That sounds so fabulous! I wish we had craftsman like that here down in Florida.

The Amish making my cabinets have family in Florida that also are the same type of craftsmen. I think he said Sarasota area.

excellent point footballmom... daisy, did you see a sample of their work?

I did see there work in person, plus a huge portfolio of photos, and references. I definetley researched the cabinet maker (no one to complain to but myself if i dont do the homework)

What footballmom said.

Amish cabinetry can be of the finest furniture quality, or the finest quality dreck. Especially the quality of the "wood" used and the finishes. I've seen some made with exterior grade plywood with all of it's internal voids and roughness and with a slap dash of poly on top of it that showed all kinds of drips, runs, and errors. And I've seen some that rivaled heirloom constructed furniture with wonderful detailing and hand rubbed finishes that were stunning.

For the most part though, I'm not that thrilled with the Amish people themselves in some aspects. They are amongst the top puppy mill producers in the country and treat animals like cash machines and then like disposable trash.

LWO, In PA, we have more puppy mills than all but 6 other states. The legislature is finally taking notice, especially since a barn recently burned down and approx 150 dogs were lost..... Amish do not really have bets. Cash crops only(for the most part)

daisymc where are you located near amish?

I'm in MD and we have a lot of Amish/Mennonite, not like PA but still quite a few.

Like the other posters said, it depends on the individual doing the work. Here we have several families that do museum quality, benchmade work that I wouldn't hesitate buying, as a matter of fact my parent's cherry cabinets were made by the Amish in 1974 and still look wonderful. Others do horrible work, doors and drawers that won't close properly, rough finishes and just poor workmanship in general.

It sounds like you've found one of the good ones! I never really thought of contacting my local Amish to get a price. I guess I just wanted to be able to pick up the phone and call or email them when I had a change or question, and you can't do that with our local Amish/Mennonites. You have to get in the car and go to their home. Well worth it for what you are saving though!!

It's funny you guys mentioned the puppy mill thing, it's true that a lot of Amish and Mennonites breed dogs here as well, I never really thought about it that way! Not a good thing!

Good luck with your cabinetry daisymc and post pictures when you get them please!

Kat

any recommendations for amish (or any other reasonable,high quality craftsperson), to build a piece of furniture, in northern new jersey area? i have a photo of a piece that i want built (it only "comes" in a size too big for my space).

I'm from Wisconsin and I, too, have heard A LOT about the Amish and puppy mills, which, if you aren't familiar with them, are absolutely horrible. Just google "Amish and puppy mills." I hate to hold this against all Amish, but they, as a culture/group, need to take a responsive stand against this terrible practice. If they can be unified in their lifestyle and "religion," then they can unify against cruel abuse of poor, helpless little animals. I'm generally passionate about animal cruelty, but also, a friend of mine rescued a female breeder here that, after a short "life" of constant confinement producing one litter after another, was thrown in the woods to die after she got sick.

I live in lower Michigan, didnt see any puppies, just kids at the Amish place I was at.

daisymc

We live in SW Mich, currently building house with framing ,roof,etc done by Amish builder from Nottawa who always has some relative whom he reccomends, including cabinet maker.
Is this anywhere near you and do you have recommendations? Thanks.

Jean

Jean,
I am about an hour north of you in Bellevue. I am meeting with the Amish builder on Monday and will check and see if he goes that far, will forward you his # if hes ok with it. The home we just built is a log home. I am wanting painted cabinets, cant take any more wood. Hoping he can make my front door also(a dutch door).

daisymc

Thanks for the reply. I'll bet your house is fantastic. We actually live much farther to the west, about midway between St Joe and South Bend. I think we'll keep looking closer to home. We're about an hour away from the Amish communities in North central Indiana and across the state line in Mich. By the way, we have been very satisfied with our Amish builders.

Daisymc, I just moved from that area last spring - lived at Lake Wawasee for 30+ years! You're in my old stompin' grounds!! We used Amish craftsmen from Middlebury for some of our built-ins.

Arlene

Arlene, i live about ten miles from your old stomping ground. Lots of Amish craftsmen in Shipshewana area.

Sorry to jump in on the convo :) but thought i could share...

