Our Company

DURING the course of the year, the landscape around us changes from season to season, displaying many diverse shapes, textures, and colors. The majestic sights of winter, the new life of spring, and the vibrant colors of the summer and autumn each manifest an impressive array of scenery.

When Barlow's Wood Classics was established in 1975, we offered a small selection of high quality cabinets and served a relatively small number of clients. Over time, as our reputation for excellent work grew, so did our range of products. We developed a broader array of finishes, materials, and features and now offer endless possibilities for customized cabinet design with a portfolio of styles, textures, and colors almost as diverse as nature itself.

As you consider the cabinets on the following pages, you will see a selection of the custom designs that have already been chosen by some of our clients for their own homes. In every case there is a range of features that makes the cabinets in their kitchens, living rooms, and bathrooms unique.

The kitchen featured on this page is a FINE example. The cabinets are constructed using medium distressed, vertical grain fir to give a characteristically rural finish. The drawer fronts are cantilevered to allow for the custom base mold design, and at both ends of the counter there is a hand-turned rope twist pilaster. Each feature adds to the unique flair of the final product, which in turn enhances the beauty and comfort of the room.

AS our client, you are the heart of our business and at the heart of our designs. In this kitchen, there are several features that were designed specifically to accommodate our client's ideas. The cabinet doors design utilizes a combination of features including miter joints, custom fluting, and raised panels. Accenting the whole design, there is a glass paneled door and a display shelf which help add variety to the kitchen. The cabinet by the doorway is constructed using radius doors and crown molding, and there is a gallery rail running across the top of the cabinets. These features comprise the customized design for this kitchen, but there are also some less obvious features that are at the heart of Barlow's cabinets.

EVERY cabinet is crafted from solid stock rather than using pre-formed panels and moldings, giving us complete freedom to create custom designs and to guarantee quality workmanship by using the finest hardwoods available. On close inspection, you'll find that the cabinet drawers are built using English dovetail joints and that the cabinet doors reveals are accurately aligned. Finally, all of our cabinets are hand finished, inspected, and installed by skilled craftsmen.

From initial design to final installation, every step of the process receives close personal attention. Even after installation our service continues, to ensure your total satisfaction. By building our cabinets and our company on a foundation of quality, most of our nationwide business now comes from personal referrals.

NECESSITY is the mother of invention, and nature is one of the finest examples of that axiom. When a young tree is planted too close to a fence, instead of being hindered by the obstacle as it grows, the tree gradually grows around the fence and partially buries it in its own trunk. That phenomenon often creates a very interesting and attractive curiosity.

The cabinets and mantlepiece featured on this page are an example of our invention. The cabinets are built to house an entire entertainment center, including a large screen television, video recorder, video tape storage areas, and four speakers which are attractively concealed behind cloth-covered door panels. The mantlepiece, featuring a custom arch and twin pilasters, is designed to complement the fireplace. Both the cabinets and the mantlepiece are made from natural maple and coated with clear finish to enhance the natural beauty of the wood.

FEATURED here is the kitchen ( right ) of a country cabin which incorporates a myriad of intriguing designs. All of the appliances are integrated into the cabinets and are finished with fitted appliance panels. The raised panel cabinet doors and the drawers are inset so they fit flush with the face frame. Adding variety to the kitchen, the sections housing the range and the sink, and the sections above the range, are all cantilevered and embellished with fluted accents on the transition. Above the desk are exposed letter slots and grided glass doors. Finally, the painted knotty alder is lightly distressed and highlighted with a buff-through finish.

FOR many centuries, oak has had a great influence upon the creations of European craftsmen. Much of their fine carving and ornate designs can still be seen in historic palaces, mansions, cathedrals, houses, and churches across Europe. This says much for the favored hardwood that their skilled hands have graced.

In this living room, this tried and trusted wood has been used to create some very elegant features, all of which help to beautify the whole room. Resting nearly into the rock chimney is an engraved mantlepiece which features an elegant arboreal design. Above the television is a custom designed capital which complements the single church-style cabinet doors, so named because of the shouldered arch panels characteristic of the interiors of many European churches. Between the mantlepiece and the television cabinet is a gun display which has a lockable glass faced door.

WHATEVER your choice of wood may be, we have developed a variety of attractive finishes that will help to make your cabinets one of the main features in the rooms of any suburban home or country cabin.

NATURE'S smallest creation can often be the most profound and beautiful, like a colorful butterfly, a fragrant rose, or a spiral sea shell. We understand that when we design cabinets for your home that it is often the smaller features that make the design truly memorable. The plate rack, radius doors, and bean bin are just a few examples of the features you could choose to add to your kitchen. And you are free to choose any wood, any finish you wish.

MATCHING the finish of the radius doors pictured above, the knotty alder cabinets on the left have been given a heavy distress finish. Square pegs have been set into the rails and stiles and a custom panel arch has been added to the doors, giving an almost medieval appearance.

HAND finish is a vital part of cabinet building at Barlow's Wood Classics. All the hardwoods we use for our cabinets--including alder, cherry, hickory, knotty alder, mahogany, maple, oak, pine, teak, walnut, and whiteoak--have a different natural beauty which can be greatly enhanced by a skillfully applied finish.

By carefully combining the choice of wood, the degree of distress, and the choice of stain, tone of glaze, a multitude of different finishes can be achieved. For example, to give the knotty alder door on the right a distinctively antique look, a dark glaze is hand-applied to the medium distress surface, helping to emphasize the cracks and give the whole door an aged appearance. As with all of our cabinets, a protective clear coat is also applied.

The kitchen on the left features natural maple which has simply been finished with a clear coat, maintaining much of the original appearance of the wood. The shaker style door panel design is also relatively modest and complements the natural wood finish and features brass knobs and flat door panels with a center stile..

WHEN you consider all the unique characteristics, special features, wood choices, and varied finishes available, it becomes quite easy to see how the designs of our custom cabinets can be almost as diverse as the shapes, textures, and colors of nature. And by carefully crafting cabinets that enhance the natural aesthetics of wood, we hope to bring some of nature's intrinsic serenity into your own home.