January | 2009 | Weekndr by Matt Berger

Celebrity custom cabinetry

A few years ago I built some custom cabinetry for an old Colonial in the nearby town of Woodbury. The owners asked for something modern to contrast the centuries-old construction, and the result (pictured here) was an odd collection of shadow-box shelves that matched the curved contour of the window.

While I was never exactly happy with the outcome, the cabinetry turned out to live a life of celebrity. The house was featured in a magazine spread in a special issue of Better Homes and Garden and the cabinets made a cameo appearance in one photo that focused on a gorgeous custom bathroom right next to my wall unit.

Erroneously, the editors credited me as the maker of the entire bathroom, and after it was published I received several calls from designers and homeowners asking if I could do their bathrooms too. Each call ended abruptly when I would explain which cabinets I was responsible for. Over the years, the article was reprinted several times always carrying my incorrect credit, and each time resulting in a string of phone calls from eager designers.

Today I read that my cabinets are entering a new chapter of pseudo celebrity. A story in the local paper this week revealed that rocker and horror movie director Rob Zombie has purchased the house. Maybe they’ll end up next in an episode of MTV Cribs?

– Mr. Weekndr

Remember this? It’s back from the printer and on the truck to your local big box retailer.

I saw my mug at the grocery store on the cover of Start Woodworking, a special newsstand-only magazine I helped produce that comes with an 80-minute DVD workshop featuring yours truly. It’s pretty exciting to know that 175,000 copies of me have reached bookstores, home centers, and markets around the country.

However, I wasn’t so excited to learn that my publisher will be happy if they sell 35 percent of that. Apparently, that’s better than the industry standard. Even more saddening is the fact that the 110,000 copies that don’t get sold are headed for the scrap yard. That’s right folks, it’s an industry fact that 70 percent of all newsstand magazines end up in the trash. If a copy isn’t sold, the retailer rips the cover off and sends it back for a refund.

So support me and preserve your landfills. Go out an buy a copy of Start Woodworking.