There are cabinets and furniture - dated and generic in style, function and materials. And then there are custom cabinets and furniture, created to serve you and your home for a lifetime.

Are you a chef or a professional take-out artist? Does your kitchen double as an office? Would you like it - or love it - if your cabinetry coordinated with other furniture in the home? Custom cabinetry and furniture adapts to you, not the other way around.

Dave West, an industry professional and owner of David Bryan Woodworks, shares his views on what might arguably be the most important furniture in your house: the cabinet.

What are the trends in cabinetry right now?
Currently I am building a lot of cabinets and custom furniture with cherry. Alder and maple are still popular, but many people are going back to the dark woods. Cherry looks and feels the best with a dark or medium stain.

What's a budget-smart tip that often gets overlooked in this field?
The more uses you can get out of something, the more cost effective the items become. If I had a small budget to get two things built, then it would be great to combine them and just have one item built. It would probably be less expensive and of course, take up less space. Well-designed cabinetry and furniture can fulfill many roles. You can combine a desk and storage, for example, or cabinets with a wine rack.

What are the differences between custom and ready-made cabinetry materials?
The materials used are different than with standard cabinetry. Everything from drawer hardware to the interior wood species is different; it's better.

What are the advantages of custom-built furniture?
Sometimes, what you can find in a store is very nice - except that it's an inch too wide or not exactly the right color. For just little bit more, you can work with a professional to have something built for your personal needs and desires.

How do you give more value to your clients?
We always offer free quotes. We show up on time and we return phone calls. You can take comfort in knowing that working within your budget requirements, you'll receive design, building, finishing and installation from experts whose primary goal is your complete satisfaction.

What separates your company from the rest?
From the start, our work has always been built around quality. We feel - and are often told - that our passion and commitment to quality is very evident in our work.
David Bryan Woodworks is a family owned and operated business based in the SCV for over 10 years; 312-1964