We’re Not Building an AI That Designs Your Kitchen
Myron WittmerCabinet software you can actually change on your own.
Cabinet software has spent twenty-five years training shops to need somebody else. Grainwork is the cabinet platform built to give shops back control of the work.
Read the full letter →Join the shops building the alternative · no pitch, no spam
The Problem
Twenty-five years of learned dependency.
You buy the software.
You pay for the setup.
You pay for the training.
You pay for support.
You pay again when your shop changes.
And somehow, after all that, you still cannot fully control the most important tool in your building.
When you need to change a construction method, add a new drawer guide, create a custom door style, or adjust a report — now you need a consultant, a script, a support ticket, or a workaround.
The features are technically there. The control is not.
Read why this has to change →The Gap
The world changed. Cabinet software mostly didn't.
Software got better.
Hardware got better.
Cloud became normal.
Modern tools became easier to learn, easier to run, and easier to change.
In too many shops, the software is still the one tool that demands a specialist to operate, a workstation to babysit, and a paid expert to translate what the shop already knows. That is the old model. We are not interested in preserving it.
What We're Hearing
Turns out, it was never just you.
We said one honest thing about cabinet software. Within days, shops wrote back — owners, designers, production managers — describing the same problems in almost the same words. None of them had compared notes. They didn't need to. What follows is real, pulled straight from those replies.
We pay for seats nobody else can use.
Every task takes hours and hours just to set up.
Honestly — I'm ready for something new.
We lost weeks of work when an update broke our database.
Paying every year for support that never comes.
The slowness on a big job is its own kind of exhausting.
We feel like we need to be computer wizzes just to get a job out the door.
We just lost the guy who finally learned the system.
Too much of how we build lives in one person's head.
I don't have time to relearn it every update.
I'd love to kick it to the curb.
We've already walked away from it.
I'm holding off on a big purchase to see this first.
Everything you wrote is how I already felt.
None of this is unusual. That is the problem.
What We Believe
The shop should be in control of the work.
Not the consultant. Not the IT contractor. Not the vendor's support queue. The shop.
A cabinetmaker should not need permission to do their own work.
No consultant required.
Strong defaults. Real working setup. A shop should be able to get in and get moving without a paid implementation project.
No dependency-first design.
If you need to change a rule, update a standard, or adjust how the system works, you should be able to do it without chasing down a specialist.
Custom work should be normal.
Not an exception. Not a crisis. Not the point where the software falls apart.
No IT circus.
No dedicated cabinet computer. No server. No fragile install. No outdated license model. Modern software should work like modern software.
Manufacturing comes first.
Not just pretty pictures. Not just sales flow. The real test is whether the output works on the shop floor.
AI has a job. It is not the whole job.
AI helps with setup, system changes, and maintenance. The cabinets, rules, and shop output still need structure. That is how you make software easier to use without making the results harder to trust.
What You Can Do
From room layout to shop-ready output.
Grainwork is being built to help shops lay out rooms, build cabinets on a parametric foundation, set up shop rules faster, and generate output they can actually use in production.
01
Lay out the room
Start with the space, place cabinets, and keep the job connected as the layout changes.
02
Build cabinets with rules
Cabinets are driven by dimensions, materials, construction logic, and shop standards, not one-off edits that create problems later.
03
Set up your shop faster
Tune materials, doors, drawer guides, hardware, and shop standards so they match the way you build, without every change turning into a side project.
04
Generate shop-ready output
Move from design into cut lists, part data, and CNC-ready output with logic the shop can inspect and trust.
Why I'm Building This
I've made a living as a cabinet software consultant. I'd rather build the tool that removes that dependency.
I started on the shop floor. Since then I've worked one-on-one with cabinet shops, fixing broken setups, untangling construction standards, writing scripts, and helping teams get control of systems they already paid for but still couldn't really use.
After enough years doing that work, one thing became impossible to ignore: good shops were carrying too much software burden just to get dependable output. The industry got used to it. I don't think it has to stay that way.
Grainwork is the tool I kept wishing I could recommend.
Myron WittmerFounder · Grainwork
In Development
Deep before wide. Working before flashy.
Grainwork is under active development. Right now, the focus is on the core workflow a production shop has to trust before anything else matters: room layout, cabinet logic, shop setup, and manufacturing output.
The goal is not to ship the longest feature list. The goal is to build the part of the system a shop can actually run work through.
First shops: August 2026. A small, closed group — by invitation only.
Focus areasStay informed
Room layout and cabinet design
Building the core design workflow on a parametric foundation that keeps the job connected as it changes.
Shop setup and system rules
Making it easier to define materials, hardware, doors, drawer guides, and the standards that drive how a shop builds.
