Sarnia Cabinets

In 1969, Sarnia Cabinets had its humble beginnings in a garage on Exmouth Street, where founder Gord Bouma and his team crafted cabinets for schools and churches. After a local home builder saw Bouma's work, he hired the growing Sarnia Cabinets crew to design and build cabinets for his new homes. It wasn't long before Gord knew he needed more space, so he purchased the current Sarnia Cabinets property at 1321 Plank Road. They constructed the building themselves, and Sarnia Cabinets has expanded twice to include more production and showroom space.

Gord still comes to work every day, but the business is now run by his sons-in-law, Gordie Van Barneveld and Rick Smink. "I'm the office manager and Rick is the general manager," Van Barneveld explains. "My wife Sonja and Rick's wife Natalie both help to run the business as well. Sarnia Cabinets has been a family business for 51 years, and we are really proud of that." Sarnia Cabinets has a team of 45 trained professionals in sales, design, manufacturing, woodworking and installation, some with more than 35 years of service.

Sarnia Cabinets designs and manufactures custom kitchens, bathrooms and other special projects. "The majority of work is done on-site, starting with 4x8 sheets. A lot of the work is still done by hand, such as sanding and custom fabrication," continues Van Barneveld. Sarnia Cabinets takes pride in crafting custom doors, colours, and features, including soft-close cabinets and drawers, and easier accessibility within the kitchen. "We've seen a lot of trends come and go," says Van Barneveld. "Right now, people want a pop of colour as opposed to just wood tones, so paint is a big thing. We don't have to wait for a supplier to come up with a new idea or colour because we are able to customize it ourselves." Sarnia Cabinets encourages innovation in every area of the business, and has a design team that develops at least three new cabinet door styles every year. This year, Sarnia Cabinets will be expanding its in-house paint capabilities to accelerate the finishing process.

The team at Sarnia Cabinets, led by Bouma and his wife Mary, are heavily involved in the community. They are the longest-running supplier supporting the Bluewater Health Foundation's Dream Home. They also support the Imperial Theatre, Sarnia Christian School, Pathways Centre for Children, dozens of sports teams, and many other groups and organizations. "We don't give to charities as a way of advertising our business. We do it because we want to give back to the community that supports our business and our family. It's our way of saying, 'Thank you!'"

With over 50 years of product, service and technological innovations, Sarnia Cabinets has become Sarnia-Lambton's favourite kitchen and bath specialists. They are known for creating unique designs and pieces of distinction, which means every day is different. "A kitchen is a kitchen, but everything we do is custom, so no two days are alike. We really love what we do, and we are thankful we get to do it."