ELKINScustomfurniture

In all seriousness…2024 is now down to the wire.
Not even 24 hours after Halloween and the shop is suddenly a day…maybe two days…away from the Christmas cutoff!!!!
!!!

We’re not there yet, but we ARE getting closer!
Orders placed this week would begin production around November 15th - 18th.
So you still have time to get something in BEFORE Thanksgiving as of today!
I just wanted to get this out there so that no designers get caught off guard!
-Jeremy

Going eclectic in the shop today!

Finally found the perfect doorbell for the workshop! I’ve had so many solicitors dropping by lately! This should work!

I feel really honored when a designer really goes outside of the box and comes to me to make it a reality. Gotta admit…these were taxing on the thumbs!

I can’t say much more than THANK YOU to my clients! If not for them…there would never have been a 5th anniversary. This has been an incredible run! And I’m just getting started!
I love my customers!

The temperature is steadily rising and the shop is flying up on the Christmas cutoff this year! Now booked to September 5th!
And a side note: looking like there’s only room for 3 more banquette orders for the calendar year! I’ll see if I can’t work more in, but no promises!

Apologies to my customers if I’ve been unreachable the last 24 hours.
I lost my boy yesterday and I’ve just had to take this weekend off to deal with the emptiness.
All part of life, yes…but the part of life I hate.

Always a rewarding feeling to see the pieces go from the shop to their intended destinations!

Back in the summer of ‘22 I was approached by HGTV to be a “team member/part of the crew” for a show being filmed in Memphis the following year.
I actually had to turn them down since I was having the open heart surgery in September, but after a long conversation with a casting producer, and informing me that they wouldn’t start filming until February of the following year, it was a no brainer to have a little fun and join the show.
In March of ‘23 a veritable small army of people descended upon my house/shop! I had told my wife we’d film in the shop and that she’d have the house to herself.
WRONG!
It felt like that scene from John Candy’s “Summer Rental” where all the vacationers take over the house! There were all kinds of crew members all over the house, turning the rooms into multiple departments! The audio guy was even relegated to the laundry room to set up!
It was a rainy, cold, damp day and yet there around 25-30 people in and outside of my house!
Needless to say, as quick as they set up and got started, they blew right out of here as soon as we finished the shots.
A few weeks later I did some on site scenes with the designer/host of the show (Carmeon Hamilton). She was a very gracious individual and one eclectic designer! It was a blast to work with her. I felt bad when I saw the article that the show ended up NOT getting the green light. As I felt that she, and especially the production staff, worked hard to make it happen.
Anyway… figured that since it’s all well over now and never going to air, I would share some of the pics from here and the great shots the production photographer took of the finished project.
https://carmeonhamilton.com/blog/project-no-show

Just doin what I do! Love this job….even when the table saw doesn’t play fair!

That was a TEDIOUS nine and a half days, even worked through my birthday! But the customer loved it. I would say this one was a labor of love, blood, sweat, and aggravation!
🤪

I never get tired of seeing the pieces I make in their intended location! I keep saying it, but it’s true; “My clients make me who I am! I love my customers!”

Going through some old photos last night when I ran across this. Definitely one thing I don’t see anymore since the closing of Wilkinson Enterprises. The wooden and composite headboards. This particular style was called the “ribbon scroll”. The last time I did one was literally ten years ago and as for any other wooden or composite headboards, I’ve only recovered three in the last five years. Eventually they’ll roll back around and become the “in” style again.

Always a pleasure to get to see the headboards in their intended destinations! Love when I get these pics from my customers.

I don’t know whether to take this as a blessing or a curse! A lot of restaurants, stores, and work shops are closed this week. My shop was beyond frozen Monday and Tuesday, then I start to come down with the crud Tuesday night and I’ve been battling it ever since! As of this morning I’ve faired much better than my neighbors and others in Memphis…everyone has pipes bursting left and right. Officially: I’m over this weather.

I can bundle up like a “Viking in the dead of winter” all I want, but it won’t change the fact that odds are going to be high that production grinds to a stand still in the shop Monday & Tuesday.
So the schedule will get pushed back, but hopefully when the weather makes a spring rebound, I’ll not only catch back up…I’ll get back ahead of the calendar production dates.
Until then….everyone bundle up! Because it’s gonna get cold!

Starting the year off right! Back in the shop today…but FIRST…gotta reshare a post from Lovelace Interiors! I love my customers! And I love bringing their ideas to life!

2024!!!! Here we go!!!

That’s it folks! I just couldn’t go any further this week! When you run out of steam…you run out of steam!
Orders start back to production January 2, 2024!!!! Time for me to sit back in a comfy chair and relax!
To all my customers: Have yourselves the MERRIEST CHRISTMAS this year!!! I hope you have a great one! As well, have a joyful (AND SAFE) New Year’s Eve!!!!
See you all next year!!!!!
’m

Some days you can’t win them all. I had to break the news today to a client that there had been an oversight. Leaving me unable to get their order done by Christmas. I hate it when I fail to knock expectations out of the park. My goal has always been to make the client look good. Falling short of that goal doesn’t happen often so when it does happen…it bites. So getting the text from another client that their customer was in love with the banquette I did for them…well, that helps to make the day much better wrapping up than it did starting out! And speaking of banquettes…if you thought ‘23 was the year of the banquette, you’d be wrong! 2024 is already heavily laden with banquettes. So, if that’s any indication of how ‘24 is going to play out…it will truly be the year of the banquette.

It absolutely never fails to make my day when a designer sends me post like this one showing the piece I did for them in their client’s home! I did these custom low wall beds some time back, but getting to see them in their intended destination really helps me get through a rather trying week! In my shop I called them the purple biscotti beds. They turned out to be so much more than that after seeing their post! It validates me…and for that I can’t thank them enough! I’m not kidding when I say I love my customers. Without them I am nothing!

I will say that cornices are not in as heavy a rotation as they have been in past years, but one thing is for sure…if they’re designed right (like these were by )…they’re timeless! The lines on these help make the room complete!

Love it when we get to really make a custom fit like this particular headboard for . It’s always a great feeling when you bring a designer’s drawings to life!