Made in America
How we made some of our own cafe furniture to save money + withstand constant commercial use.
We were in the middle of a cafe remodel, and the budget was starting to take off faster than a new Tesla. I got three quotes, and after reviewing them all, I signed on with Thomas Cahoon of Pearl Manufacturing Company. His price was competitive, his products are beautiful, and it turned out people at the cafe knew him and his work. I went for the bar and stools, but opted out of the condiment bar and shelves I had envisioned. The results were amazing:
But for the condiment bar I went back to my husband and tried again. “No one builds with lumber, that´s why these designs are coming in so high,” he kept explaining. But we need it really strong so I kept talking 2x4s. He finally agreed after I promised to rope Ryan Lawyer, one of our Baristas, in for the finishing work.
So he built a condiment bar to hide an office type looking water cooler and dirty cup bins. For the sides we used the same floor paneling as we did on the walls to help it blend in. I conscripted my husband and both sons to nail the wall paneling in place — just before Thomas Cahoon installed the bar. The paneling protects the freshly painted walls from all those shoe marks. Barista Ryan Lawyer stained and sealed the rest of the cabinet, including 4 coats of varnish to protect the top and bottom from the constant spills plus wear and tear.
We also made these shelf and storage units from plywood, 2x4s and 4x4s for the uprights for extreme sturdiness. Each unit sits on heavy duty locking wheels from Home Depot (screwed in to the 4x4s). After my husband made one and we tried it out, our handyman Paul Dow made two more and our Barista Cherelle Gour sanded, stained and sealed them. They are versatile units, and the wheels mean we can roll them out for demos and to move the displays around.
This summer Otessa Crandell, the Director of Retail spotted a wood couch project on Home depot:
Alan Jewett handcrafted two love seats for the children’s area at Chromatic Coffee, and designed a matching corner table. Since we put the couch on on locking wheels we went with 4x4s for the uprights. We added a couple more 2x4s to make it even sturdier. Alan also sanded and sealed the couches plus the table design that he came up with. If you’re a weekend DIY person, it will take longer than 1 to 2 hours per couch specified in the directions, but it´s a simple design with nice lines.
These came out great, and really brightened up the back of the cafe. So we added one more project, replacing the dark old seating bar at the back.
We talked about using 2x4s, but we let the lumber selection at Home Depot drive the decision — coupled with the fact that Alan Jewett was about to get on an airplane. The bar is almost 12 feet long, so we went for two long boards. Alan wasn´t happy with the initial result, so he spent the two hours before he got on the plane with a belt sander.
I went by 5 days of the next week to sand and varnish.
We loaded it in the van, and Paul Dow headed up the install with Barista Bailey Lupo assisting. In addition to these items being extremely sturdy, we were also surprised at how much using the clear varnish lightened up the back of the cafe. We used to call it the cave, now it looks more inviting.
After confirming we liked the wood couches, Paul Dow made two more for the patio, and Barista Cherelle Gour sanded and marine varnished them.
We´ve got a versatile team that likes to give input on upgrades to the cafe, and doesn´t mind jumping in to repaint walls, sand, varnish, and install. Check out our team here: http://www.chromatic.cafe/team.html
I’m Wendy Warren, owner of Chromatic Coffee in Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, CA. Working on second cafe in San Jose. We provide healthcare for those who work 30+ hours per week and a 401k for all. Learn more about Chromatic at www.chromatic.cafe or email me at wendy@chromatic.cafe.
