Kerf Design

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Kerf Design Kerf Design is a custom furniture and cabinet shop based in Seattle, Washington. We work one-on-one

10/20/2026

We started out making furniture for retail stores. Then the stores started closing.

Meanwhile, people began asking Nate to build cabinets for their homes. He’d already been doing that for ten years, so I guess you could call that Kerf’s “ah-ha” moment.

And here we are.

Keep. It. Simple ... Silly.Sure, we love solving complex design problems. But a simple, well-made, super-functional piec...
10/18/2026

Keep. It. Simple ... Silly.

Sure, we love solving complex design problems. But a simple, well-made, super-functional piece? That makes our orange heart flutter. 🧡

10/13/2026

This plywood came in at 0.730” instead of 0.750”. A difference of just 0.020”, or about three sheets of paper.

But across an 8' wide screen, that adds up to 5/8” and suddenly the parts don’t fit. So we cut them again, because re-cuts happen. 🧡 As we (thankfully only sometimes) say around here: “Cut it thrice, to make it nice.”

This was a fun one. A client came to us with the idea for a room-dividing screen. A little outside our usual wheelhouse,...
10/12/2026

This was a fun one. A client came to us with the idea for a room-dividing screen. A little outside our usual wheelhouse, but we absolutely love how it turned out.

10/09/2026

Last time we posted the Kerf wall we got asked why not use a French cleat?

Truthfully, you can hang something on a wall any way you like, so the only interesting question is which constraint you pick and how far you can push it before it gives out.

Plywood and plastic laminate, since day one. Everything Kerf makes is what happens inside that rule.

Well, no. We didn't invent the pegboard, but we like the version we've come up with.
10/07/2026

Well, no. We didn't invent the pegboard, but we like the version we've come up with.

10/06/2026

People ask what the wood will look like in five years, so we have a shelf in the attic where samples sit (and age) in the sun.

Maple warms up. Walnut gets noticeably more orange. It’s a naturally occurring process that can’t be stopped. Lucky for all of us, both veneers look great wherever they happen to be on the aging spectrum.

But see for yourself! Ask us for a sample kit, and just let us know you’d like to see an aged example as well. We’ll send one your way. 📬

10/06/2026

The first kitchen Nate ever built is a quarter mile up the hill from the shop. He didn’t know the people. It’s still in.

The house has changed hands since then. The new owners called us to build a cabinet for their stereo because they wanted it to match the kitchen that came with the house.

Thirty years is a pretty good warranty on a decision.

10/01/2026

We got lots of comments regarding the gap above cabinets.

Nate went and looked on top of his own cabinets for the first time in a few years and yes, there is dust up there. He runs a wood shop. There is dust on most things.

It is not wrong to care about that. It is also not wrong not to.

09/29/2026

This is why we don't offer flat packs anymore.

Shipping is priced on weight as well as volume. Same plywood, same weight, barely any saving. We shipped a lot of projects before admitting it did not work.

The tenons we invented to make it assemble without a shop are still in every cabinet we build. That part was worth the two years.

Address

3635 Thorndyke Avenue W Unit A
Seattle, WA
98119

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 6pm
Thursday 9:30am - 6pm
Friday 9:30am - 6pm

Telephone

+12069548677

Website

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