Gunpowder Woodworks

I had been looking for a media center for my recent basement renovation. The majority of media centers that are commercial made are poorly constructed and ugly. Higher end units tended to be poorly designed for hot electronics. I selected Gunpowder Woodworks, Mark Hochstein because he had made a similar unit and seemed to understand the need for proper ventilation. He came up with three designs based on styles I said I liked. The one I picked matched other Asian furniture I had in my house. He asked me for the measurements of my electronic components to ensure that everything could fit. He also provided recommendations on how to control the electronics through a closed cabinet door. I was very impressed that he put so much work in the design process to ensure that it would meet my needs and came up with recommendations that I wouldn't have thought of. The final media center exceeded my expectations. The wood was cherry and simply gorgeous. Some of the wood was curly cherry. Mark made the edges of the media center curved, which makes it look unique and different. The back has slates with good ventilation. The back can be completely removed to make it easy to organize my electronics and to wire them. The shelves also are ventilated so that there is air flow. The whole unit is solid wood. I was surprised at this because the custom furniture local to my house that I almost used used veneered plywood for parts of their furniture. During the process Mark provided me regular updates and sent pictures. It was awesome seeing my media center in the process of being built. He was also responsive in answering questions. Mark delivered furniture, removing my back door to bring it in. I hadn’t thought about what would happen if the piece was too big for my door, but he was able to remove the door to make more room. Overall I would highly recommend this furniture builder. From start to finish it was a terrific experience and I love my media center. I really feel like I bought something that will last me a lifetime and still look great.