While he was earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English at Queen’s University, Matthew Tormey, a local expert in design and woodworking, realized that he was not cut out for a desk job. He had an inkling of this during his teen years and when renovating homes in the East York area with his family and developing his carpentry skills.
After completing his degree, Matt pursued an apprenticeship with the local carpenter’s union and started his own business here in 2004, working out of a shed in his parents’ backyard and making small pieces of furniture and cabinets. He says that he has been honing his craft ever since through “hard-earned real-world experience, endless reading and research,” and has acquired new skills through different workshops.
Matt specializes in small-to-medium-sized custom built-in cabinetry work for spaces outside of the kitchen, including home offices, bedroom armoires, fireplaces, mudrooms and bathroom vanities. He works mostly in Toronto in older neighbourhoods where people want to make the most of their space. These clients, who tend to be very design-oriented, are looking for something unique. They find Matt through HomeStars, Google, word-of-mouth and our own Leaside Life.
Once someone makes an inquiry, he asks them for photos and dimensions of the space where they want cabinets and some ideas about what they are looking for so he can send an estimate. If they want to proceed, he visits the home, takes measurements, discusses the plan and draws up a design on his computer. With more discussion, the design is refined to suit the client’s needs. Then Matt provides a firm cost and timing for the work.
The design process can take a week or so. Most projects require about two weeks for fabrication at his shop at Midland and Ellesmere and then two to three days for installation. He does most of the work himself, but often brings in electrical, plumbing and upholstery specialists as needed.
Matt enjoys all his assignments, but a recent favourite was a mudroom that included a walnut bench, walnut chevron panelling and navy-blue cabinetry. He says that challenging jobs are his “bread and butter” and cites an example where he created a set of display shelves for a collection of antique boxes mounted in the peaked wall of a cathedral ceiling. While other companies declined the project, Matt created an “enormous wall of shelves in the triangular section of the wall, which wrapped around a window, incorporated lights and included a rolling library ladder for access to the shelves.” It was “a super cool project,” he said.
Matt takes great pride in his work and has received many glowing reviews on HomeStars and elsewhere. Some Leaside clients have praised his “expertise and design sense,” “thoughtful suggestions,” professionalism, “outstanding attention to detail,” excellent communication and exceptional craftsmanship. Many comments conclude with how happy they are with the “perfect” results that “look even better than imagined” because of the end result of the handcrafted cabinetry and millwork, according to Matt.
The woodworker finds “a deep satisfaction in making tangible objects come to life” and gets a great deal of enjoyment from the creative and problem-solving aspects of his work. It seems his clients share his enthusiasm.
Matt’s website can be found at: https://matthewtormey.ca/.
