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It’s a rare thing to watch firsthand as a tragic situation turns into a miraculous happy ending. I had that privilege in early 2023.

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When Dark Horse Woodworks owner Chris Dehmer joined the Cabinet Makers Association back in 2012, he had no idea just how involved he would become.

Dark Horse began by submitting projects to the CMA’s peer-judged Wood Diamond Awards competition (and won quite a few). But Dehmer soon realized that getting more engaged on a personal level was the key to getting the value out of his membership

He started going to events and joining the conversations on the CMA’s online forums. A few years in, Dehmer decided he’d like to get more involved and threw his name in the hat for a board position.

Dehmer was elected to the CMA Board of Directors in 2016, serving as vice-president at one point before being elected president of the board in 2019. He served two terms as president, leading the board during the period of upheaval that COVID-19 brought to the industry. He continued as a board member after his second term as president ended last summer, and with 2022’s board elections in June, his time on the board ended (members can serve on the board for a maximum of six consecutive years at a time; they are free to run and serve again later).

Dehmer credits the CMA with giving him a chance to do things he would never have imagined, including speaking at national industry conferences and CMA events about his experiences as a business owner, craftsman and entrepreneur.

He points to a quote from a blog post a few years to sum up his appreciation for the organization.

“My involvement with the CMA is the single best professional development opportunity I’ve ever encountered, and being on this board has changed me and my business forever,” he said then. “It’s definitely rewarding to have started out as a novice and to have reached a point where I have knowledge to share with others who are just starting out or who may be changing gears. I credit my CMA friends for helping me get to that point by sharing their expertise with me over the years, and I intend to keep paying it forward whenever I can.”

Now that his term is up, Dehmer plans to return to being an enthusiastic booster of the CMA community, something CMA Executive Director Amanda Conger welcomes.

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Chris during his service on the CMA board,” says Conger. “Over the past six years, he has become not only a trusted advisor but also a close friend. I’m glad that past presidents are still involved in the leadership of the organization, because otherwise I would miss his perspective. Chris has always been supportive of my role and empowered me to do my job in the best way possible.”

We usually share a ‘year-in-review’ sort of post here, but 2020 was obviously no ordinary year, and we didn’t get that post up in January. But it’s never too late to take stock, so at this halfway point of 2021, we’re taking a few paragraphs to look back at 2020.

When you’re hit with tough times, I think the best thing you can do is focus on what you’re grateful for; at Dark Horse, we can honestly say there were quite a few of those things. 

Back in the summer of 2020, I was honored to be elected to a second term as president of the Cabinet Makers Association’s Board of Directors. In early March 2020, I experienced a first: Presiding over the CMA’s national conference in Illinois. It was great to spend time with friends from across the country and learn from the impressive line-up of speakers that our Executive Director Amanda Conger put together.

There was some talk of COVID as we gathered in Chicago, but none of us dreamed that the country would shut down within days of returning home. Our conference turned out to be the last one I would go to in 2020 due to COVID-related cancellations. But community is the CMA’s mission, so we figured out how to work around the limitations; after all, you need your community most when things get challenging. 

Some of us hopped on weekly Zoom calls to problem-solve and share ideas about how to rethink our operations. In the fall, we took the presentations that were originally slated for the cancelled International Woodworking Fair, and put them online in a webinar series.

Carrying on

At Dark Horse, there were challenges, but in the end, we had a banner year. We worked on some great projects that we’ll be sharing on the website, and I’m thankful that we’re getting to do more and more of the work we enjoy most. Soon, we’ll be announcing a new project that I’m excited about. 

We have a lot to be grateful for, and we’re especially thankful for our clients and collaborators, not to mention the people I think of as “friends of Dark Horse” — those of you who read our posts, look at our latest projects online and generally cheer us on. 

We hope the remainder of 2021 is healthy for everyone – in every sense of the word!

Chris Dehmer

The Cabinet Makers Association’s Board of Directors has voted to give Dark Horse Woodworks’ Chris Dehmer a second term as president of the board. The CMA is the industry group for professional cabinet makers and woodworkers in the United States and Canada.

