I’m 27 years old this year and have been working in semiconductor industrial piping (stainless-steel welding) for two years. In other words, I work for a TSMC subcontractor on plant construction projects.

My current position is foreman, but I’m actually not very interested in welding. After doing it for two years, I find it really tiring and boring.

I’m just about to enter the next stage of my life, and my family circumstances also allow me to pursue my dreams.

My dream is to learn residential interior renovation—the more high-end, the better.

However, after going through a series of interviews, I’ve learned that system cabinetry seems to be doing quite well too.

So I’d like to ask all the experienced people here:

1. Are high-end luxury residences mainly done with custom woodworking, or do they mostly use system cabinets?

I hope someone in the industry can answer this. This is the direction I want to work toward in the future.

I’ve applied to some system-cabinet jobs that involve installation only, with no woodworking (which seems to be the more budget-oriented type), and the going salary is low.

However, there is also one company that makes high-end system cabinets. The owner said that some of the work would involve woodworking, and the going salary is higher.

But I still don’t really understand:

2. What exactly does the “woodworking” part of system cabinets refer to?

Or are system furniture and system cabinets different things after all? I heard the owner repeatedly emphasize that it was “system furniture.”

3. Are the prospects for woodworking good? I’ve often heard that system cabinets are gradually replacing traditional woodworking (because of formaldehyde, cost, and time).

I previously watched some basic introductions on YouTube, and it seems that certain intricate designs still have to be completed through custom woodworking.

Otherwise, I really want to learn woodworking, especially for high-end residences. I’m worried that it will be difficult to get through the early stage and that the market conditions won’t be good later on. That would be a huge loss of time and effort.

I hope someone in the industry can give me some guidance. Thank you very much, everyone.

https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=60561&snA=17868

I’m not a custom woodworker or a system-cabinet installer, but rather a design company that mainly takes on construction projects.

Based on your questions, I’ll give you some brief answers for reference.

1. High-end luxury residences are all done with custom woodworking, such as applying real-wood veneer, using solid-wood flooring, or, in top-level luxury residences, even using whole pieces of solid wood for laser engraving. In other words, you won’t see any system cabinets.

2. The biggest difference between system furniture and custom woodworking is that the materials are completely different. Any project with even a modest level of quality will not use system furniture.

System furniture only appears in commercial spaces with insufficient budgets, small home-renovation projects with insufficient budgets, or projects involving unscrupulous designers.

3. It’s difficult to say whether the prospects for woodworking are good. However, as for the claim that system furniture will replace custom-made wooden furniture, that is basically very unlikely. The materials’ durability, among other things, is on a completely different level. As long as the project has a high budget, system cabinets will not appear. At most, you might see system kitchen cabinets—the kind where a single kitchen setup costs over a million.

The experience required of system-furniture and woodworking craftsmen is different. Woodworking requires more experience, and the range of work is also more varied.

For example:

A system-furniture worker only makes furniture. When a woodworking craftsman arrives at a job site, they don’t only make wooden furniture. Someone who only makes furniture isn’t considered a craftsman in the woodworking trade.

Woodworking requires work such as sliding doors, fabric-upholstered base panels, layout and marking, veneering, and various other tasks. Therefore, among all the trades on a job site, carpenters have the highest wages.