Sawdust on the Floor

As a woodworker, I am always looking for new ideas for projects even though our house is totally jammed as it is. I would like to be able to tell you that every thing I built came from my mind and was totally original, but the sad truth is that I don’t have that vivid of an imagination.  So I do what most mortals do, I take inspiration from the work of others. 

Now I don’t know why it is, but to me it seems that if one woodworking magazine carries an article about say making a breadboard topped table, within a month every other magazine will make the same project, with slightly different finishes or hardware. Unless you want to make variations of the same breadboard topped table this really doesn’t help out. 

I used to think that the DIY shows on TV was the answer, but lately most have been re runs of the same things over and over again.  I mean how many times can you watch “Norm” make a candle stick table before you want to cry. So what’s a woodworker to do? 

As I sat in my hotel room writing this, I had what can best be described as a Homer Simpson moment “DUH”.  While the furniture in the hotel room was made of particle board, and laminate, it was really nice looking. That got me thinking about the furnishings of the hotel lobby, and again, there were some very interesting pieces there.  

I am not sure if or when I ever will really want to make a piece that looks like the stuff in the hotel, but if I do I want to have a record of the piece, and maybe some details  like size and material.  My cell phone like just about every other one in the world has the ability to take reasonable pictures, and then transfer them to your PC.  And that is exactly what I did for every piece that I found interesting.  I set up a folder on my PC that will contain all of these pictures along with the details, and when I need them or am looking for inspiration I will have my own collection of interesting pieces of work to draw from. 

The best part of this idea is that it didn’t cost me anything but a little of my time.    

Just in case your curious here are the pictures that inspired this posting.  The three drawers in this end table actually do not open, believe me I tried to open them.  If I were to build this end table I would find a way to make the drawers operable.  To me it’s just as much work to make fake fronts as it is to actually make the drawers.

You know, I was just  thinking, maybe I could make just one of these and put it into the guest bedroom and use it as a night stand.  The more I think about it, I wonder how much mahogany lumber I have in the shop,  I think this would really look good in mahogany, with a rich oil stain and some more modern hardware.  Good thing I already have the dimensions in my file along with these pictures.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Tools – Just How Important are Good Fences?
2. What makes a good woodworker?