Before becoming president last July, Chris previously served as an at-large board member for two years and as vice-president for one year. 

He will serve with vice-president Ken Kumph of Premier Builders (Georgetown, MA), treasurer James Fox of Fox Woodworking (Phoenixville, PA) and secretary Gregory Paolini of Gregory Paolini Designs (Canton, NC). The Members‐at‐Large are Monika Soos of Sofo Kitchens (Maple Ridge, BC), Brian Clancy of Clancy Woodworking (Sherman, CT), and Matt Wehner of Cabinet Concepts by Design (Springfield, MO).

“It’s an honor to be trusted with another term as president,” Chris says. “We’re in the middle of an unprecedented situation for our country and our industry, and I know the Board is committed to working with Executive Director Amanda Conger to do whatever we can to support our members with ideas and resources, not to mention moral support and encouragement.” 

With industry meetings cancelled for the near future, he says it’s going to be important to make the most of the CMA’s forums and other ways to communicate at a distance. 

“Industry and CMA events offer such great opportunities to network and get to know other members, and I know I’m going to miss that. Nothing beats face-to-face time, but I hope we can come up with new ways to offer that kind of personal connection while meetings aren’t possible.”

Long ago, in a world that now seems very far away, I got on a plane and flew to Chicago to meet up with my fellow Cabinet Makers Association members for our second national conference.

“2020 Vision” was held in early March at the Q Center, a former college campus outside Chicago that has been transformed into a conference center.

My fellow board members and I arrived in time to lend a hand to the one person who made the conference possible: Our executive director Amanda Conger created this complicated event almost singlehandedly (which involves a crazy amount of work, of course). We were glad to be able to help welcome and register CMA members as they rolled in from across the country and visit with them at the opening reception.

The speaker lineup over the next two days was impressive and diverse, and like many of the other attendees I talked to, I came away with a lot of food for thought about how to improve the way I run Dark Horse Woodworks.

But I have to admit that no matter how exciting the speakers are, my favorite part of any CMA event is the chance to spend time with the close friends I’ve made and meet new people. So for me, our time registering new arrivals, hauling boxes, chatting at breakfast and lunch, riding the bus to the shop tours and mingling at our cocktail reception and dinner were the highlights.

A lot of us have small shops, and we can go through our workdays only interacting with a few people (or none at all, depending on the day). It’s so great to get these opportunities to spend time with kindred spirits in the industry a few times a year, and I’m really glad that our 2020 Vision gathering squeaked through before the country began shutting down to stop the spread of COVID-19. 

Other events, such as the International Woodworking Fair in August, have already been canceled; it’s a pretty big challenge to bring in thousands of people from across the world to a huge venue and feel good about keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

It’s disappointing to miss a chance to gather again, but in the meantime, I’m keeping up with Amanda, the other board members and other CMA friends in all of the ways we’re used to connecting between events – Zoom meetings, “Hey, how do I fix [XYZ problem]?” texts and phone calls, and posts on the CMA forums. 

The great thing about a strong community is that it hangs together even when times get tough, and time and distance stretch on. In a year that has brought quite a few challenges, I’m grateful to be part of such a supportive “village.”

~ Chris Dehmer

 

 

Dark Horse Woodworks owner Chris Dehmer was scheduled to speak at two sessions during this week’s AWFS (Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers) show in Las Vegas.

On Wednesday, July 17, Chris participated in a panel discussion titled “Taking the Leap to a Bigger Machine: What You Need to Know Before You Invest.” Chris and

 

fellow CMA member Matt Wehner joined CMA Executive Director Amanda Conger to tell their stories of taking leaps of faith and investing in machines ranging from $50,000 to $250,000.

Chris and Matt talked with Amanda about “what they’ve learned, what they wish they had known, and what they’d do differently if they had to do it again,” as the AWFS preview described it. “This session will cover it all – selection, negotiation, financing, moving, set-up, processes, compressed air, power, dust collection, tooling, the learning curve and all of the surprises that come with integrating a big machine into your shop.”

