A Visit from Woodshop News
By / March 16, 2016 February 25, 2023
Around the holidays last year we shared with you the inspirational story of how our company began when my mother, Helen Hurst purchased a Sears Table Saw for my father Elvin back in 1958. We love that story – and around the time we shared it with you we also sent it out to a few magazines. We were thrilled when Woodshop News magazine reporter Jennifer Hicks called us to let us know they read the story and she was interested in coming for an interview and a shop tour.
Woodshop News
Woodshop News has been in print for 30 years. The publication is a favorite among woodshop owners and woodworkers with small to mid-sized woodshops, and has a readership of 70,000. They cover news, business trends, advice and new products for professional woodworkers. Their typical reader builds cabinetry, furniture, architectural millwork and remodeling projects. Our own staff are Woodshop News readers, so we were thrilled to have them stop by for a tour of our facility last week and meet my parents, Elvin Jr and myself.
Jennifer spent a good deal of time with my parents, hearing stories from the early days of Kountry Kraft, and learning how we grew from a staff of 2 to nearly 100 in the past 50+ years. It certainly wasn’t easy for my father to quit his job with a 14 month old and a 3 week old baby at home to launch our company. The path from a 28’ x 58’ shop to our current 90,000 square foot shop wasn’t always smooth, but our commitment to the Germanic principles of practical hard work and our strong sales philosophy of giving people what they want so they will come back for more still guide every decision we make today. Our path is a great example for other shops who start small with big dreams for the future.
I don’t want to scoop Jennifer and our friends at Woodshop News, but watch for a story in the May or June issue this year. Visit woodshopnews.com for some great content for woodworkers, and consider a subscription to encourage the woodworker in your life – you never know what might become of it 🙂
Metal Fusion – Kountry Kraft – Newmanstown, Pa
By / March 9, 2016 March 15, 2023
Metal Fusion by Kountry Kraft is an exciting new finishing process created to take a wood component from ordinary to extraordinary! Metal Fusion combines real pulverized metal particles with a special resin to create a metal finish. Together they form a coating that replicates the look of metal when applied to traditional wood products. Lighter in weight and lower in price than metal, this finishing process offers affordable options for dramatic accents and focal points throughout the home.
Metal Fusion is available in eight metals and three finishes to suit a wide variety of design styles and color combinations. Metal styles include:
- Brass
- Bronze
- Copper
- White gold
- Oil rubbed bronze
- Iron
- Nickel silver
- Stainless steel
Finishes include:
- Satin Patina
- Polished
- Polished Patina
Metal Fusion can be used with range hoods, moldings, corbels, appliqués, legs, posts, bun fee, picture frames, and more. Design applications are only limited by your imagination. Our metal finishes add a polished sophisticated look to any room, and ties in well with metal accents such as range hoods in kitchen design.
Metal Fusion will react to the environment, just as solid metal does, and will naturally patina overtime, thus enhancing the beauty of the piece. On products such as corbels, posts and decorative on-lays, a patina must be applied to give the appearance of tarnishing and enhance the recessed areas that cannot be polished. Metal Fusion is not available on Styrofoam or silicone. Cleaning cabinets with a metal finish is simple – simply wipe the surface with a damp cloth, and polish with a metal polish when necessary.
Our network of experienced dealers can help you decide where to incorporate cabinetry with a metal finish into your custom cabinetry design. Metal Fusion is yet another way Kountry Kraft stays ahead of the trends, offering unique and high-end design solutions to enhance the beauty of your home.
Distressed Cabinetry
By / February 10, 2016 February 9, 2016
Building cabinetry, in and of itself, requires a great deal of skill. Learning to make quality cabinetry requires years training and experience, guided by master craftsman. It truly is an art – which is why woodworkers are called artisans. At Kountry Kraft our master craftsman have more than 1500 combined years of experience. 1500 years of experience – that is a staggering number! It is this basis of skill that our quality is built upon, and it is why we are capable of building truly high quality cabinetry customized for our customers needs.
One of our most technically advanced products is distressed cabinetry. Hours of skilled labor go into the distressing process in order to create a sophisticated distressed finish that looks realistic. Distressing wood gives it an aged appearance, making it look worn and weathered. The process for creating distressed cabinetry actually involves first finishing the wood to achieve one finished effect, and then intentionally “unfinishing” it in places by damaging the finish. Craftsmen use sandpaper and strippers in some sections of the finished piece to give it that distressed feeling. There is a very specific technique required in choosing how to distress the wood to achieve the proper effect. Without the skill to know how much area to distress, what product to use, and how much pressure to apply, distressing can go very wrong, ruining the finished product.
