Our Story
My name is Carolyn Fischer. My love for building cabinets started when I was a small child. I grew up in our family custom cabinet shop. I always dreamed of taking over our shop someday when my dad was ready to retire. As a child, I learned so many skills, techniques, and ideas. Unfortunately, when I was only 16 years old, my dad died of a heart attack. That quickly brought the realization that continuing to have the dream of taking over the shop someday was unrealistic. Over the course of the next several years, we started a family, with two kids and life went on. That dream of being submersed in a cabinet shop never truly died although I wasn't sure if it would ever come to a reality again.
After moving to south Alabama, I was introduced to a local custom cabinet maker there. I completely geeked out when meeting him, although trying to play it cool, my dreams all flooded back to me. A while later, he had an opening in his shop and was willing to take a chance on me. Being a female in this profession isn't the norm but I was super excited to have the opportunity to do what I loved to do again.
In South Alabama, I was able to take the skills I learned as a child and flourish with the new skillset I was being taught in Alabama. One cabinet shop to another might seem simple, but the two were vastly different. The machines I grew up using were massive and industrial. In Alabamia things were different. Not only did we use industrial machines, but the owner had a passion for using old school tools also. Picking up a hand plane to create a specific look had never been in my list of things to do in the past but quickly became a skill I wanted to master.
In December of 2025, we had the opportunity to come back to Salem, Illinois. I loved being in Alabama but coming back to Illinois only meant one thing... Opening up Bundy Custom Cabinets once again. So much has gone into making my dream and passion a reality. Combining the skills I learned being submersed in a cabinet shop growing up added to the skills and techniques I used in South Alabama, I'm able to mesh them to bring you the best in kitchen cabinets, vanities, and fine woodworking!