How custom carpentry can elevate your home

Hi friends. Springtime's hit Central Oregon and it feels like we come to life again. As much as many of us love our winter sports there is still a sense of community hibernation over winter. With the sun popping out we are all remembering the projects we want to do on our homes.

Caleb's son Mason helping with some shiplap

People may or may not realise it, but carpentry (at least here in the northwest USA) is the core of construction. On any jobsite it will be the carpenters who are solving problems to make up the gaps between the other trades. This is why many carpenters work for General Contractors or Builders. So a carpentry company is often a great place to start if you have customizations you want to make, and are having a hard time getting traction or scheduling with General Contractors.

I've been thinking of ways that customized carpentry can elevate a home, and many of those examples are from my personal house. I live in a 1200 square foot home in NE Bend with my wife, two energy-filled sons, and as of recently 3 fresh hens who are in a brooding container in the living room. The house is feeling small for us but we like simple living and the location is hard to beat for us, close to many of the places we need to be on a regular basis. Just like any other house owned by a contractor, the house and property are a constant project and we've now lived here long enough I'm starting to think about remodeling things I've already remodeled.

There are several examples of things I have done that have really upgraded our lifestyle in our happy wee home:

• SHELVING/CUBBIES: Over the years I have built several banks of cubbies and shelving. The most recent one is in the kid's room. Our boys share a bedroom with bunk beds and managing the shrapnel of two young men is a never-ending challenge. Out of simple construction lumber I built a full wall span of 12 inch by 12 inch cubbies. This has given them a way to organize and store their things in a visible way. A few baskets that fit the cubbies well has made storage for smaller things and other cubbies are open for display of things like their most prized lego builds. It's highly re-organizable. I'm not going to tell you there's nothing on the floor in their room... but we've made progress.

• WINDOW/DOOR TRIM: Our house had the stereotype clamshell molding when we moved in. I've replaced it all with a modified craftsman style, and added window trim where the window jambs were previously sheetrock-wrapped. We expected it to really update the look of the house inside, but what surprised us was how much it helped the light in the home. The added surface area of white jamb around the windows and doors actually made a surprising difference to the amount of natural light. Additionally, well designed interior trim and updated doors can make a huge difference to the feel of your house.

• DECKS: This almost goes without saying but the addition of 500 square feet of exterior deck has been a huge benefit, especially for entertaining in a smaller house. With an added privacy fence, lighting, and dedicated fire pit spot, it has functionally added a whole new space to our house.

• DOOR/WINDOW ALTERATIONS: In addition to the aforementioned deck we've replaced a window with a double outswing set of doors. I specified the doors to fit in the width of the rough opening of an existing window so no structural change had to be made. Often this will require moving an electrical wire or two with the removal of the lower wall but we have a few tricks up our sleeve to make that happen fairly painlessly.

• WOOD FEATURE WALLS: A tasteful wood feature wall really warms up a space. In our case I have done several out of 1x4 tongue and groove cedar, but the possibilities are endless. Ceilings are another area this can be done with great effect, as well as TV walls or fireplace surrounds.

Obviously these examples barely scratch the surface of the possibilities, they are just a few that came to mind looking around my own house. Custom cabinetry, custom doors, wood flooring, trim upgrades, lighting valances, shade valances, porch covers, pergolas.... the list goes on. All of these are things that if done tastefully and done well can add a lot of personality and character to your home. These are often upgrades that can be done with less stress and invasion into your life's rhythm than some of the larger scale remodel type work. Obviously we'd love to hear from you if you are thinking of hiring a carpentry company, but even if you tackle something DIY we are available to consult and advise. Having some professional input on the details of a project can make all the difference to finished product!