57th Street Bookcase & Cabinet

My experience might be an outlier. I had an awful experience with 57st. Design. I do not recommend them for the following reasons: 1. Terrible communication about delayed production and delivery. They estimated 13-15 weeks of lead time and it took 20+ weeks. A whole month went by with no response from them when I asked about completion. 2. Poor craftsmanship. My dresser arrived with a stuck/broken drawer and slide, two visible blemishes, ragged and sawdust-laden interiors and corners, and unfinished edges. 3. The stuck/broken drawer slide was the most painful/frustrating issue. I emailed with them for over 5 weeks about getting it repaired. They said they would send someone to my house to fix it and then had the gall to suggest I find a "handyman" and they would cover the cost. I will never order from this company again. I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to problem-solve with little to no assistance.

Marty and I want to thank you for a beautiful job, one that exceeded all expectations—and we had set a very high benchmark! Our initial contact was with Sam, who discussed our vision for a floor-to-ceiling library wall, and then came out to our house to measure. Then we met with Art at the Evanston store, who supplied us with wood samples of different color stains. The first two bookcases we ordered are free-standing and installed on either side of a television and entertainment center. Months later we realized our need for a connecting hanging bookcase over the TV—more room for our thousands of books! The problem was matching the wood, grain, and exact color of the third bookcase which connects the first two. Not easy! It was at this junction that Noy stepped in and was exceedingly helpful. We arranged to meet her at the Evanston location, and she supplied us with several samples which they hoped would match. The samples were close, but not perfect. Then Noy drove out to our home in Riverwoods with a carload of samples, one of which was close enough that she thought could be tweaked for a more precise match. Days later she returned to our house with the sample that had been slightly adjusted for color, and it worked! The new bookcase was delivered and installed in a timely manner. Luis Rodriguez, who delivered and installed all three bookcases—the two free-standing ones and the third connecting bookcase over the TV—was exceptionally thoughtful and a perfectionist! To make certain that the third bookcase blended perfectly with the two existing ones, he insisted on finishing it “onsite”. Luis removed the old trim from the first two bookcases and replaced it with the same wood used on the third. He worked neatly, efficiently, and his workmanship was stellar! It was evident that he took great pride in doing his very best. We are thrilled, and our library is beautiful. Moreover, it was teamwork at its best between Sam, Art, Noy and Luis. We would recommend 57th Street Bookcase and Design to the most discerning customers. Since I’m in the book business, a beautiful home library was of utmost importance and we’re delighted with the result!

We looked for months and found Chip via Google search. What sold us was his fair pricing for the space and the results of his other work. Anyone who needs a custom built-in should not hesitate to look at 57th! Chip was incredible to work with. Not only does he have a great personality, is real and honest, they are tremendously skilled and precise! Your home will never be the same. We can't be more thrilled - our space has been truly transformed. We are over the moon and want him to come back and do more!

I hired 57th St Bookcase to build a custom bookcase for our apartment. Sam worked with me on the design and accommodated my ideas about side paneling and other details. He was helpful and courteous. The delivery was a bit more eventful that expected because the bookcases did not fit in the building elevator nor would they fit through the utility stairs in the back. I had to get the building's approval to have them carried through the main lobby and possibly a staircase full of antique furnishings-a major no-no for our building. The only other option was to have them returned to the shop and recut from scratch. The delivery guys were amazing! They carried these solid wood behemoths up incredibly steep stairs to the third floor and made sure not a scratch was made. They installed them with great care, carefully cleaning after themselves. The end product is fantastic. It looks like a period original and it matches the character of the building. It adds a lot of value and tons of storage to our apartment. I look forward to working with the company again in future.

I hired 57th Street Bookcase to create a custom size bookcase for my office. I was looking for a custom case that could wrap around an inside corner. They helped me specify the case, select the wood and made more than one trip to my house to coordinate stain matching and measurements. In terms of the quality of the product I could not ask for better. I felt that the lead time for the product was somewhat longer than I had been led to expect which I believe was the result of a few mix ups on the sample stains. But despite the longer lead time, I have no complaints and would absolutely order from them again.

I've actually had 7 pieces made for me by 57th Street Bookcase over the last few years -- bookcases, end tables, a desk, etc. My projects with them started because I was actually having trouble finding bookcases I liked, and 57th Street has beautiful cherry wood, and I could have them made to the exact size to fill the space available. Every piece I have from them is beautiful, and their customer service is routinely excellent. I recommend them highly.

We had such a terrible experience with these guys which made us really depressed. Sam, the owner's son, came over and we had long meetings with him to design built in shelves for our tv room and our kitchen, we went back and forth on the design, and paid a huge deposit. He seemed so nice and responsible. The week after the shelves were due for delivery he wrote to say they oversanded the shelves and everything would be delayed three weeks. When we responded saying that we were concerned about the delay and had negotiated the building time very carefully he suddenly wrote back saying they were cancelling the project completely. He refused to even talk to us about the reason, to have a phone call or a meeting, and then we never heard from them again. Terrible terrible service and we lost months of time waiting for nothing :( Such a weird place, I'd avoid if you don't want your time wasted.

57th Street Bookcase and Cabinet designed and made for me a beautiful oak bookcase, eighteen feet long in three sections. Many friends have commented about how solid and attractive they look, The price was extremely reasonable, much less (by as much as half) than at a comparable quality furniture store. The bookcases represent the best possible quality at an affordable price, the best value I have seen by far In this category.

I worked with 57th bookcase to install built-in bookcases and I can only express praises for their work. My house is very old with a mixture of plaster and uneven dry wall and even so, the bookcases came out spectacularly! Even more, the experience of working with Sam was enjoyable all the way through and his attention to detail and eagerness to please his clients goes unmatched. 57th bookcase's competitive prices also wholly trump those of other carpenters in the Chicago-area (by as much as 50%). I know that I will be working with 57th in the future and you should too!

We wanted a built-in for the finished basement in our new house. There were several challenges: walls that weren't quite plum, odd turns in the space, my demanding requirements. We had four different companies bid on the job. One never got back to us and two were vastly higher than 57th Street. Of course, cost isn't everything. Sam worked with me (perhaps more than he would have liked, but always happily) to figure out exactly what we wanted, even when we didn't quite know what that was. He gave us CAD images so we could really picture what we were getting and that's exactly what we ultimately got. Luis expertly installed the finished cabinets in a few hours and made sure I was happy before leaving. We could not be more pleased with the finished results. The built-in is solid, attractive, exactly serves our purposes and fits into the house as if it was designed by the architect. Martin

57th St. Bookcases and Cabinets made four bookcases and a central cabinet for me. I worked with Chip, who was consistently sensitive to my needs and my budget. The finished product (expertly installed by Luis) is everything I could have wished for. I will use them for whatever projects come next.

I worked with Sam and Chip to create a custom built cabinet in my living room. They were responsive and easy to communicate with through email and sent me multiple drawings to ensure I was getting exactly what I wanted. The installation was seamless as well and I am more than pleased with the finished product. The cabinets are high quality and have added to the value of our home. Pricing was cheaper than a contractor had quoted me too.