Ben Baxley

I spent the first act of my career making things look perfect on a screen. Graphic design, photography, an Adobe Certified Expert credential in Photoshop, and a job at one of Chicago’s top ad agencies — where I could retouch a product shot until it was flawless, and erase the whole thing with two keystrokes when it wasn’t.

Walnut does not have an “undo.”

I learned that back in Urbana, running maintenance for the Roundtable House historic properties, where I picked up plumbing, electrical, drywall, and the particular humility a 19th-century building hands out for free. Carpentry is the part that stuck. I spent years renovating downtown commercial buildings and historic homes around town, and when a friend needed kitchen cabinets, I said yes before thinking it all the way through.

That’s still roughly how it goes. At Griggs Street Woodworks, I build custom wood furniture, closets, vanities, and more throughout the Champaign County area — for people who want both an eye for how it looks and the hands to make it fit.