Manufacturing output
Creating output the shop can inspect and trust, including part data, cut logic, and CNC-ready information.
From the Blog
Thoughts on cabinet software and manufacturing.
All posts →Myron Wittmer
Standard Base Is Not a Name
Myron Wittmer
The Catalog Is the Wrong Place to Start
Myron Wittmer
Collaboration In Software Should Feel Normal
Myron Wittmer
The Problem With Letting One Person Be the System
Myron Wittmer
Why Cabinet Shops Get Stuck Depending on Consultants
Myron WittmerFAQ
The answers worth having.
Is this just another AI product?+
No.
There are a lot of AI-built apps hitting the market right now, and a lot of them feel like they were put together fast just because the tools made it possible. That is real. The barrier to entry dropped hard, and the build-versus-buy landscape has changed fast, especially in the last year.
I am using AI heavily. I think that would be stupid not to.
But this is not a one-prompt build, and it is not an app where AI is making random cabinet decisions and hoping they work out. Grainwork still has to be planned, architected, tested, and built around how real shops actually work. It has to reflect how cabinets are constructed, how machining works, how output gets trusted on the floor, and how users actually think when they are trying to get a job out the door.
That part does not come from hype. It comes from experience.
What AI changes for me is speed. It helps me build faster, test ideas faster, and lower the cost of creating software. What it does not replace is software architecture, product planning, CAD and machining understanding, user testing, or thinking carefully about how the system should behave when a shop depends on it.
So yes, AI is a big part of how Grainwork is being built.
But the real differentiator is not that AI touched the code. The differentiator is the product itself: how it is structured, how it is tested, how the workflow is designed, and whether it actually solves the right problems for cabinet shops.
That is the standard I care about.
What makes this different from other cabinet software?+
A lot of the software in this space was built in a different era, and it shows.
Yes, part of the problem is the stuff users feel every day. Windows-only environments. Buggy behavior. Hard installs. Slow learning curves. Systems that take too much effort just to keep running. That part is real.
But the deeper issue is underneath all of that. A lot of these platforms are built on decades-old code and old assumptions about how software should work. That makes it harder to rethink the product in a serious way. Harder to simplify the workflow. Harder to build better integrations. Harder to take advantage of AI in a useful way. Harder to connect with the newer tools, automations, and systems that modern businesses are starting to rely on.
That gap is only going to get bigger.
Grainwork is different because it is being built around a more modern foundation from the start. The goal is not just to make cabinet software look newer. The goal is to make it easier to use, easier to maintain, easier to connect, and easier to keep moving forward as the industry changes.
That matters because cabinet shops do not just need software that works today. They need software that can keep up with where business, manufacturing, and technology are going next.
Who is this for?+
Grainwork is for production cabinet shops that want a better way to get from layout to manufacturing output.
It is for shops that care about how the work actually gets built. Shops that need reliable part data, clear output, and a system that does not take a full-time expert just to keep it running.
It is a good fit for owners, production managers, lead designers, engineers, and technical people inside a shop who are tired of carrying too much software burden just to get dependable results.
It is especially for growing shops that have outgrown spreadsheets, workarounds, and older systems that take too much setup, too much maintenance, and too much effort to trust.
If your shop wants stronger manufacturing capability in a system that is easier to learn, easier to manage, and easier to build on, that is who Grainwork is for.
What does it cost?+
Grainwork is priced per designer — the people actively building cabinets and generating output.
Shop floor staff, production managers, and customer views are free. There are no add-on modules, no per-machine fees, and no setup cost charged separately.
More details will come as we get closer to launch.
Why should I switch?+
Switching software is a big decision. I do not take that lightly.
A lot of shops have thousands of dollars, years of setup work, and a lot of hard-earned knowledge tied up in the systems they already use. That is real. Even when the software is frustrating, switching still feels risky because you are not just replacing a tool. You are touching workflow, output, training, and the way the shop gets work done every day.
For a real production shop, I would not recommend a hard stop and switch.
The better path is to get access, run through some jobs, test a cabinet, validate the output, and build confidence over time. Then, once the system proves itself, you can start making a more complete transition away from the old one.
That is especially true because Grainwork is still an early stage product. It is going to take a little time to earn that trust. But that is exactly how it should work. Software that affects real shop output should be proven, not blindly adopted.
If your current system is still serving you well, keep using it.
But if you already know the cost of staying is adding up, it makes sense to start testing what comes next.
Grainwork is being built for shops that want to make that move carefully, practically, and with a clear eye on the future.
We're giving shops back to themselves.
Add your shop to the list. You'll get honest updates as we build — and you'll be first in line when the early group opens.
Read the full manifesto →