C ustom woodworking – in an age dominated by factory furniture, mass-produced cabinets and particleboard bookcases – is a romantic thing indeed.
But it’s especially wonderful for Paul and Debbie Franklin of Mill Creek who started a woodworking business called Just Inside the Door Custom Woodcrafts.
“I’ve always done it as a hobby,” said Paul Franklin, an Englishman whose father was a cabinetmaker in London. “It was always a passion of mine from an early age.”
Though Franklin dreamed of going into business with his father, he was drawn into the film industry, which eventually brought him and his wife, Debbie Franklin, to Washington in 1994.
Back in 2004 Paul Franklin, who managed high-end movie camera rentals, had “finally had enough of the film business.”
Today the Franklins are building their own woodworking business with Paul working on design and woodworking and Debbie in charge of staining and finish work. They use solid wood as well as plywood, but no particleboard or medium density fiberboard.
They have clients throughout the region who have come to them looking for things they simply couldn’t buy, including pieces for curved walls at the bottom of winding staircases.
“If they do find something in a store, they tell me it is either the wrong size or color, so we make a similar piece in the size and color that they want,” Paul Franklin said. “This is something I can create. I love solving problems for people and making stuff with my hands.”
The Franklins, who also make kitchen cabinets and home office systems, recently completed built-in bookcases for Matt and Christi Mullet of Mountlake Terrace to fill in the large spaces on each side of their fireplace.
“They really give the room a cozy feeling,” Christi Mullet said of the bookshelves, adding that she loves the espresso finish. “They are absolutely beautiful.”
Franklin’s work is also whimsical at times, especially when he’s making things for his sons.
Charlie, 14, has a Mariners bed, complete with miniature baseball bats in the slats at the foot of the bed and built-in baseballs at the headboard.
Daniel, 11, is the son who’s most interested in carpentry. He’s learned to use a lathe and make handmade pens and corkscrews.
His bed features bedposts made to look like carpenter’s pencils, a tape-measure sideboard, wooden mallets at the foot of the bed and a large framer’s square headboard.
“You don’t have to have something mass produced,” Paul Franklin said, adding that he can do custom pieces often for the price of popular Pottery Barn furniture.
Though The Weed Patch in Bothell sells select pieces, their business is mostly from referrals and repeat customers.
“It always turns into two, three, four pieces,” Paul Franklin said. “If someone ordered just one piece, I’d think they weren’t happy.”
Many customers ask about the business name, which is a “tip of the hat” to Franklin’s father.
“We used to have a shed, which my father used to store all his tools, and whenever anyone wanted to borrow a tool he would reply, ‘It’s in the shed.’ We would ask, ‘Where?’ And the reply would always be, ‘Just Inside the Door.’”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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