Serving all of Connecticut Licensed & insured 860 · 664 · 9663
R.E.S. Woodworking, LLC
Custom cherry kitchen
A quality woodworking company

Cabinetry built once, and built right.

Kitchens, baths and built-in cabinets for Connecticut homes. We plan it with you, build it in our shop, and put it in ourselves.

What we build

We design and build custom woodwork, start to finish.

We don't subcontract our kitchens out, and we don't buy cabinets. All of our cabinets are built in-house, cut and finished in our Connecticut shop. We are also equipped to take on a full renovation of kitchens, bathrooms, and pretty much anything else.

All services →
01

Custom cabinetry

Cabinets built from real wood, not pressed board with a printed wood-look surface.

02

Custom kitchens

Whole-room design, build and install, coordinated with all trades.

03

Custom baths

Vanities, linen cabinets, and medicine cabinets built to the room.

04

Built-ins & millwork

Bookcases, window seats, mudrooms and trim.

05

Pretty much anything in wood

Mantels, one-off cabinets, decks and exterior work. If it can be built, ask us.

Selected work

Recent Connecticut projects

Full portfolio →
Full remodel, Madison CT
Painted shaker kitchen
Madison, CT · Full remodel
Cherry kitchen and bar, Madison CT
Cherry, whole house
Bay window seat, Killingworth CT
Bay window seat
Two of us
That's the whole shop
The shop

One person, start to finish. That's Ray.

R.E.S. Woodworking is a two-person shop. Ray Swan, the owner, is who you meet at the first visit and who you deal with the rest of the way. He measures the room, draws it, prices it and oversees the entire build.

No project managers, no salesman, no handoffs. One number to call, and one person accountable for the finished job.

How a project runs →
Portfolio

Connecticut work, room by room.

A sample of recent work. Ask to see the full book at your consultation, since most of what we build never makes it online.

Cherry kitchen and bar, Madison CT
Featured project

One load of cherry, the whole house

Kitchen, bar, walk-in closets, baths, bookcases and mantel. The whole house cut from one load of cherry so the color matches everywhere.

Town
Madison, CT
Scope
Whole house
See the build →
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See the build →

Something here look like your project?

Bring photos, a floor plan, or just an idea. First conversation is free.

Book a consultation
Westbrook, Connecticut

One cabinet. That was the whole job.

A single floor-to-ceiling cabinet built for the corner between the back door and the kitchen wall. Two bays, adjustable maple shelves, and trim carried into the existing woodwork.

Floor-to-ceiling painted cabinet The corner between the back door and the kitchen
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Just need the one?

Single cabinets are welcome work. Same shop, same build, no minimum kitchen attached.

Book a consultation
Madison, Connecticut

Custom mantel and quartz hearth.

We took out the old mantel, the brass doors and the tile hearth, and built a new mantel with panelled sides and a stepped shelf. Quartz surround and a one-piece quartz hearth.

Finished mantel and quartz hearth
Original mantel with brass doors and tile hearth
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Before
After
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Stripped back to bare brick
Stripped

Everything out first

Once the old mantel and tile were off, the opening turned out to be out of square and the wall patched up from earlier work. We measured the new mantel off the brick instead of the old trim.

The hearth

One piece, no grout lines

The old tile came up and the hearth went back as one piece of quartz with a raised edge, carried into the surround so the same stone frames the opening: nothing to catch a broom on and no grout to crack.

Fireplace not pulling its weight?

A mantel is one of the shortest jobs we do and one of the biggest changes to a room.

Book a consultation
Madison, Connecticut · Whole house

One load of cherry, the whole house.

Kitchen, bar, walk-in closets, mudroom, baths, bookcases and mantel, all from one house and one shop. Cherry through the living space, painted where it made sense.

Finished cherry kitchen with peninsula bar
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Room by room

The rest of the house.

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Building or renovating a whole house?

Bring us in early. One shop for every room is cheaper than four, and it matches.

