Our team of designers and craftsmen at Walker Woodworking have been creating beautiful custom cabinetry and accessories in the foothills of North Carolina since 1999. While the actual designing and craftsmanship part of creating cabinets rightfully takes most of our time when starting a project, we realize that the color of the final product will also be important to you.

Perhaps more than any other criteria, the finish and color of your custom cabinets will help determine how well they mesh with the rest of the décor and items in your kitchen especially major elements such as countertops, appliances and flooring. The following are three general color schemes that many homeowners doing a kitchen remodel choose among when trying to select just the right look for their cabinets.

Neutral Paint Colors

These are time-honored and safe colors to go with as far as not offending anyone else’s style sensibilities should it ever become time to sell the home. This includes colors such as cream, tan, light gray, dark gray and beige. They will blend in with most appliance finishes and countertop surfaces. In short, they are a versatile choice that will never go out of style, which is why so many people go with neutral colors.

Tuxedo Coloring

The fact that so many people do go with neutral colors might make them a less than ideal choice if you’re trying to make your kitchen stand out from the pack. If you find neutral…well…boring, then you might want to spice things up with this stylish two-tone color option.

Unlike an actual tuxedo, this kitchen cabinet coloring choice can be more than just white and black although that certainly would be the highest contrast option you could go with. You also have some choices about where to make the color contrast. A common approach would be to make the upper cabinetry one color and then lower cabinets either a completely different color for a high-contrast look or a different shade of the same color. You can also put different colors between rows of cabinets at the same level against different walls in your kitchen. One color for wall cabinets and another for those in an island in the center is yet another idea.

Bold Colors

Using bold colors is the ultimate personal statement in your cabinetry color. You may have a particular color or mix of colors you adore but you’re not sure if others would. If you know you’re planning to stay in the home a good long time, then you may want to throw caution to the wind, and go for a color choice that makes you happy. Remember that bold does not, and probably should not, have to mean bright or gaudy. Bold colors can be done quite tastefully, so you can reduce any potential downside if you do end up selling someday while still having a cabinetry color choice you really want.

Here for Your Cabinet Design and Finish Needs

The above color options are some of the more popular ones. This is, of course, in addition to the very widespread alternative of going with a wood finish. Whatever specific look you’re going for with your kitchen cabinetry, our designers and artisans at Walker Woodworking can turn it into a reality. Read what Benjamin Moore has to say about adding a splash of color the heart of your home.

With our showroom located in Shelby, North Carolina, we’ve been designing and installing cabinets that have helped homeowners have the kitchen of their dreams for two decades. For any of your custom or semi-custom cabinet and accessory needs, please contact us, so we can show you what we can do to transform your kitchen or another room in your home with our fine woodworking.

Located 45 miles west of Charlotte, Walker Woodworking is your one-stop-shop for all of your custom and woodworking needs. Nestled in the foothills of North Carolina, we’ve been producing locally-manufactured cabinetry since 1999. We can provide beautiful, custom storage solutions for any room in your home. If you’re looking for distinctive cabinets for your kitchen, then most of what’s available off-the-shelf at retail stores will not do. Contact us and we’ll find out how we can make your kitchen stick out from the ordinary at a price you can afford.

If your cabinets are looking worn or faded, they can bring down the appearance of your entire kitchen. It’s possible that there may be problems with other parts of your kitchen as well such as worn flooring, insufficient counter space or damaged light fixtures. In this case, a kitchen remodel might be a good idea. Our team at Walker Woodworking wants you to know that if it’s just your cabinetry that’s holding back the rest of the room, then refacing them might be a better option.

How Refacing Works

In the event you’ve never had cabinets refaced before, you may want to know what’s involved. Basically, the box and frame of your existing cabinetry are kept and the cabinet doors and the fronts of any drawers are replaced. In other words, it’s just like it sounds. You’re changing the outer appearance or “face” of your cabinetry but without physically removing the existing cabinets.

Enhancing the Cabinet Box

Just because you’re keeping the box of your cabinets doesn’t mean they can’t be spruced up as well. You can opt for painting them, or when a wood finish appearance is desired, you can apply a veneer.

