Seaside resident Debbie Sandersen, owner and operator of PNW Cabinets.

Two weeks after Debbie Sandersen signed a lease on a showroom for PNW Cabinets along U.S. Highway 101 in Gearhart, Clatsop County, like the rest of the world, went into shutdown mode amid the pandemic.

Sandersen said the experience was nerve-wracking — “wondering how it’s all going to go, and would you get enough of a customer base and everything to keep going” — but she nevertheless plunged forward with her business plan.

Initially, she took solace, believing it would give her more time to set up her showroom in Gearhart. Instead, however, the pandemic had the opposite effect, and Sandersen has experienced a nonstop stream of business for cabinets, countertops, window coverings and tiles.

“We’ve been so busy that there’s not really been much down time at all, which has been fun, because you’ve always got a project to work on,” she said.

While cultivating clients hasn’t been a problem, the pandemic brought other challenges. Not only have raw materials gone up in price over the past year, but shipping costs have also escalated exponentially. Meanwhile, a global shortage of shipping containers has emerged, leading to further inflation. There are also long lead times on acquiring certain materials and products.

An important part of dealing with these external challenges is simply being upfront with clients to establish realistic expectations, Sandersen said.

During her initial consultation, she’ll delve into lead times and how that can influence the timeline and cost of a project.

If clients aren’t in a rush, “they can pretty much get what they want,” she said. If they are on a particular timeline, she’ll direct them toward alternatives.

That sort of insight into the market is what Sandersen strives to provide all her clients when designing residential and commercial spaces and helping with product selection.

“I really focus on listening to what their needs are and trying to get them everything they need to make that particular project come about in the way that they’re thinking,” she said.

Sandersen summed up her experience as being “raised in the industry,” particularly the woodworking end of things.

She’s been designing for about 18 years, although it was always under the umbrella of a larger company. Eventually, she decided to branch out on her own.

“Since this was the skill set I had mostly, we just decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on this,” she said.

She felt it was important to create a showroom, since there aren’t many local establishments where people can look at samples of materials or different products.

“It seemed like there was a need out here for people to have a place to go to see things and get work done,” she said.

Sandersen frequently works in tandem with her husband Kurt’s business, KHS Northwest. She helps with design and materials acquisition, while his contracting company provides installation services for home and business owners that need them.

He’s worked in the industry for a long time and in multiple capacities, from remediation and restoration to managing projects and running a handyman business. Now, his main focus is doing installs alongside PNW Cabinets.

While they keep their installation projects focused to the North Coast from Astoria to Nehalem, Sandersen has established a much wider service area when it comes to design.

She’s worked on projects for clients in Bend, southern Oregon and even Idaho, providing design services from afar and then having materials shipped to them.

Even when designing remodels or new construction on the coast, Sandersen is no stranger to working virtually with clients. That’s due in large part to the abundance of second homes and vacation rentals in the area. In fact, long-distance projects comprise about 50% of her business.

Recently, Sandersen has also worked with numerous clients who are moving to the coast and turning their second homes into their primary residence. While those spaces might have served them well as temporary vacation homes, they aren’t suitable for long-term, daily living — and that’s where Sandersen steps in.

“Usability and functionality — those are two huge parts of the project,” she said. “Everybody stores things differently, or has different lifestyle needs. It’s just figuring out what those are to get it right for them.”

When she’s able to accomplish that for a client, regardless of the type of project and scope of work, she finds it rewarding.

“I like to help people get what they envision, what they want, and make it all work out so they don’t really have to make sacrifices on quality, or color, or whatever it is they’re thinking,” she said. “When they’re happy, that makes me happy.”