Curran Cabinetry Stories

Curran Cabinetry & Design is known for offering high-quality wood cabinets and built-ins for a variety of uses. Owner Al Curran recently spoke with The Cap Times about how using local Amish cabinet shops helps CC&D provide custom designed products at very competitive prices.

Veteran kitchen designer Allen Curran has long admired the quality and craftsmanship of Amish custom-built cabinets.

So, when he decided to start his own company after 30 years with a large local kitchen and bath design firm, Curran hit the road looking for cabinet shops within southern Wisconsin’s tightly knit Amish community. Curran eventually connected with several craftsmen interested in taking on the work and has continued to build those relationships since.

Today, Curran Cabinetry & Design is known for offering high-quality wood cabinets and built-ins for a variety of uses. And by using local Amish cabinet shops, CC&D can provide custom designed products at very competitive prices.

So why choose Amish-made cabinetry from Curran Cabinetry & Design?

For starters, clients can select from seven different North American hardwoods in either framed or frameless construction styles. There are 66 standard stain colors and another 27 standard paint colors. The company also works with over two dozen remodeling contractors from the Madison area, helping guide clients through what can sometimes be an arduous process.

If the quality of the materials and finished products weren’t enough, Allen Curran and design staff manager Mike Jochmann bring over a half-century of experience to the business.

Allen Curran spoke with the Cap Times recently inside the company’s cozy, inviting showroom at 664 N. High Point Road off the Beltline at Old Sauk Road.

How did you come to specialize in Amish cabinets?

While attending a conference of the National Kitchen & Bath Association, I kept hearing about how hard it was for dealers to compete with the Amish cabinet makers on price and quality. To find the right cabinet builders, I visited local communities where the Amish lived because, as many people know, the Amish can’t be found on the internet or in the Yellow Pages. I finally found a shop 60 miles from Madison and liked what I saw: those big, beefy cabinets the Amish are known for. That shop owner connected me to a few other shops and everything followed from there. Right now,we’re working with four cabinet makers within 60 miles northeast of Madison and one shop southwest of town.

What advantages does a local firm like Curran Cabinetry & Design bring to the table?

It all comes down to service and experience. We’ll come out to your home right away to take measurements before we even get into the showroom or start talking about pricing. I can’t say enough about how important it is to make sure everyone is comfortable before we get going. The other thing is that when cabinets are made right here in the Madison area, it’s so much easier to communicate with the shops for any changes or adjustments. That’s been a Godsend for the general contractors, being able to stay on their construction schedule.

You mentioned pricing. That’s a tough one given all the uncertainty about the economy.

Can I start with a bit of history? It used to be that all cabinets were built by professional carpenters at the same time they built a house. Then sometime after World War II, someone took the Henry Ford approach and companies started cranking cabinets out on assembly lines. That’s pretty much how it is today. In terms of the economy, I don’t think anyone knows where it’s going with tariffs or the price of materials, since a lot of wood is imported from Canada. What I will say is that since we’re working directly with the manufacturer, we can offer full- custom cabinetry for what others charge for semi-custom cabinetry.

You’ve been in the kitchen design business for over 40 years. How have things changed?

That is a great question. Back in the day, the kitchen only needed to be big enough for one person to work and that was usually the wife. Everything was very utilitarian, and you didn’t really need a ton of extra space. Now there is often a more open floor plan, making the kitchen a central entertaining area for the entire family, rather than just a place to store bread. It requires a much more aesthetically pleasing space.

This content originally appeared in the Cap Times on May, 13, 2025, and was sponsored in part by Dane County Buy Local, Local Legends Series. Thanks!

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