When you decide to handle a cabinetry refacing project yourself, you want to be careful when applying the veneer. You can use either factory-finished or unfinished veneers. While unfinished veneers can be touched up later with staining, factory-finished veneers are difficult to touch up later.

Replacing Cabinet Doors and Drawer Fronts

In the event you’re refacing standard, off-the-shelf cabinets, you should be able to find replacement doors and drawer fronts that will fit without a problem.

If you are replacing custom cabinets or you want a unique look to your new doors or drawer fronts, you may want to have custom ones manufactured that have the size, design, material or finish that you desire. At Walker Woodworking, we’ve been designing custom cabinetry since 1999 for our neighbors in North Carolina and would love to take a look at your replacement project to see if we can help create what you’re looking for.

Hardware and Measurements

Don’t forget the necessary hardware you’ll need to go with your new cabinet doors and drawer fronts. You’ll want knobs and pulls that blend with the hinges, or if you find particularly nice new hardware, you may just want to get new hinges that match them.

Ensuring correct measurements for everything is critical when refacing your cabinets. No matter how nice a cabinet door looks in a showroom, it’s not going to matter if you get it home and it doesn’t fit.

Going It Alone or Hiring a Contractor

Even if you’re fairly adept at DIY projects, you will at least need to find someplace to buy ready-made cabinets doors and drawer fronts or a place to create custom doors and fronts. Located west of Charlotte in Cleveland County, our team at Walker Woodworking has been creating custom cabinetry and other fine furnishings for residents in the North Carolina foothills for a couple of decades. If you are doing a kitchen remodel and need custom cabinetry, please contact us and we’ll see how we can help your project turn out just as you’d like at a budget that you can appreciate. Read what HGTV has to say about cabinet refacing.

Disclaimer – while cabinet refacing is an option, Walker Woodworking can only provide you with doors and drawers or all new cabinetry. We do not offer complete cabinet refacing. A contractor should be able to provide this service for you.

Located 45 miles west of Charlotte, and only an hour from Asheville, we are your one-stop-shop for all of your custom cabinet needs. We can provide beautiful, custom storage solutions for any room in your home. If you’re looking for distinctive cabinets for your kitchen, then most of what’s available off-the-shelf at retail stores will not do. Contact us and we’ll find out how we can make your kitchen stick out from the ordinary at a price you can afford.

Twin Chimney’s Farmhouse Renovation Project

If you love old homes as much as I do, you will surely love the story of the Twin Chimney Farms renovation project. Travis and I were honored that the homeowners, Jack and Carole Arey trusted us and Walker Woodworking to be a part of this 18-month long project. These final results of his circa 1817 farmhouse rehabilitation project are truly amazing!

After Photo of Kitchen

Planning and Preparation

Projects like this one can be very challenging due to the time it takes to properly plan and execute the complicated details for a renovation of this magnitude. Like most homeowners, we want to wrap up projects as quickly as we can. However, we knew this assignment would take a lot of time because the details were complex and the rules were extremely strict for a historic home rehabilitation. Travis Walker, President of Walker Woodworking,  and Brandon Fitzmorris, lead designer for Greenbrook Design, teamed up with Tony Brooks, the general contractor with Beam Edwards and Brooks as well as the interior designer, Wendi Gragg to see this project through to the end. We hope you enjoy this story and appreciate the craftsmanship involved to preserve the home. To skip the story and view the gallery click this link.  

Before photos of the kitchen.

If these walls could talk, what a deep history they would speak!

If the walls of this home could talk I believe they would tell you how grateful they have been for the care and maintenance of the family that has owned this home for many years. Let me introduce you to the current homeowner, she is the great-great-granddaughter of Joesph Suttle; Meet Mrs. Carole Arey and her family history related to this home. Here’s her story:

History of Twin Chimneys

Twin Chimney’s farm, named for the Twins Chimney’s on this side of the home. There are actually four Chimney’s total in the home.

