A PHOENIX ART WOODWORKS

When my aunt died, she passed along a handmade dining table and 10 chairs crafted by my uncle, a doctor who grew up in a Swiss family of cabinet makers. The furniture holds so many memories for me, but it desperately needed refinishing. Ilya did a wonderful job of refinishing and reupholstering the furniture to first condition. Now, every time my family and I sit down to eat, we feel happy. (Before and after photos posted below).

About twenty years ago, we did a major kitchen redo and purchased beautiful maple cabinets. Unfortunately, the finish was less than great and we realized that the oils from our hands had removed the finish around the knobs. Some friends who live in the Deerfield area told us of Ilya and A Phoenix Art Woodworks. We contacted him along with several other businesses. I was surprised by the cost, it was about $3600 for our less than huge kitchen, but in getting other estimates, we learned that he was more than in the ballpark and not the highest. We did get a lot of businesses pushing us to paint the cabinets, which we did not want to do. Ilya told us that it would take about a month, which it did. In early January, Ilya came by and removed and numbered the doors. We were then contacted in the third week and had to remove everything from our cabinets, filling large plastic containers that we stored in the dining room. Once Ilya and his assistant came in, it was exactly seven work days until completion. While doing the work, they meticulously covered the wood floor, any walls and ceiling adjacent to the cabinets, and went to work. The first few days, it was stripper, but frankly, the smell didn't linger and we did open windows slightly. Then it was sanding, and while doing that, they put plastic up to keep it in the kitchen. I must say that they were so careful that there was truly very little cleanup. Ilya asked me, before beginning, if I had touch up paint. I had just painted the kitchen, so that was easy. To be honest, to the usual eye, the touch up I am going to do would not even be noticed, Ilya's work being that professional and meticulous. Ilya and A Phoenix Art Woodworks is my kind of business. He comes in as a solid professional craftsman and does what he says he is going to do. He also, as my wife pointed out, has one of the nicest smiles around. He is a great guy and listens to his clients. Needless to say, we will do business with Ilya again. We are planning on having him refinish our family dining room table set with six chairs and two leaves. It served as a homework table as well as dining room table when our three boys, now in their mid to late thirties, were younger. One more thing, Ilya is a master at repairing small issues, scratches, and also put handles on our cabinets instead of pulls, to save on body oil damage to varnish. On the drawers, that necessitated filling in a hole and drilling two new ones. Ilya used actual wood to fill the hole, not filler. This is what he does. November 2020 Ilya picked up our almost thirty year old dining room table, two leaves, and six chairs. Today, about a month later he brought back the most amazing table, better than new! Another superior job by Ilya! See below! You will not be disappointed if you go with Ilya, our Deerfield friends who told us about him were totally on the beam.