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Our story

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I love asking myself, "where should I start?"  It brings an influx of memories, problem solving, and general direction in marriage, work, and every day life.  I will start with marriage.  After 2 years in college delving in graphic design, I met Christina in 2003. We caught each other's eye at a new Sante Fe inspired restaurant training to be servers.  I really had no direction in life other than I loved art and design and trying to make it on my own without my parents help.  I remember her at a stoplight on the way to my (and her) new job.  My green Toyota Tercel, I was borrowing from my dad, rolled up beside her and I glanced over. I thought, "that's the cute girl from Blue Corn Cafe (restaurant)!!  I started honking my car horn in hopes she would look, but I got nothing, not even a glance back.  Turns out, she said she had her "music up" and didn't hear me honking.  I thought, she's probs not into me and I have no chance (yeah, I know, Eeyore right?).  YET, I was persistent and so glad I was.  Let's fast forward past surprise 21st birthday parties, meeting new people, and starting to hone in on real life, we got married and bought a house in 2007 and began our very first remodel.  Now, to work we go, the problem solving stage ensues.  I had started sweeping sawdust for a cabinet maker who was under a commercial contractor just before we got married. Seeing the cabinet maker's works really inspired me and created this overwhelming urge to build something, anything.  [ This reminds me of a time working in the garage with my dad when I was little and I put (2) 2 x 4s on the ground perpendicular and told my dad I was gonna build an airplane.  My idea was that I was going to fly it around the neighborhood just above the rooftops with my friends and we would use garbage bags as parachutes to drop down when we had to be home.  My builder/pilot/chauffeur idea never grew from there :) but my desire to create was awakened. ]  My dad and grandpa were builders so construction runs through my veins.  All these people, family and not, make me realize how many different places our inspiration and drive can come from.  Anywho, from the commercial construction company, I wanted more.  I began taking a class at the Vo-Tech for cabinet making.  This really got my juices flowing.  When I was in college, I loved the creative process of graphic design, but eventually decided I could not sit at a computer all day (and major props to those who do!).  Building, designing, spacial planning and just generally moving around was my happy medium. The year before Christina and I got married, I met a fellow named Joe, who was in the same line of work.  I worked with him in larger scale houses that brought a new perspective I hadn't been given in previous projects.  I began working with him and learned different ways of constructing things than I had in school.  I have always been an "outside of the box" kinda thinker and this new way of constructing was just what I needed, apart from the Vo-Tech cabinet class.  I learned that business can be fun and serious at the same time. While I was developing my woodworking passion, Christina was establishing her passion as well. In 2010, she began Home Staging and Design Consulting. For both of us, our passion and love for design was innate and just waiting to come to life. Many times in life, especially as a young person, you are encouraged to follow the straight, "safe" path. As parents now, we understand this desire to encourage your children to follow a path of least resistance. But as we both have learned, you must follow your heart, be strong in your desires and passions, and learn to live your best life even when it is the windiest of paths. 

 

Christina and I joined forces in remodel in 2012. We have learned a lot about each other and the way we work but what we realized is that we have a very tightly strung bond, not only in our marriage, but the way we bounce creative thoughts off of each other.  We will take an initial thought, plan, rendering, or picture and bounce thoughts until it becomes something dimensionally correct, functional & aesthetically pleasing.  Christina is an amazing organizer & stylist and when it comes to design, we are both equally responsible.  And from there, after 18 years in carpentry with miles of wood trim ran, heaps of furniture and cabinetry built, through the old branding to new, I am truly honored to work with my wife and business partner. As we continue, hand in hand, down this winding amazing path, we look to the future and commend the past for all that we have learned and all that is still yet to be. 

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As always, we undoubtedly look forward to meeting all of our future friends and clients and are honored to have the ones that have already come into our lives. This life is our true passion and one project at a time, we bring beauty, function, and creativity to all that is put in front of us. 

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-Jay

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