Distressed finishes are the hallmark of rustic and vintage designs, and distressed cabinetry is in high demand with our kitchen designers. The skilled artisans at Kountry Kraft have perfected hundreds of distressing options utilizing a combination of our finishes, paints and glazes, and our network of skilled designers can help guide you to the distressed finish that is suits your personal style and needs. Contact a skilled Kountry Kraft designer today, and explore our many projects on Houzz for examples of our finishing options.
Custom Cabinets for Small Spaces
By / February 3, 2016 March 20, 2023Many people believe that custom cabinetry is only useful in large spaces where there is plenty of room to expand. Or they mistakenly believe they must have a big area to do a renovation that involves custom cabinetry. But the truth is, custom cabinetry is ideal for small spaces where you need to use every inch of space effectively to create a functional room. Custom Cabinets for Small Spaces, with accessories designed to maximize your space, can truly make a difference in a home.
At Kountry Kraft we have the ability to truly customize cabinetry to the homeowners exact needs. Working with one of our talented designers, you can analyze your lifestyle, map your space, and build custom cabinets that fit exactly within the space you have available. If you have a small space with high ceilings, you can add floor to ceiling cabinetry to maximize your space. If you have an odd corner where stock cabinetry cannot fit, our skilled designers can make that a usable space. If countertop space is a challenge, we can build an appliance garage that takes small appliances off the counter and tucks them away neatly for future use. Custom cabinetry for small spaces can make the most out of the existing space in your room.
We also offer a wide variety of accessories that can maximize your space. Our base pull-out storage cabinets, wooden spice racks, pantries with food file racks, double level cutlery drawers and pull out cutting boards are just a few items that can provide maximum impact within a minimal space. The images above demonstrate a few of ideas for custom cabinetry for small spaces. Many other options are available – and special accessories can be built especially to suit your needs.
If you have a small space, it is worthwhile to speak to a skilled kitchen designer for an estimate on adding custom cabinetry for small spaces to your home. Why choose stock cabinetry when it won’t effectively use the space you have available? Visit our dealer locator to find a Kountry Kraft dealer near you, and check out some of our Houzz projects for design inspirations.
Custom Kitchen Designer – Stonington Cabinetry & Designs
By / January 27, 2016 March 18, 2023At Kountry Kraft we are proud to associate with an amazing custom kitchen designer network who are responsible for creating amazing designs with our cabinetry. We are happy to feature one of those designers today – Stonington Cabinetry & Designs in Madison, NJ. Like Kountry Kraft, Stonington has a strong family heritage, and was by four members of the family; parents Karen and Robert and sons, Justin and Tyler Sachs. Firstly, the company creates revolutionary home renovations and beautiful custom cabinetry work in homes throughout the northern New Jersey area. Above all, they are craftsmen who stand by their commitment to building quality one-of-a-kind constructions that are an accurate expression of their customer – a philosophy which is very similar to our own. They have been in business for more than 30 years.
Stonington Cabinetry
Over the years, Stonington has created some beautiful projects with our cabinetry, and we are pleased to highlight this beautiful kitchen and butler’s pantry designed by Justin Sachs for a home in Madison, NJ. For example, this traditional style kitchen features cabinets with a White Dove painted finish. The kitchen island cabinets have a contrasting English Walnut stain. The Door Panel Style is TW10. The butler’s pantry adds additional storage for small appliances and food preparation space. We just love the clean look, open space, and warm feel of this design.
Overall, Stonington can create custom designs for all areas of your home, and has many satisfied customers. You can view more of their projects and read reviews on their Houzz page, or visit their website for more information. They are a member of the NKBA, have earned many Houzz badges for customer service and design, and are remarkable partners.
Finally, Kountry Kraft is proud to have a great custom kitchen designer network including the team at Stonington, and we welcome you to search our dealer locator to find one near you for your next project.
