“It’s difficult to know where to begin my praises of my experience with Mr. Patrick…so I’ll start at the beginning 🙂 We decided to start a major home remodel in February and to carry on our 36 year “coastal theme”, but with many upgrades and, well, “classier” stuff! One day, I Googled “driftwood furniture” just to see if I could get some kind of inspiration. Lo and behold, I found driftwood and glass tables – beautiful! I wanted one. But, alas, waaay out of our budget price range. Crate and Barrel has a (so called) driftwood coffee table, but for the price, it was frankly just….unattractive and looked like a bunch of old faded waste wood tacked together into a wood concretion! Not at all what I was looking for….I asked our designer (we went whole hog and hired a professional to manage our project – very atypical for us, but we just didn’t know where to begin) to check around…and she came up with pretty much the same results I had. Just too pricey. Or just too ugly! Well, I kept at it and found the CustomMade site…and ultimately, Don Patrick. The pics of his work surpassed anything I’d seen anywhere else on the World Wide Web! So….I started a project and initiated a conversation with Mr. Patrick. We had some honest back and forth discussions and “meeting” Don, albeit only virtually, felt like discovering a long lost friend. He was very willing to work with me on a custom piece in a price range I could afford….no, NOT “cheap” but MUCH greater value and beauty for similarly priced works. What ensued were many messages back and forth, many questions asked and answered, a piece of raw wood we both thought could work for my purpose (and budget) and ultimately, delivery TODAY of my long-desired, one of a kind, custom-made for ME, gorgeous Florida Red Cedar driftwood table! From start to finish, communication could NOT have been better. Every aspect of the transaction was easy and smooth…It has been one of the most pleasurable purchases I have ever made, and I cannot say enough good things about Don Patrick and his work and artistry. But I’ve tried and hope I’ve been able to convey my sincere appreciation of the man’s talent and integrity. It was scary at first to reach out to a total stranger…but my trust has amply been repaid. I have an heirloom piece unlike any other in the world and feel as though I’ve made a long-distance friend in the process. THANK YOU, Don.”
– Martha, May 2013