Today, Friday, July 19, Chris and fellow CMA member and former president Matt Krig will talk with Amanda Conger about “Boundary-Pushing with Your Nested-Based Router” – sharing tips for getting more out of your CNC router. 

Chris and Matt will share “how they are using their machines, ways to simplify routine processes, and tactics to make additional revenue … how to push your machine to be more effective, and ultimately more profitable.”

Being able to share Dark Horse Woodworks’ experience with others in the indu

 

stry is one of the great things that has come out of our involvement in the CMA. AWFS will be the first major industry event since Chris was elected president of the CMA Board of Directors.

Here’s the full run-down of CMA activities at this year’s AWFS – if you’re thinking about joining the CMA, this will give you a taste of the organization’s contributions to major industry events and thought leadership. (It could be you participating in a panel and sharing your experience at a national or international show one day!)

Dark Horse Woodworks’ Chris Dehmer has been elected president of the Board of Directors of the Cabinet Makers Association (CMA), the industry group for professional cabinet makers and woodworkers in the United States and Canada.

Chris previously served as an at-large board member for two years and as vice-president for one year. 

He joins newly elected vice-president James Fox, treasurer Matt Wehner and secretary Brian Clancy. Board members are Ken Kumph, outgoing president Leland Thomasset and former secretary Monika Soos. 

“When I first became involved with the CMA in 2012, Dark Horse Woodworks was still fairly new,” Chris says. “In the beginning, I appreciated the impact of winning peer-judged awards for our work via the CMA’s annual Wood Diamond Awards. We were proud to be recognized for our work, but the awards were also a great marketing tool for us. It’s powerful for potential clients to see that you’re doing work that is honored by others in the industry.”

Chris soon took his involvement to a deeper level, attending events, participating in discussions on the online forum and eventually joining the board in 2016.

All-in

Owning a small business is challenging and time-consuming, and taking on outside commitments is no small thing.

But Chris sees the CMA time commitment and his growing leadership role as wise investments. In his inaugural “President’s Message” for the CMA’s quarterly magazine, PROfiles, he explains the value of being part of the community.

“My involvement with the CMA is the single best professional development opportunity I’ve ever encountered, and being on this board has changed me and my business forever,” he wrote. “When you start a business, it’s tempting to want to go it alone and to look at the others in your line of work as competition – even if they aren’t literally vying for the same customers, you may see them as competing against you for awards or respect or reputation. That’s not the way it works with the CMA. The best part of being in this group is the ability to draw on the knowledge of other members.”

The CMA also provided Chris with an opportunity to develop another set of skills: Public speaking and what many in the business world call “thought leadership.” He has spoken at national industry conferences and CMA events about his experiences as a business owner, craftsman and entrepreneur. 

“It’s definitely rewarding to have started out as a novice and to have reached a point where I have knowledge to share with others who are just starting out or who may be changing gears,” he says. “I credit my CMA friends for helping me get to that point by sharing their hard-won expertise with me over the years, and I intend to keep paying it forward whenever I can.” 

As promised, Dark Horse is happy to (at last) bring you the final installment of our “Professional cabinetmaker wrestles his own kitchen reno to the ground” story, complete with photos.

As mentioned in earlier posts, there are distinct pros and cons to doing your own kitchen overhaul. 

The good news is that you’re likely to end up with exactly what you wanted, down to the smallest details. 

The bad news? That might take a lot longer than you’d imagine.

When you’re spending most of your time working on projects for paying clients, it can really slow your progress to the finish line of your own kitchen. Just to be clear – for me, the finish line doesn’t mean you can put things in your cabinets or cook a meal in the kitchen. For me, it means every last detail is complete, and every aspect of the kitchen reno is so pristine that you’d feel at ease about bringing in a professional photographer to photograph the “After.” 

After the bulk of the work was complete on my project, a handful of items lingered on the check list for months and kept me from declaring it finished. 