“The Joseph Suttle house, locally known as Twin Chimneys was built around 1817 for Minor W. Smith. Smith was born in England in 1784. He immigrated to Wilmington, North Carolina and then to Shelby. Joseph Suttle and his wife bought the property in 1854. Joseph Suttle died in 1861 at the age of 34. His widow and heirs sold the property in 1883. The house saw a long series of owners both in and out of the family until purchased in 1943 by J. L. Suttle Jr., a great-grandson of Joseph Suttle, and his wife Sara McFarland Suttle. It was listed on the register of ‘Historical Places” in 1980. The house is one of the best known antebellum residences surviving in Cleveland County.  Included on this property is a cemetery which includes the graves of Minor Smith and his wife Jane, and of Joesph Suttle and also other decedents.

Today Twin Chimneys is owned by my husband and I William Jackson Arey and Carole Suttle Arey. Our Architect Jerry McGinnis, who we have worked with on previous projects, was invaluable throughout this farmhouse renovation & rehabilitation. ”

“We appreciate every single person who worked with us on this project, we couldn’t be more pleased with the end result. Everyone that had a part in this venture was extremely patient with us and we thank you! Really, there is nothing we would change if we had to do it all over again.” ~ Jack & Carole Arey

Early Photos from the Suttle Home

Building a foundation

The two-story framed house blends Federal and Greek Revival characteristics with a Victorian influence. It is very interesting to see construction methods from the early 1800’s. As seen from the pictures below, most likely this was a timber-framed construction method with mortise and tenon joints in the floor joist. During our preparation to saw the reclaimed wood floor for the cabinetry, we found hand cutnails. These cutnails had been used in the flooring to fasten the flooring to the joist. You can also see the early foundations were made using field rocks.

“The kitchen floor was our biggest challenge. We leveled and added extra supports blending today’s materials with those that were 200 years old. Matching materials was also a challenge. I had a strategy planned out to match the rock for the foundation and had made various visits to rock yards across western NC. Nothing seemed to click until the Owner took me to the edge of the pastures where we found rocks that had been cleared from fields long ago. We even found some with live moss that made it into the foundation.”~ Tony Brooks, GC Beam, Edwards, and Brooks

During tear out photos. The original foundation was reinforced during construction.

Using reclaimed heart pine

Working with reclaimed wood presents its own unique challenges. Questions arise such as, “Do we have enough material to complete the project? Will we be able to find a suitable match if we do not?” These are just a few issues we faced from a production perspective”. The Arey’s were former clients of Walker Woodworking, we have collaborated on several projects and we knew this would be a ‘labor of love” to accomplish. Nevertheless, Travis Walker, owner of Walker Woodworking, was eager to take on the project.

“We mostly work with brand new lumber that comes in clean and ready to use. The majority of my employees had never worked with old growth pine and had only heard of it. I had the pleasure of educating them on exactly what old growth was and what the term meant. Some were fascinated by it and just knowing the deep history of the home made it that much better. The easy part was the nails and bolts we had to remove. We scanned the wood with a metal detector. The hard part was the amount of pitch and resin in the wood. This was tough on the knives, blades, and sandpaper, and very hard on my machinery. The end results show what can be accomplished by a talented and dedicated team. ” ~ Travis Walker, Owner Walker Woodworking

Old flooring was used for the construction of the cabinetry, and hardwoods in the kitchen and bedroom addition.

“I had the pleasure of picking up some of the extra reclaimed pine we needed to complete the project.  Some of it was resawn beams that came out of the old Double Shoals Mill near Lawndale, NC. Some of those beams were over 20 inches wide and 20 feet long, which means that the trees had to be 200-300 years old at the time of harvest.  If the mill was built in the latter part of the 19th century, that means those trees were growing in the early 1600’s or perhaps even the late 1500’s, the same time period that the famous Lost Colony was founded in NC!  I would certainly guess that English settlers had not made it as far west into North Carolina as Cleveland County when many of these trees started growing.”  ~ Justin Webb, General Manager, Walker Woodworking

Kitchen and Bath Design Challenges

Working with a historic home created a few design challenges for our design team at Greenbrook Design (LINK). The fundamental part of the floor plan had to remain close to that of the original home. Although the home had been updated several times throughout the years, we felt that we were able to keep the design as close to the original floor plan as possible also allowing the homeowners to expand cabinetry storage and function for a full working kitchen for the 21st century.