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10 Point Quality Cabinetry Inspection – Kountry Kraft
By / December 31, 2015 March 20, 2023
Before any Kountry Kraft order ships to our customers it goes through a rigorous quality cabinetry inspection to ensure that it is produced according to specs and meets our strict quality guidelines. It is just one of the services we provide that many of our competitors do not offer, and it helps Kountry Kraft products stand out above the rest. Here is a detailed explanation of our inspection process over the lifetime of an order:
- All orders are inspected prior to processing and entering into manufacturing software.
- All orders are reviewed after order entry to confirm part sizes, door sizes, and floor plan dimensions.
- After all parts are cut and machined they are inspected to confirm that they are correct prior to assembly.
- After assembly all cabinets and parts are inspected to confirm they are assembled and have the correct specifications required for installation of internal parts.
- Prior to cabinets being loaded into our finishing line they are inspected to ensure they are properly sanded and all areas requiring finishing are correctly identified.
- After the initial finish is applied (stain or primer) we inspect the finish to ensure the color is correct or that the proper mills of primer have been applied.
- All product is again inspected prior to application of final top coat. In the case of glaze finishes our most experienced finishing personnel shades and/or modifies each piece to match the customer approved sample.
- After the cabinetry has all components installed (doors, drawers, pullout units, etc.), it is again inspected.
- Cabinets are then are staged in the warehouse according to the floor plans provided and are inspected to assure:
- Color consistency and matching to the color control door.
- All exposed sides are finished correctly.
- All doors and drawers work properly, and will not conflict with adjacent cabinets.
- Dimensions of the manufactured cabinetry is consistent with the floor plan
- All moldings and parts match the cabinetry.
- Before any cabinet is loaded onto the delivery truck the cabinets are accounted for and again reviewed for any quality issues.
This rigorous quality cabinetry inspection isn’t a requirement. It takes a great deal of time, but in our opinion it is time well spent. We take our track record of shipping orders 99% on time and correctly the first time very seriously, and we aim to reduce the ultimate cost of cabinetry installation for our clients by making sure our orders are error free. We feel so strongly about the quality of our cabinetry that we offer a lifetime warranty. Our 10 point quality cabinetry inspection is just one of the many ways we ensure that the cabinetry we produce lives up to the Kountry Kraft name.
Luxury Kitchen Designs
By / December 23, 2015 March 11, 2023
At Kountry Kraft we are known for high quality custom cabinetry made to spec and delivered with very few errors on-time 99% of the time. Our skilled team of craftsmen are proud of every order we produce, but occasionally we have the opportunity to produce some truly customized luxury kitchen designs that we are especially proud of. One of those is this Horizontal Grain Walnut kitchen we created for one of our top dealers, the talented Tom Kelly, at TRK Kitchen and Interior Design, with locations in Florida, Massachusetts and Maine.
Tom has been one of our valued dealers for more than 25 years, and over that time we have built some really beautiful luxury kitchen designs for him. This kitchen was created for professional architects who have a keen eye for design. The focal point of the room is the beautiful Horizontal Grain Walnut cabinetry, which is grain matched for a stunning visual effect. The horizontal grain in the cabinetry, the pulls and the tile continue the horizontal pattern, and the glass pendants play off the tile. Sub Zero, Wolf, and Miele appliances 
finish the design, adding cutting-edge functionality to the beautiful high end design of this kitchen space.
Our Skills
Many designers and dealers may not realize that Kountry Kraft has the ability to work with new and unusual materials, and we can build cabinetry that features intricate and complicated designs. We have built many truly superior custom projects over the years and are proud luxury kitchen designs we have created because they truly illustrate the broad depth of our capabilities.
Kountry Kraft values our partnership with our incredibly talented network of dealers like Tom Kelly. We enjoy the challenge of fulfilling their most custom luxury kitchen designs, and we encourage them to take advantage of our advanced capabilities. Search our dealer locator to find custom kitchen designers near you to begin creating a truly beautiful cabinetry project to enhance the beauty and function of your home.
photography by Tom Kelly
Custom Stain Matching
By / December 16, 2015 March 20, 2023
When creating a custom cabinetry plan, people often overlook the impact custom stain matching can have on the finish of their cabinets. They take great care selecting the wood and door style that most appeals to the décor of their home, but often neglect to consider how cabinet finishes such as paint, stain and glaze will enhance the overall look of their cabinetry.