Getting by with a little help from your friends

A major woodworking trade show was held in Atlanta last August, and my friends and fellow board members from the Cabinet Makers Association came to town.

I had the CMA crew over for dinner one night before the show got under way. Given that everyone knew about my reno, it was a great opportunity for them to see the mostly finished version. I planned to tell them about one of the lingering issues on my to-do list and get their advice: The wine fridge door wouldn’t open correctly. 

It was hitting the divider to the right of it, and I hadn’t been able to figure out how to fix it. 

Former CMA president Matt Krig came over first, and we looked at the problem door and talked through it; then board member James Fox arrived and joined the conversation. Eventually, Monika Soos and her husband Radu arrived, and I pointed out the problem to them. 

“Why don’t you just reverse the door?” Radu asked.

Of course.

The very simplest and most obvious solution had never even crossed my mind – or occurred to the others as we stood around staring at the problem. 

Sometimes you can’t get out of your own way.

(Thank God they came over.)

The details

Aside from those final tasks dragging on for longer than I’d have liked, I couldn’t be happier with the way the kitchen turned out. 

It has the look and feel we were going for – a mix of modern and retro elements (you can read more about the thinking behind the design in this earlier installment). 

The color scheme was an off-white that had a green tint with red and gray accents. Designers Christy Dillard and Heidi Pearce helped with the overall color schemes (including working around the red oven).

Here’s a rundown of the main features and details in the new kitchen: 

• The cabinets are transitional, somewhere between modern and Art Deco style, painted with a color called Tapestry Beige. The material is routed MDF.
• The countertops are quartz.
• The idea of having some glass-front cabinet doors was appealing, but that limits what you can store in those cabinets if you want to keep the overall look of your kitchen aesthetically pleasing. To steer clear of that limitation, we went with ribbed glass and put a panel painted the same color as the cabinets behind the glass on the upper cabinets. 

• The decision to use unusual/retro-style appliances was an important part of the design scheme. Viking offered a double oven in factory red  – one of the two ovens has a traditional pull-down door and the other is a French-door style. The placement of the ovens in the corner of the kitchen is a bit unusual, but it’s very effective.

  

• Unfortunately, we could not find a red retro refrigerator to match. Thanks to a brilliant suggestion from the staff at appliance dealer Howard Payne and Co., we found a stainless steel model and took it to an auto body shop where it was painted to match the ovens.
• All appliances were made by Viking, with the exception of the wine fridge, which was made by Jenn-Air.
• The Blum Servo Drive touch-to-open system (a last-minute addition to the budget that was well worth it) is a favorite feature. Only two things in the kitchen require opening: the dishwasher and the wine fridge. In addition to the convenience of the touch-to-open system, the lack of hardware also makes for clean lines.
• The backsplash was created from made-to-order tiles in shades of brown, cream and pale green. 
• The pendant lights came from Etsy. 
• The flooring is porcelain tile.
• There are some other cool features scattered through the kitchen, including a roll-out pantry and a deep drawer with inserts to corral long-handled kitchen utensils.

• Where a desk used to sit in the old kitchen, you’ll now find the wine fridge (the one with the “problem” door), a cabinet to hide the microwave, toaster and coffee maker, and big, deep drawers (liquor bottles are tall, after all).
• A 27-inch iMac is mounted in the corner cabinet, which makes it easy to look up/display recipes or stream movies/TV while cooking.

The reno didn’t increase the square footage of the kitchen, but taking the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling added a lot more storage. The adjacent laundry room also got an update with a new stacking washer-dryer set and new flooring to match the kitchen. 

I also added a small, matching cabinet in the adjacent sitting room (which was converted from a sleeping porch during an earlier reno). This cabinet serves as a bar area and has extra storage. 

The bottom line

So was it worth it to bring my work home, so to speak, and slog through all of the disruptions and delays? 

Absolutely.

I spend my days giving my clients their dream kitchens, and it’s really satisfying to finally have a dream kitchen waiting at home.

