A small shop. Serious standards.
GS Custom Cabinets is a family-owned workshop in San Leandro, California. Since 2004 we've been drawing, milling, and hand-finishing cabinetry for the East Bay's most careful homeowners.
Started on a single bench. Still built by the same hands.
Shaun Sharaby founded GS Custom Cabinets with one table saw, one trade-school apprentice, and one belief: that a kitchen should outlast its owner. Twenty years later, that apprentice is a master joiner, the shop takes up three bays in San Leandro, and the standard has only gone up.
We turn away more work than we accept. We'd rather build ten kitchens a year that neighbours call us about than fifty we'd rather not photograph.
Three rules we don't break.
Solid wood. Every time.
Dovetailed drawer boxes in maple or oak. Real hardwood face frames. Painted finishes on MDF panels only where performance warrants it. No particleboard in structural components.
In-house, start to finish.
Design, milling, assembly, finishing, and installation all happen under our roof with our crew. Nothing boxes up and ships from overseas. Nothing gets subcontracted to a cheaper shop.
Honest pricing.
You get a line-item quote before we start. We don't chase change-orders. What we quote is what it costs, unless you ask us to add something, and then you'll see that on a separate signed line.
Materials, tools, and the people who use them.
Hardwoods
White oak, walnut, maple, cherry, alder. Sourced from sustainable North-American mills. Rift-cut where grain symmetry matters.
Finishes
Catalysed conversion varnishes for kitchens. Rubbed oil-and-wax for heirloom pieces. Painted in a dust-controlled booth.
Hardware
Blum and Hafele as standard. Top Knobs, Rocky Mountain, and Emtek for pulls and handles. Soft-close on every moving part.
The crew
Four joiners, one finisher, one designer, one installer. Everybody can do everybody's job in a pinch.
We'd rather show you than tell you.
Drop in during shop hours, or book a design visit and we'll come to you. Either way, bring your questions.