Often, when adding custom cabinets to a room, there is a need to custom stain match the new cabinetry with existing cabinetry within the adjacent space. Many people don’t realize that Kountry Kraft offers custom stain matching to your existing cabinetry as an option. It’s important to us that you love your Kountry Kraft cabinetry – and to ensure your satisfaction we are willing to take the time needed to custom match the stain on your cabinet order. The better your cabinetry fits into the décor of your home, the more satisfied you will be. And a satisfied customer is a happy customer, which is important to our company. This is just one of the many services that Kountry Kraft offers that many of our competitors do not.
The process for custom stain matching on cabinetry is relatively simple for us given the skill level of all of the craftsmen here at Kountry Kraft. We will create our own mix of stain that most closely matches your existing cabinetry using our wide selection of stain colors and glazes, and can create a nearly perfect match to your existing cabinetry. Our knowledgeable designers can also suggest other solutions that will complement your existing cabinetry– such as painted wood cabinets in a coordinating color, or antiqued finishes that add depth to the room.
With Kountry Kraft, your options are only limited by your imagination. We offer custom cabinetry solutions for every room in your home, and custom stain matching is a unique service that our highly skilled kitchen design experts can offer that is not found in some other cabinet lines. At Kountry Kraft we work with you to truly bring out the design potential in your home. Check out our gallery for cabinetry design inspirations, and get started on your custom cabinet project today.
Remember When – The Evolution of Kountry Kraft
By / December 10, 2015 November 22, 2016A living legacy woven from one family’s deep commitment to remarkable craftsmanship
Early on as Elvin and Helen were establishing Kountry Kraft, they developed four guiding principles for success:
- Craft the highest quality custom product
- Kountry Kraft workshop circa 1961
- Deliver it on schedule
- Price it fairly
- Be honest, genuine and friendly
By staying true to these values in all of their dealings, Kountry Kraft soon became widely known for top level craftsmanship and impeccable service. The company soared, rapidly expanding from the small workshop in the Hurst family garage to a new 96,000 square foot facility built on the family 
farm, where the company still resides today. Elvin and Helen spent their lives running their business while raising their four children and managing an
80 acre farm.
As the company flourished over the years, two of Elvin and Helen’s four children, Elvin Hurst Jr. and Dolores Hurst-Funk worked alongside their parents to learn the business before purchasing the company from them in 2003. This experience gave them a strong desire to guide our company into the future. Elvin Jr. and Dee continue to operate the company today with a staff of over 100 skilled craftsmen who have over 1500 years of combined experience.
Today, Kountry Kraft’s technologies and systems are kept current to ensure efficiency and accuracy in order processing, design and accounting. To maintain a focus on detail and craftsmanship, the factory is tooled with the newest and most accurate industry equipment such as computerized panel saws, dovetailing machines, pneumatic assembly systems, and the latest in high-quality finishing equipment.
For over 55 years Kountry Kraft has experienced steady growth due in large part to our commitment to quality. We are proud of our company heritage – starting with our first Craftsman saw – which still stands in the lobby of the company today as a testament to the value of hard work and craftsmanship that withstands the test of time.
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Remember When: The Humble Beginnings of Kountry Kraft
By / December 2, 2015 February 22, 2023
It All
Started With A Saw
In our last blog post, we discussed the challenges Elvin and Helen Hurst had to overcome to launch their own cabinetry business in 1959. But the humble beginnings of Kountry Kraft are a great holiday story reminiscent of The Gift of the Magi –a tale of how a thoughtful gift can make a huge difference in many lives and become the impetus for something big.
Once we started telling our story it gained momentum, and when the folks at the Sears Craftsman Club heard about it, they clearly agreed. We are thrilled to say they liked it so much it is featured in this month’s Craftsman Club blog. Click here to read more about how Helen Hurst’s thoughtful Christmas gift opened up a path success for the Hurst family and the hundreds of skilled craftsmen who work here at Kountry Kraft – and created a pioneering business in the custom cabinetry industry.
The Future of Custom Cabinetry
The Hurst Family has a lasting commitment to hard work and fair business, and in next week’s blog we’ll follow the explosive growth of their custom cabinetry company over the past 50 years, and tell you about the 2nd and 3rd generation of our family members who are running the company today.
Interested in custom painted cabinets for your kitchen, wet bar, or other space in your home? Get started by finding a Kountry Kraft dealer near you!