Chapel Cabinetry is a full-service cabinet company offering kitchen and bath design, manufacturing, and installation. Our showroom is available by appointment only and is located at 815 31st Ave.

Reach out to us at office.chapelcabinetry@gmail.gmail.com or call our landline at 205-349-2551 to set up an appointment.

My name is Elliott McPherson and I opened Chapel Cabinetry in 2016. I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where I attended a city funded arts school called the Magnet program. I had aspirations to go to a fine art college and live in a big city, but fortunately, I had to settle for the University of Alabama. I ended up loving Tuscaloosa and have lived here for 30 years.

During my first year of college, I got disinterested in class and started trying to write songs and learn the guitar. I eventually quit going to school and started working at the Guitar Gallery which at that time, was in the Meadowbrook shopping center.

My future wife Eva, was salon manager at Hair Impressions which was a few doors down from the Guitar Gallery. She and I met randomly in the parking lot and married 11 months later. I was never great at selling guitars and amps, so I tried cabinet-making.

My friend John Cooper opened Cooper Cabinets in 1976, at 815 31st Ave in downtown Tuscaloosa. I had one year's experience in cabinetry when I convinced John to allow me to work for him. Eventually, I started my own business and built a 30 x 50 pole barn next to our home in Buhl, Alabama. For the first 10 years of my career, I was a cabinet maker and a part-time musician with our band the Dexateens. I can say with certainty that I didn't give the right attention to the band or my cabinet business. When the 2008 recession happened, I started trying to get on at the University of Alabama as a cabinet maker. I was eventually awarded that job and worked there for exactly 5 years. During my time there, we built a lot of high-end cabinet work for the UA athletic department and the Bryant Museum.

In 2016, John Cooper retired and offered me a chance to purchase the building that he had operated in for 40 years. I was ready to try self-employment again, but this time with an approach that didn't include going out of town to play music. In exchange for office space and a workbench, John Cooper gave me a generous price on his building, and I left the University to start Chapel Cabinetry.

When John Cooper "retired", he developed designs and a business plan for a line of furniture called, Simple Way Coffins.These cypress coffins are special because they can be ordered with accessories that allow the user to modify them into a bookcase or a wine rack until they are needed for burial. John built the prototypes for Simple Way Coffins at our shop in Tuscaloosa, but the actual orders are manufactured by an Amish woodshop in his home state of Illinois.

John also has written a book called, One Ignatian Journey, which was published and released by Austin Macauley Publishing in 2018. John Cooper is a close friend and has 50 years in the cabinet industry.

The registered name of our business is Cornelius Chapel Cabinetry LLC. Our home and our first cabinet shop are located on Cornelius Church Rd. A short distance away, there's a small church called Cornelius Chapel Baptist that overlooks the Sipsey Valley.

So, you could say I named our business after this area, where our family and business began. Not long after we started doing business under this name, I realized that people had a hard time spelling and remembering the word Cornelius, so I shortened the name of our business to Chapel Cabinetry.

Our first full-time employee was Greg Martin. Greg and his brother Chris had an independent cabinet installation company that serviced the Tuscaloosa area for 15 years before he came to work for us full-time in 2016.

Greg has a background in commercial reception areas where he gained experience in radius and convex shapes. Greg is a true artist with an extensive portfolio of unique kitchen hoods and furniture pieces.

Greg and I have a close friendship and have been working together for around 20 years. Greg has 30 years of experience in the cabinet industry.

Our first outside salesperson was Van Yeager. When I met Van in the early 2000s, he was working for Cooper Cabinets as a cabinet installer. Before his installation business, Van apprenticed as a furniture maker under Craig Nutt. Craig has work in the Smithsonian and is known for whimsical wooden sculptures of vegetables and nature. Inspired by Nutt, Van sculpted "Evinrude".

Van also worked as a carpenter for the Alabama Historical Commission doing restoration work for 10 years. In 2017, Van joined us as an outside salesperson and kitchen designer. Van has since restored a building in historic downtown Greensboro, where he and his wife, Alp, have reopened the locally loved restaurant, Ruin Thai.

In his spare time, Van builds Asian-inspired lamps, making shades from wood and handmade paper. Even though he only sells a few kitchens a year, Van is an important friend and mentor to our shop. Van has 40 years of experience.

Andrew Durham is our newest salesperson and is from Mentone Alabama. Andrew is our general manager and is the point of contact for all inquiries related to job pricing. Andrew can guide customers through the process of pricing, designing, and job fulfillment.

Andrew is trained in cabinet design using Mosaic Software for custom work and 2020 Design for premanufactured offerings. Andrew represents Integrity Cabinets which are made in Ashland Alabama. Andrew has an interest in woodworking and is a husband and father of two.

Caleb McPherson is our CNC programmer and is also in charge of punching out jobs. Even though he doesn't work in the spray room, we still refer to him as our finisher.

Caleb specializes in the execution of fine details and adjustments that are needed to qualify an installation as excellent. Caleb has 6 years in Corian and stone countertops, and 3 years in cabinet experience.

We offer interior design services through Jenny Lee. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 2005, Jenny co-opened Lampadas with Kellen Lee, a store featuring unique furniture, lighting, and window treatments .

In 2009, Jenny sold her share so she could focus on raising children and building her interior design clientele. Jenny also helps run a non-profit called the Chrysalis Center, which focuses on raising awareness and providing resources for educating children with dyslexia. For a cohesive and personalized design experience, we recommend using Jenny or another one of our vetted decorators.

Our bookkeeper, David Jones, also has a long history in our facility as he was John Cooper's bookkeeper for many years.

David is from Fayette Alabama where he learned business and accounting by working at his family's Chevrolet dealership. David plays bluegrass music with his gospel group The Rolling Scrolls. David also enjoys woodworking and lamp-making as a hobby.

To arrange payment or for accounts payable, please contact David Jones at david.jones.chapel.cabinetry@gmail.com.

Crockett McCool runs our CNC machinery and processes case parts for our cabinets.

I have known Crockett since he was born. Crockett has stunning good looks and a cool name to boot. Crockett has been with us for one year.

We have outgrown our location in downtown Tuscaloosa and recently purchased a property in Buhl, where we are about to break ground on a larger facility. When Tuscaloosa was first being developed, Buhl was a logging town. I have always heard that any of the pre-civil war buildings on campus would have been framed with lumber that was either harvested or sawn in Buhl. I hope that Buhl will one day be known for providing wood products again, but instead of raw materials, handmade furniture. My long-term goal is to transition Chapel Cabinetry into a nationwide brand that designs and manufactures furniture made by us. In the meantime, we are still doing residential kitchen and bath work and accepting clients that align well with our services.

Contact us at office.chapelcabinetry@gmail.gmail.com