Ann Green knows she likes order and function. When a pipe failed under her garage sink earlier this year, the ensuing flood damaged existing cabinets and boxes on the floor used for storing items that didn’t fit in the kitchen. Once the pipe problem was resolved, Green reached out to Jeff Nonnemacker, manager of H.J. Holtz & Son’s carpentry division, to help her think through her options.
“I told Jeff what my needs were, and he seemed to understand what I wanted,” she says. “He helped me come up with a design and a budget that I could convince myself was worth spending.”
Green’s initial thought was to have the Holtz Built team craft all-new custom cabinetry. But the cost of custom work was more than a garage seemed to deserve. Instead, Nonnemacker suggested high-quality prefabricated cabinets designed for outdoor use, which can withstand moisture and temperature fluctuations.
Holtz Built custom work was limited to a specialty corner cabinet, a cabinet base, and a garden workstation. Architectural touches are found in the frame surrounding a pegboard for tools and in crown molding atop the highest cabinets – not something you’d expect to find in a garage.
With deeper cabinets on the lower level, and more cabinets overall, Green has enclosed storage for extra serving pieces and other kitchenware. She also has cabinets for patio dishes, grilling tools, and cleaning supplies. And the designated garden workstation is even more than she hoped for.
“I asked for something on wheels that I could pull into the middle of the room – something separate from the cabinets,” she says. “[The Holtz team] built a cabinet, and underneath is the table. That doubles the work space. It’s really, really cool.”
Green had hired H.J. Holtz & Son to paint her home’s interior when she first moved in, so she was willing to trust the company with another project.
“I didn’t think I needed this many cabinets, but I’ve actually used all the space,” she says. “This isn’t something that people usually have in their garages. Maybe some people would think it’s peculiar to put kitchen cabinets in a garage, but this is a way for a space that can easily get cluttered and messy to be really useful and pleasant to be in. Here, everything has a place. It might seem excessive, but it’s so nice for me.”
Just what she wanted.