~ Chris Dehmer

Postscript: Here’s a photo of the previous kitchen as a reminder of where we started. To see more “before” photos, read the first post in the series. 

Before the first month of 2019 is gone, I wanted to post a quick thank-you to everyone who helped make 2018 a great year for Dark Horse and for me. 

We continued to stay busy creating a variety of cabinetry for modern renovations and new builds. We’re fortunate to have so many talented builders and design firms in the Atlanta area, and I’m grateful that we get to collaborate on so many innovative projects.

At home, the full kitchen reno my wife and I launched in 2017 was finally wrapped up (we just had a few minor things to check off the list). We love the new kitchen, but it was not a walk in the park to get there. I shared a couple of blog posts about what it’s like to renovate your own kitchen when you do this kind of work for a living, and I’ll be sharing the final installment and full “reveal” (to use some TV renovation show lingo) soon. Meanwhile, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of the story.

Continuing a great relationship

My involvement with the Cabinet Makers Association continued in 2018 and brought more great opportunities:

• I had several opportunities to share my experience and work on my public speaking skills, thanks to being invited to participate in panel discussions and presentations at the CMA’s 20th Anniversary conference in Denver in March and at the International Woodworkers Fair (IWF) in Atlanta last summer.
• Dark Horse was one of three stops on CMA’s Atlanta shop tours ahead of IWF. After being on the visitor side of some great CMA shop tours, it was an honor to welcome 50 fellow members from all over the country to our place and get their feedback. Hopefully, some of our visitors took away some ideas that might be helpful in their shops, too. We also threw a surprise barbecue at the end of the day that was a lot of fun.
  

  CMA Shop Tour Day at Dark Horse

• I enjoyed being on the judging end of the CMA Wood Diamond Awards for the first time; it’s always inspiring to see the quality craftsmanship and beauty of the work produced by CMA member shops in the United States and Canada. (You can take a look at the winners on the CMA Wood Diamond Awards page.)
  

  A screenshot showing some of the 2018 Wood Diamond Award winners on the CMA site

• I was elected vice president after serving as a board member for several years, and I’m looking forward to collaborating more with my friends and fellow CMA leaders this year.

Wrapping up and looking ahead

As I closed out the year, I checked a really unpleasant item off of my big-picture “to do” list: having much-needed knee-replacement surgery in early December.

Recovery hasn’t been fast and seamless, but the business has been able to continue chugging along. I’m grateful to my team, and as I wrote about on the blog earlier, I was also grateful when a CMA friend offered to get on a plane, fly across the country and come run things at the shop for a few days, post-surgery. That’s friendship! (I didn’t end up taking him up on the offer, but it meant a lot to know I have that kind of back-up through my CMA friendships.) 

On a more festive note, my wife and I hosted the annual Dark Horse holiday party at our house, a tradition that was even more fun with our kitchen complete at last. For years, we had used the holiday party as both a scheduling nudge and an excuse when we talked about scheduling our reno project, and it was nice to have the few lingering to-do items in the new kitchen checked off before the party. (I’m including a few pre-party photos below; I’ll save the new kitchen photos for our final reno post.)

Finally, Dark Horse marked our 11th year in business on December 28: Here’s hoping 2019 continues to bring us many great opportunities, both in our work for clients and in our connections to others in the cabinetry/woodworking community.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Chris Dehmer

In December, I’m going forward with long overdue knee replacement surgery.

No one looks forward to surgery, recovery and physical therapy, but when you run a small business like Dark Horse, it’s especially challenging to figure out how to keep things on track when you’re out of commission, even for a short time.

It’s not like owning a store, where you already have people in place who are trained as managers and well-versed in running things –– not to mention the fact that you’re selling things that have already been made. 

When the stress is worse than the surgery … 

I have great people on the Dark Horse team, but unless you’ve run a manufacturing business and shop, it’s hard to step in and take charge of everything. In baseball, if your manager had to leave the game, you wouldn’t plug in the pitcher, shortstop, etc. to take over; they know their expertise, but without a manager’s big-picture view and experience, it would be pretty hard for them to run the game.

