Road Raves
14 APRIL 2009 www.modernwoodworking.com B eing at the right place at the right time helped Greg Mies, owner of From Trees to ese, nd a niche in the wood-working arena that has brought him not only nancial suc-cess but also a reputation for quality among owners of recreational vehicles. As a remodeler and customizer of motor homes, his client base today extends throughout the entire country. With a lifelong love of woodworking, Mies learned his cra by working in construction and cabinetry at an early age. A er many years in the commercial and residential cabinetry markets in and around Decatur, Ind., he was approached by American Coach, a nearby manufacturer of luxury motor homes, to do custom cabi-netry for one of its coaches. at was 18 years ago, and the RV industry was huge, says Mies. I kept getting more and more work and nally decided it was a niche I ought to get into. Today, Mies' company is a one-man operation, designing, build-ing and installing his customized solutions in a 10,000-sq.- . barn-like facility, which includes a new bay into which the motor homes may be pulled. ose in the coach industry are the nicest, most re-laxed people you could ever nd, he notes. ey are largely retired and have put their life investments into a high-dollar RV along with some other toys for a lifestyle on the go. ey don't want just any-one xing up their coach. e biggest reason I'm so well accepted in this industry is that I match things to a `T'. If I put something in, it's not going to be the wrong shape, nish or hardware. I've worked on RVs for so many years, no one can tell if my cabinetry has been added or if it is original. American Coach itself still calls me to do custom jobs. I do my own nishing, even high gloss, and I use the exact matching stain, for example. I know what to use by the coach identi cation number, although it's taken years to perfect that. Some unique marketing Although Mies mainly works on American Coach models, he also does work on other manufacturers' RVs as well. I've done every coach you can imagine from small ones to million dollar ones, he says, but the average coach I work on runs about $375,000. Nine years ago Mies started traveling around the country to attend the big coach rallies on the American Coach circuit. Mies sets up a booth at these get-togethers, which are attended by any-where from 300 RV owners to several thousand. At the rallies, Remodeler o ers customized solutions to RV owners By Brooke Baldwin Wisdom Road raves Decatur, Ind.-based From Trees to These provides customized solutions to RV owners in its 10,000-sq.-ft. barn-like facility, which includes a new bay into which the motor homes may be pulled. Wine storage, along with cabinets for at screen TVs are popular conversions in RV interiors. Motor home o ces are gaining in popularity as people travel with their laptops. Mies has built a reputation of being able to match new upgrades to a T . B eing at the right place at the right time helped Greg Mies, owner of From Trees to ese, nd a niche in the wood-working arena that has brought him not only nancial suc-cess but also a reputation for quality among owners of recreational vehicles. As a remodeler and customizer of motor homes, his client base today extends throughout the entire country. With a lifelong love of woodworking, Mies learned his cra by working in construction and cabinetry at an early age. A er many years in the commercial and residential cabinetry markets in and around Decatur, Ind., he was approached by American Coach, a nearby manufacturer of luxury motor homes, to do custom cabi-netry for one of its coaches. at was 18 years ago, and the RV industry was huge, says Mies. I kept getting more and more work and nally decided it was a niche I ought to get into. Today, Mies' company is a one-man operation, designing, build-ing and installing his customized solutions in a 10,000-sq.- . barn-like facility, which includes a new bay into which the motor homes may be pulled. ose in the coach industry are the nicest, most re-laxed people you could ever nd, he notes. ey are largely retired and have put their life investments into a high-dollar RV along with some other toys for a lifestyle on the go. ey don't want just any-one xing up their coach. e biggest reason I'm so well accepted in this industry is that I match things to a `T'. If I put something in, it's not going to be the wrong shape, nish or hardware. I've worked on RVs for so many years, no one can tell if my cabinetry has been added or if it is original. American Coach itself still calls me to do custom jobs. I do my own nishing, even high gloss, and I use the exact matching stain, for example. I know what to use by the coach identi cation number, although it's taken years to perfect that. Some unique marketing Although Mies mainly works on American Coach models, he also does work on other manufacturers' RVs as well. I've done every coach you can imagine from small ones to million dollar ones, he says, but the average coach I work on runs about $375,000. Nine years ago Mies started traveling around the country to attend the big coach rallies on the American Coach circuit. Mies sets up a booth at these get-togethers, which are attended by any-where from 300 RV owners to several thousand. At the rallies,