. Out of a garage, we created picture frames, entertainments centers, and kitchens. In 1994 we rented an insulated pole building, then in 1995 we purchased our own shop.

This was great while the housing market boomed. We had finally reached a great spot (so we thought) regarding the stability of our business in the spring of 2006. We started working with a Twin Cities contractor that kept us busy, even through the slumps, along with our own local work. Then, everything went wrong.

The contractor we had been building a relationship with had two strokes (he was only 44 at the time). Thank goodness he survived, but he exited the housing industry. Then the housing industry fell apart. We had always kept busy by offering high-quality cabinets and hardware, at factory cabinet prices, but there just weren't any houses going up, and few people were remodeling.

Did I say everything went wrong, well, not everything. In July of 2006, we had our second son. That wonderful blessing meant I couldn't help as much with kitchens.

A change was in the air. We sold our shop, insulated our garage at home, and now Steve again does work out of his garage!!

WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW?

Now, we are helping folks throughout the entire USA (even world) with their kitchen cabinet and hardware questions. We know the ins and outs of the industry, and have put together this website to help as many people as we can. We've learned a lot over the years, so why not share what we know?

HOW SBI HAS HELPED US WORK FROM HOME

We have a great, I mean great resource that enables us to do this.  It's called SBI (Site Build It!).  It's an all in one resource that hosts our site, provides us with promoting tools, and a lot more.  There is so much information.  If you have an interest in working from home yourself, you have got to check it out.

We tried websites before and they always failed, but SBI makes it possible to succeed (you just need to apply a little elbow grease, mostly in reading and writing great content - they even show you how to do that).

HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS SITE, AND FROM OUR EXPERIENCE

All of this experience, literally for Steve from childhood on, has led us to develop this web site where you can find great info, tips, and ideas you need for your kitchen cabinet and hardware journey. We want to you succeed, find the best for you and your kitchen, and enjoy it.

We are here to help. Whatever your needs, we hope you enjoy this site and find what you’re looking for! If you don't, Contact Us. We'll be happy to answer any of your questions to the best of our ability.

And, don't forget to sign up for our FREE Kitchen E-zine (see above, left side) with tons of tips, ideas, product reviews, and little nuggets of useful information to make your kitchen an even better place than it is.

And remember - HAVE A HAPPY KITCHEN!!!