For Unusually Inexpensive Cabinets

ELEPHANTS CUSTOM FURNITURE elephantscustomfurniture.com; 646-812-5313  JULIANA CODAS AND GOKHAN DOGUER charge about $2,000 for an unadorned bathroom vanity made of Baltic birch, which, in the world of built-ins, is on the inexpensive side of things. Though the firm is equally comfortable using more luxurious woods and finishes, “you don’t get a lot of shops who can do a range of work and have it be consistent at all price points,” says Tania Chau, the interior-design director of Alda Ly Architecture. Chau has worked with Elephants on tasks as big as creating open shelving, toy storage, and closets for a kids’ playroom and as small as repainting the doors on kitchen cabinets. And Elephants is fast, too: A typical kitchen takes most contractors 12 to 14 weeks, but Elephants averages just six (its cabinets cost about $1,600 apiece). While it’s used to designers and architects coming in with a full set of specifications for a project, Elephants is happy to work with clients who show up with, say, just a magazine tear-out of a table.