Matt Arguin likes to build things. After learning carpentry at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School, he worked for a cabinet maker for 10 years and in 2005 started building a different project: his own business. ­Arguin, 38, runs Southcoast Kitchen Designs, which he started in Middleborough and recently moved to Carver, buying the old Benjamin Ellis School and an old town fire station next door. The business offers kitchen design and remodeling in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with cabinet lines like Eastman Street, Aristocraft, and Palette. We spoke to ­Arguin for this story.

Q. Why did you decide to start your own business?

A. I worked for a cabinet maker right out of high school and did everything, but felt there wasn’t much vertical movement, so I went off on my own. I started out doing countertop replacements and then around 2009 started offering cabinetry.

Q. How has business been over the past 11 years?

A. It’s been good; we’ve had an increase in sales every year except two.

Q. Why the move to Carver?

A. It got to the point where we couldn’t show all our products in the Middleborough location — it was too small at around 650 square feet. I looked around and wanted to stay in Middleborough, but couldn’t find the right property. When the old school in Carver came up, I fell in love with it. I was looking for something unique with big rooms and high ceilings, and this historic building, which dates to 1932, has two floors with about 4,200 square feet.

Q. How many people work there?

A. I started with just myself, then got a designer and now have two designers, plus a part-time support staff.

Q. Is the market for your business getting better?

A. The market is picking up more rapidly. During the recession, people couldn’t move because their mortgages were upside down, so they’d remodel. That’s what got us through. People who neglected their kitchens are finding the economy better, so we’re finding that people who would have done the project five or six years ago are doing it now.

Q. You just won a pretty big award, right?

A. Yes, we won a BRAGB (Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston) PRISM Silver Award for “Best Kitchen Remodel Under $125,000.’’ That’s why I like doing this. Every client is different; you want to have that vision for them and mold and design projects to their tastes.

Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at pkandarian@aol.com.