We used Ayr Cabinetry out of Nappanee, IN and were thrilled with the work they did. Very non-traditional, contemporary, eclectic kitchen (you can see it on the FKB)

Patches, how funny! We were born and grew up in Goshen.

You're right about Shipshewana . . . we almost had Riegsecker's do our kitchen and ship it to Tennessee, but then ended up with someone local instead. We were very impressed with both their design sense and quality.

The WWW is a smaller community than it sometimes seems!

Arlene

loves2cook (or anyone else who has worked with Amish builders in NW Indiana), would you be willing to share the contact info for your cabinet maker? We drive to South Bend a lot from Chicago (Go Irish!) and I've always wondered about the Amish builders along the route. In our kitchen remodel, we are considering going with IKEA, but I'd like to know how much the price difference would be using Amish cab builders. I remember your kitchen and I would like a more contemporary look, so it's good to know your cabinet builder met your expectations!! Thanks!

I live in South Bend, and I am using the same cabinetmaker and designer that loves2cook used. So far I been thrilled with the design process. Install starts tomorrow! So I will have more to say by the end of the week. My contact at Ayr is Ken Miller.

Here is the company's info -- looks like they are in the process of creating a new website:
1074 W. US 6
Nappanee, IN 46550
(574) 773-7973

They do have a showroom, so this company is not operating out of a barn!

For what I wanted, inset-painted-shaker, Ayr (custom) came in at the same exact price point as Brookhaven (the semi-custom line below Woodmode custom) as well as another Amish cabinet company in Nappanee that did not provide good customer service at all. These were the three quotes I got. I would say generally that they are going to be more expensive than IKEA or Lowe's/HD, but that may not be the case, as I only priced the features that I wanted. From what I have seen, the hand-built quality of construction does make them compare favorably to any semi-custom or custom lines.

I know the ayr company, they have really nice people working there and there work is awesome. Use to have another one in Nappanee called Yoders. Don't know if there still there or not. If you've been to Nappanee bet you have been to Borkholders. Really nice crafts.

I'm a long time lurker and I love how they did lovetocook's kitchen. Thanks for the contact info salviastreet. I have a small kitchen where a wall cabinet and the peninsula are actually built around soffits and heating ducts so I think going with Amish builders would be best for me. Would love to do Ikea but it would require too much cabinet modification. Same with big box.

The place I mentioned in Shipshewana is about an hour east of South Bend -- you'd just take the toll road and it would be easy to find.

If you visit Shipshewana in the spring-fall, you might consider visiting the flea market -- absolutely huge, and interesting. It's open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I think.

Here's a link to information about Shipshewana. Interesting town!!

http://www.shipshewana.com/

Incidentally, although I haven't any personal experience with them, I can add my .02 to the above recommendations of Ayr in Nappanee -- they've always had a great reputation.

Arlene

Here is a link that might be useful: Riegsecker Cabinets

The finest cabinets i have seen on this website (well apart from my own :) ) are amish built. Just stunning... contact jay for his cabinet maker's information.

Here is a link that might be useful: fine amish cabinets

My contact at Ayr was also Ken, same as salviastreet's. ooooh, I can't wait to see your kitchen, please share pics as it's going in :)

Ken was phenomenal!! He never said no to anything I asked. My kitchen is 100% custom and was designed down to the 1/8". I have 30" deep cabinets with full depth drawers on two sides, not one single filler or wasted inch of space. I have a pull out cutting board, a spring loaded cutting board, toekick drawers, pullout pantry, bread drawer, a trash can that pulls out on both sides of the peninsula and the list goes on - you name it, Ken and his guys made it happen.

When we had problems with our built in fridge and freezer units, Ken came through with replacing the panels with completely new ones to fit the different brand units.

When the electricians butchered my cabinets, Ken got them fixed so you would never know.

The guy is a genius and super nice to boot. Heck I would have been frustrated with me and he never was (or if he was, and actually he must have been LOL, he absolutely never once let on to me.) THANK YOU KEN!! SO that's my recommendation and I am sticking by it!

daisymc - This is an old thread, so I hope you'll see my comment. Could you share the contact information for the Amish cabinet maker? I'm just a little north of you in Charlotte, MI and am exploring cabinet options :)

Katytimmer, Kirshman & Assoc in Kalamazoo (Shops at Parkview) sell the Ayr Cabinets.