Book a consultation
Killingworth, Connecticut

A bay window that finally has a seat.

A window seat for a three-sided bay: one cabinet, eight doors, and angled returns with no square corners. Built square in the shop, with the top scribed to the walls on site and painted to match the existing trim.

Finished bay window seat
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Got a wall doing nothing?

Bays, nooks, under-stair runs. Awkward spaces are where built-ins earn their keep.

Book a consultation
Clinton, Connecticut

Natural maple, wall to wall.

A full remodel in natural maple, shaker doors with full overlay. Drawer bases through the run, a cased refrigerator wall, and shop-run crown carried to the ceiling.

Maple kitchen with cabinetry set
Before

What we started with.

Kitchen stripped to bare walls Old vinyl tile coming up
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Natural wood, not paint?

We'll bring samples of maple, cherry, oak and walnut to your first visit.

Book a consultation
Branford, Connecticut · Commercial

Drea's wine window.

An Italian-style wine window for Drea's by Goodfellas in Branford, an arched service opening cut into the exterior wall. Built as a single exterior-rated unit in the shop and set into the siding on site. The owners came back from Florence with pictures, and we built it from those.

Drea's wine window, finished with awning
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Got something nobody sells?

Bring us the idea. We'll tell you straight whether we can build it.

Book a consultation
Deck & exterior

A deck built onto solid ledge.

Posts pinned into the rock, the frame carried off the foundation wall, and the surface set at door height so it walks out flat from the slider.

Pressure-treated deck on rock ledge
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Thinking about a deck?

Awkward grade, ledge, or a walkout that never sat right. Those are the ones we like.

Book a consultation
Madison, Connecticut · Painted shaker

A kitchen, stripped and rebuilt.

A full remodel in painted inset shaker with quartz countertops.

Finished Madison kitchen
The build

How it went together.

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Refrigerator surround and drawer run

Want this for your kitchen?

We'll come measure, talk through layout, and give you one fixed number.

Book a consultation
Services

What we take on.

Four things we do most weeks, and a standing offer on the rest. One shop, one crew, everything built from scratch. We are equipped to run a full renovation of kitchens, bathrooms, and pretty much anything else.

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Process

Five steps, every project.

You should know what happens next before you sign anything. How long each step takes depends on the job, and a kitchen and a vanity are not the same project.

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How long it takes

No two jobs run the same schedule. Everything we build is made for one room, so we schedule around the work rather than a template. The size of the run, the wood, the details, and what else is happening in the house all move the dates. The spans below are what similar projects have taken, counted from the day you sign the drawings. They cover the whole process, meaning design, shop time and install. It is not time spent in your house. Most of it happens at our shop while you go about your life. The only stretch your room is out of commission is the install itself.

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What we ask of you

Decisions on time and honest answers about budget. We handle permits, delivery coordination, and the electrician's schedule.

What you can count on

A fixed price before we cut anything, a dated schedule, one point of contact, and a shop that cleans up every day.
Book a consultation

Let's talk about your room.

Thirty minutes to an hour, in your home, at no charge. The visit and what follows it:

What the consultation looks like

Free, in your home
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Helpful to have on hand
Photos of the room as it is now
Anything you have saved that you like
A rough budget you are comfortable with
Plans or appliance specs, if you have them

Ray comes out himself. He measures, talks through what you want, and puts together the drawings and the price. You owe nothing for the visit.

Request your visit

That did not go through. Please call the shop instead: 860.664.9663
Request received

Thank you. Your request is in.

Ray will get back to you within a couple of business days to set up a time to come out and look at the room.

If you would rather talk sooner, call the shop at 860.664.9663.
Call the shop
860.664.9663
Service area
All of Connecticut, including Hartford, Litchfield, New Haven, Fairfield, Middlesex, Tolland, Windham and New London counties.
Shop hours
Mon–Fri, 7am–4pm. Evening consultations by arrangement.