“The opportunity to work in a historic home was a unique endeavor that gave us the opportunity to be creative in establishing a new functional space. The challenge was for us to stay true to the character of the home. A great deal of family history and emotion was embedded in the project that remained as the foundation of collaboration between the contractors, designers, and homeowner. This allowed a narrow and specific route to achieve an outstanding design and allowed my team to diversify our skills in cabinet design.”  ~ Brandon Fitzmorris, Lead Design at Greenbrook Design

Completed Kitchen Remodel (renovation photo credits: Electric Films)

Interior Design Challenges

Wendi Gragg was involved in many components of this project collaborating with our the team meeting the requirements of the historical rehabilitation. The home remains listed with the registry of Historical Homes in North Carolina.

“The original architecture of the home was a mix of Federal, Greek and Victorian styles with several renovations throughout the years. I wanted to make sure the interiors remained rooted in a serene country spirit and that it retains the provincial charm that was indicative of the time. It was great to work with a team that you trust and depend on to meet the highest level of craftsmanship.”  ~ Wendi Gragg, Interior Design

Original Fireplace, Farmhouse Sink, New addition Master Bathroom.

We have many more photos that we would love to share with you, follow this link to view the full gallery.

For more design details about this project, you will find more detailed information in this link.

For more information about the home, here are available resources:  National Registry Listing

Are you ready to start your remodel project? Give us a call today and we will get the process started. Our process incorporates the time each project takes, a full design package, attention to detail and a partnership with you to ensure every job is even better than what you expected.  Contact Us

National Register of Historic Places, Joseph Suttle House

Cabinet Basics 101: Our Building Options

When clients first come to us at Walker Woodworking they are often overwhelmed by the different cabinet options offered from different sources. We always strive to educate our clientele on all the options they have during their custom cabinetry selection process. There are many options to choose from within the categories of build method, paints/stains, drawer/door fronts, moldings, and hardware. This article will focus on detailing our two building method options and highlighting the differences between them while describing common styles that they each lend to. Regardless of which building style or look you prefer for your cabinetry all of Walker Woodworking custom cabinetry will be built to the highest level of quality. You can see more about our quality here: Product Education. Keep in mind, this article will only discuss our build methods, so let’s get to it!

Frameless

Frameless Cabinetry Example

The only overlay build method that Walker Woodworking offers is a frameless cabinet style. When this build method is chosen the stiles and rail around the cabinet openings are minimized so that none of the face frame is visible. All you see when you look at the cabinetry is the front of the doors and drawer fronts. In addition to creating a streamlined clean look, this style also maximizes the storage capacity of the cabinets, especially the drawers. This style is can be paired with either an ornate or simplistic door style, depending on if you are wanting a more transitional style or a clean lined look. Popular design styles for this build method include; Modern, Contemporary, Industrial, European, and Transitional. As you can see in the above picture, the overlay build method showcases the door and drawer style as the cabinet detail, while helping the client get maximum utility out of the cabinets.

Inset

Inset Cabinetry Example

Walker Wood also offers the alternative of an inset building method as an option for our cabinetry. The term inset describes the placement of the doors and drawer fronts since in this style of building they actually sit back into the face frames. This beautiful style has long been a staple in traditional high-end homes and is often used with a detailed door/ drawer design. When clients choose to use an outer bead on their door edges they can achieve the look of having a beaded inset look, at a fraction of the cost. We also have the ability to add the bead onto the face frames of the cabinets, but it is rarely needed since it is an upgrade in cost and the same look can be achieved with beaded doors and drawers. This building method is often selected for the following design styles: Traditional, Victorian, Arts and Crafts, and Transitional. As seen below in these images, you can see the entire face frame when using the inset build method.

Some people view the inset method as too busy visually, while others see it as having a timeless elegance and showcasing superior craftsmanship. There is no wrong or right direction to go, but we do want to make sure that all of our clients understand the differences and “pros vs. cons” of each style. You should also note that there is a small price difference to build an inset job over a frameless job. Each job is custom priced, but usually, the difference is about 8% – 10%, since inset jobs will be priced by the square foot of the face frames.

What’s your style?

Perhaps, you are still undecided about your style preference.  We suggest an in-home measurement consultation, followed by a design session and estimate. We are here to help you, and would love to speak with you to set up an appointment time. Please call us today. 704.434.0823~