We have projects to keep on track, and on top of that, I found out that the installation date for one project had to be delayed, a pretty big deal when you’ve been trying to plan your absence right down to the last detail.   

All that is to say: I’ve been stressed about this surgery.

… until a guardian angel shows up.

A couple of weeks ago, I confided in a friend I’ve gotten to know through my involvement with the Cabinet Makers Association, aka the CMA, over the past few years. He has many more years of experience in the industry, and I often call on him for advice or ideas on challenges I might have on a project. 

I told him I was really concerned about how things were going to hang together while I was out, especially the first few weeks – and especially with the installation schedule change. 

After offering up other suggestions to help ease my mind, he said, “If it comes down to it, Atlanta is a short flight, and I’ll come down and oversee things while you’re out.”

I was stunned – and sure I must have misunderstood.

But when I said as much, he said he meant it.

You know, I don’t often admit to it when something strikes an emotional nerve, but my friend’s offer bowled me over. I’m sure there was a long silence on my end of the line before I could get my wits about me and thank him.

Gifts of all kinds

There are many different kinds of gifts and there are many kinds of gifted people, and my friend has the quality of both generosity and a sincerity that makes it crystal clear that when he offers you a gift, he means it.

I believe most of us find it hard to admit that we sometimes need help, and it’s even harder to actually follow through and accept that help. I’m pretty sure this kind of stoic attitude is something we all need to try to let go of, because it’s a rare human being who never needs help. 

I’m going to implement his other suggestions and see how that goes before asking him to be away from his business. No matter what happens, this Thanksgiving, I’d like to share my deep gratitude for my friend who is not only willing to take time away from his work, but also go through the hassle of getting on a plane to give me peace of mind. 

I’m thankful for his time and talents, but also for the gift of being made to feel as though his offer was one I should feel just fine about accepting.

He would never want to be named, but I decided I had to share this story even without his name attached to it. 

The Dark Horse team and I wish you a great Thanksgiving and hope that you, too, have a community like the one I’ve become part of with my CMA friends.

We had a great time hosting a Cabinet Makers Association shop tour at Dark Horse just ahead of  the International Woodworkers Fair in Atlanta in August.

Dark Horse was the final stop on a three-shop tour – the August 21 tour also included two other Atlanta-area shops, Atlanta Cabinet Shop and Custom Creative Furniture.

Give and take

We were able to show our 50 guests – fellow CMA members from all over the country – our set-up and the technology we use, and answer questions about how we operate.

And as I’d hoped, we also got some feedback and ideas about how we could improve our way of doing things. The ideas ranged from workflow suggestions to little tweaks we could make to save steps (and therefore time) – for instance, shifting the location of an assembly table.

We knew our lighting wasn’t great, but we didn’t realize how bad it was until getting several questions and comments about it; we’ve already added some additional lighting and plan to add more.

The most surprising question during the tour? “Hey, since you don’t use that [fill in the blank] much, can I buy it from you?” It’s pretty obvious what equipment we don’t use because it’s all shoved into one area that’s completely inaccessible unless you move other things around. (The answer was always, “Sorry, no.”)

Perks

Our tour stop was sponsored by Rugby Architectural Building Products (which distributes plywood, specialty panels, and hardware); Blum (hardware manufacturer); Jones Metal Molding (local company that is a distributor for Blum and other cabinet hardware); and CAMaster, the maker of Dark Horse’s CNC machine.

Thanks to Hitachi Koki USA, there was a drawing for a Hitachi power tool, and Hitachi and Blum offered demos.

And to cap off the day, we had some surprise Southern hospitality planned for our guests. Around 4:15, a truck arrived, pulling an already-smoking smoker loaded with food for a post-tour barbecue.

It was truly a feast, and I don’t think it would be bragging (or an exaggeration) to say that a good time was had by all.

Thanks to the CMA for including Dark Horse in such a great event.

~ Chris Dehmer