As a child in Uzbekistan, Eugene Sherstyukov used to help his father with various maintenance projects at the hospital where he worked. After pursuing a career in information technology, he took a short-term job working for his father-in-law, a cabinetmaker, and loved it. Now the owner of TPK Cabinetry in Yarmouth, Sherstyukov tells MH+D Inside Out why he appreciates high-end cabinetry.

Q. What materials do you like to work with?

A. Mostly nowadays, the trend is everything painted, so we use soft and hard maple. Walnut has also been very popular lately. Ten years ago, everybody wanted cherry. Now everybody wants painted wood, white, gray, off-white, and other neutral colors.

Q. How do you know if a client is right for you?

A. It’s just a sense. We do high-end cabinetry. Some people don’t understand the amount of work behind what we do. They think they can go and buy things like we do at Ikea. But people who understand the custom aspect and the quality, they don’t compare us to anything else because they know what they getting.

Q. Why do you prefer high-end work?

A. At the high end, we can grow our skills. Every single project is custom, and very single project is different. Every single project requires our knowledge. There are so many challenges in every single project, so you learn how to overcome them.

Q. What else interests you about high-end cabinetry?

A.The kitchen is the heart of the home. Everything revolves around the kitchen, especially now because of the popularity of open concept designs, where the kitchen is in the middle of a larger room. A lot of thought goes into how to make the kitchen functional and attractive, and you can’t get a kitchen from anywhere else that will fit the space the way that custom shops like ours would make.

Q. Where you interested in craftsmanship as a child?

A. I pretty much grew up in the shop myself. My father is a jack of all trades. When I was growing up in Uzbekistan, he worked almost next door in maintenance at a hospital, and after school I would just go to his shop and help him. I loved being in the shop with him.