About twenty years ago, we did a major kitchen redo and purchased beautiful maple cabinets. Unfortunately, the finish was less than great and we realized that the oils from our hands had removed the finish around the knobs. Some friends who live in the Deerfield area told us of Ilya and A Phoenix Art Woodworks. We contacted him along with several other businesses. I was surprised by the cost, it was about $3600 for our less than huge kitchen, but in getting other estimates, we learned that he was more than in the ballpark and not the highest. We did get a lot of businesses pushing us to paint the cabinets, which we did not want to do.Ilya told us that it would take about a month, which it did. In early January, Ilya came by and removed and numbered the doors. We were then contacted in the third week and had to remove everything from our cabinets, filling large plastic containers that we stored in the dining room. Once Ilya and his assistant came in, it was exactly seven work days until completion. While doing the work, they meticulously covered the wood floor, any walls and ceiling adjacent to the cabinets, and went to work. The first few days, it was stripper, but frankly, the smell didnt linger and we did open windows slightly. Then it was sanding, and while doing that, they put plastic up to keep it in the kitchen. I must say that they were so careful that there was truly very little cleanup. Ilya asked me, before beginning, if I had touch up paint. I had just painted the kitchen, so that was easy. To be honest, to the usual eye, the touch up I am going to do would not even be noticed, Ilyas work being that professional and meticulous.Ilya and A Phoenix Art Woodworks is my kind of business. He comes in as a solid professional craftsman and does what he says he is going to do. He also, as my wife pointed out, has one of the nicest smiles around. He is a great guy and listens to his clients.Needless to say, we will do business with Ilya again. We are planning on having him refinish our family dining room table set with six chairs and two leaves. It served as a homework table as well as dining room table when our three boys, now in their mid to late thirties, were younger.One more thing, Ilya is a master at repairing small issues, scratches, and also put handles on our cabinets instead of pulls, to save on body oil damage to varnish. On the drawers, that necessitated filling in a hole and drilling two new ones. Ilya used actual wood to fill the hole, not filler. This is what he does.November 2020Ilya picked up our almost thirty year old dining room table, two leaves, and six chairs. Today, about a month later he brought back the most amazing table, better than new! Another superior job by Ilya! See below!You will not be disappointed if you go with Ilya, our Deerfield friends who told us about him were totally on the beam.

Ilya is truly an artist and master at his profession! Beautiful work and such a pleasure to do business with. Honest, reasonably priced, responsive and completes work in a timely manner. I highly recommend!!!

I made the mistake of thinking I could restore my piece of furniture. Then Ilya came to the rescue! I have never been so impressed with a service. Ilya is a master of his craft. He is professional, personable, and passionate about his work. Very fair price. Highly recommended, A++ service.

Ilya @ Phoenix Art Woodworks recently refinished the wooden seats of our kitchen chairs. They were over 20 years old and in pretty bad shape. We were wonderfully surprised when we picked them up. They looked brand new! Best of all, Ilya completed the work at a reasonable rate and on time! We will definitely use his services again and we would recommend him to others.

BEAUTIFUL REDO OF A PINE COFFEE TABLE AND KITCHEN TABLE INTO A GRAY FINISH. WORTH IT FOR THE COST BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH SOLID WOOD AND BETTER THAN WHATS IN THE STORES NOW. ILYA ASKED ME TO COME TO THE SHOWROOM TO MAKE SURE I LIKED THE WORK! LOVE!

I inherited dingy and dark but solid wood chairs. I felt like they were sturdy enough for a second life but needed some sort of makeover. I’m not a fan of Ikea or any of that flimsy fake wood, so I opted to see Ilya so he could lighten up the chairs with new and fresh seating. He did a fantastic job where we now eat in our kitchen again. Amazing work!!

This work was performed back in 2012 but the review and my remarks still hold true: I had an antique baby bassinet that has been in my family for generations. Its been passed around between family and friends and had seen some better days and needed some repair before it could be hopefully be one day used again for my own children. I contacted many antique refinishers to give me a quote but no one would even touch it because it was an antique, and would be around children. Phoenix Art Woodworks gave me a quote, and it was very reasonable. They repaired it, repainted it, and it looks amazing. I know it will be around for more generations to come. We will be using them again in the future for more projects!

I had a wonderful experience with Ilya fixing my broken chair! He promised it would be ready in two days, & it was fixed perfectly. His prices are very fair & I would use his services again. I highly recommend Phoenix Furniture Repair in Wheeling!

I have a strong love and appreciation for antique heavy wood pieces. They can outlive you, your children and then your grandchildren. I tend to get attached to my furniture pieces and simply modify the upholstery or stain to match my current taste. Ilya had helped make my dreams come true on several pieces. I found a really nice but old armoire at an antique mall for about $75 on sale. It was old and grungy but had plenty of character. I had Ilya pick it up directly from the shop and stain it in a cherry type of stain. The work was simply amazing. The armoire looked brand new even though it was really 50 years old. I can’t stop looking at it.

Excellent wood refurbishment workmanship. Made my water-damaged desk look brand new and matched the existing color perfectly. Thank you Ilya for the fast and professional work.

One of our installers moved a customers antique chest and then put a stack of blankets on it. His partner came by and stacked the TV on top of the blankets, crushing the top of the chest. The lady was distraught; this had been her grandmothers chest. I asked Ilya to see if there was anything he could do, even though I was not hopeful. Well, to make a long story short, she was ecstatic. She actually thanked me for the way we handled it (by sending someone like Ilya out to rectify our mistake) and, I think, she ended up with a more favorable opinion of us than if this situation hadnt come up in the first place.

We highly recommend A Phoenix Art Woodworks! Thanks to Ilya for his quality work in making a new decorative spindle to replace the broken spindle on our kitchen chair. It is a perfect match!

My old wood furniture needed a touch up. Phoenix Woodworks gave me an estimate, and showed me samples of their previous work. I hired them on the spot with no regrets!

Great people to work with. They make it simple and easy to understand what you are getting and the process to do so.

He was terrific!