about NR Hiller design
“We had been saving up for a car. Cars wear out. Your work wears in.”— P. Ash, Bloomington, Indiana
Inspired by architecture and furnishings from the late-19th through the mid–20th century, we design and craft furniture, cabinetry, and other built-ins with a strong period feel. We pride ourselves on taking each job from start to finish — beginning with close discussion of aesthetic and practical considerations through drawing, production, and painstaking installation.
Every job we undertake is highly customized in design and craftsmanship. We specialize in paying such close attention to the character of our clients’ homes that our work is often mistaken for part of their houses’ original fabric.
As craftspersons we have expertise in a wide variety of techniques, including hand-cut dovetails, hand turning of cabinet pulls, carving, and finely scribed installations.
Our work has been published in Fine Woodworking, Old-House Interiors, American Bungalow, Arts and Crafts Homes, Style: 1900, Victorian Homes, and Indianapolis at Home magazines.
About the Designer
Nancy Hiller trained as a furniture maker while living in England. After earning a City and Guilds of London certificate she worked for Roy Griffiths, a Slade trained designer, building “old pine” kitchens at his Crosskeys Joinery. She later worked for Millside Cabinetmakers and briefly in the carpentry shop of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford Airbase, before returning to the United States. Here she worked for Wall-Goldfinger and Credence Custom Furniture before pursuing degrees in religious studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. Nancy has taught cabinet making at Kelly Mehler's School of Woodworking. She has operated NR Hiller Design, Inc. since 1995.
“Nancy is an amazing cabinetmaker…. But even more, she is very ethical and works extremely hard to please her clients.”
— Lee Sandweiss, Bloomington, Indiana