The kitchen is one of the most functional spaces in any home, and two elements define how well it works and how good it looks: cabinetry and lighting. Most homeowners think about these separately — cabinets during the design phase, lighting almost as an afterthought. But when lighting and cabinets are planned together from the […]

When homeowners begin planning a kitchen renovation or bathroom remodel, the conversation about cabinetry almost always arrives at the same question: is custom cabinetry worth the additional investment over stock or semi-custom options? It is a fair question. Custom cabinetry costs more upfront, and in a renovation where budgets are already under pressure from multiple […]

I changed the name from Straw Woodwork to Straw and Company Fine Woodwork 2019. Changing the name is a way for me to be honest to the public and to the folks that work with me. Even though my name is attached to the business, the work, the service, the design, just about everything relies [...]

We moved into our new shop a March 1st2018. We hobbled along for the first few weeks, but we are now moving full steam ahead with fancy new machines, workspace, and an actual showroom to show clients our work, all fairly big changes.   The old shop was located behind my house for the last [...]

After over a year of planning we have officially begun building the new shop. I have assembled my team, the architect, the civil engineer, the plumber, the building fabricator, the list goes on and on. I have done my due diligence the best I can, the vetting is complete and now the hard part, to [...]

Breaking ground. A year and a half ago I got it into my head that our current shop, located about 50‘ from my back porch is not going to always fit us and our projects. There was also the storing completed kitchens and furniture in every room in my house (and up to the ceiling) [...]

Books for Woodworker’s, During the first three years of my journey to become a woodworker I read every issue of Fine Woodworking magazine and every book on woodworking I could find. The following is a list of books that have been important in my development as a craftsman. I am happy to share it with [...]

When I first started to learn how to make furniture I was helpless. I knew how to use power tools from working on historic homes but I was completely ignorant beyond that. I came to learn that a, “jointer” for instance, is a machine with a long steel bed usually 6” or wider. It straightens [...]

I moved from Florida to Denver in 2007; I was following a girlfriend, a dream and an expectation of being a furniture-maker’s apprentice.  I found a guy named Ethan Hutchinson who was making fabulous chairs; he just happened to be losing his apprentice and needed a new one. Well, because I go all in and I take people on their word, [...]

In 2009 I came back to Gainesville from California. I just spent three years paying my craftsman’s dues; A year of apprenticeships and two years at the College of the Redwoods Fine Furniture School. I returned to a wrecked economy and a bunch of under employed friends, with excellent framing and construction skills. It was [...]

Here starts my adventures in blogging and since the web sight is mostly about me and our work I will begin the blog off with an intro to some of the most important people in my life, the people I work with. Let me begin with Neil Lorenzini. Neil and I have worked with each [...]

Vinyl collectors and audiophile enthusiasts appreciate sound like wine aficionados appreciate wine. Refinement is a slippery road, like the chasing of a high, audiophiles listen intently for the clarity of the mids or the visceral feeling of the bass. At my friend Ryan’s house, a professional audiologist and life long audiophile I got my first [...]