Inspiration, where does it come from??? PIC

[Gord Graff]

Hi All,

Do you ever wonder where your inspiration for your furniture designs comes from? I had a friend over for coffee the other day and he smiled from ear to ear when he saw our kitchen table and chairs. I never thought anything of it because the set was made 10 years ago out of necessity, I didn’t have the money for a new kitchen set and my 3 kids had worn out our previous set. This was a simple and inexpensive alternative to a store bought set.

The idea came from some woodworkers in California that were experimenting with plywood designs during the seventies and it seemed like the thing to do at that time.

Where does your inspiration, designs or styles come from? Are you tied to a given style (Shaker, Mission, Modern etc.) or do you wing it.

All the best
Gord

[Bob Lasley]

Gord,

I think the table and chairs look pretty cool. I suppose my influences come from a little of everywhere. I lean a little toward the mission/craftsman styles but I don't follow the "rules" of any particular style. I find something I like in many styles. I did recently see a little antique drop leaf table in an Arkansas irish pub, no kidding, that I very much want to build, but it won't be an exact copy. I like to make the designs I build mine, at least in some way.

Bob

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'm with Bob...I see something I like and file the memory away with all the others floating around in my head. I can't hardly stand to follow a plan exactly...gotta do something to put my 'stamp' on it. I've really started enjoying the Mission/A&C designs, and that's probably most of what I've done in the last year or so (other than the tables and chairs that pay the bills). I like the challenge of getting all the slats the same size, and cutting a jillion or so mortises and the whole deal coming together.

KC

[Jason Roehl]

I'm not going to rock the boat here...I like the table and chairs just fine. Much of woodworking throughout the ages has been due to a need for utility, though certainly it can cover the whole spectrum between that and pure form and no function. I'm not big on following plans personally--though that has its place. For me, I like the mental challenge of coming up with all the dimensions and using, as Bill Grumbine said, "ButtCAD" when your quick sketches somehow don't match the reality of what came off the tools.

[Jim Becker]

Great topic, Gord. My personal inspiration for furniture design comes from several folks...Thos Moser (http://www.thosmoser.com) and George Nakashima top the list with Chris Becksvoort right up there. There also have been several design/technique articles over the years in Fine Woodworking that I keep coming back to as I think about future projects, such as the sideboard construction article on page 42 in the October 1999 issue by Will Neptune of the North Bennett Street School. I'm hoping to use that technique for a sideboard that is needed for our dining room one of these days.

But then again, I'm always amazed at the number of clippings I have from Pottery Barn in my "ideas folder"! Sometimes you just never know where you'll find just the right design for your needs.

[Tom Stovell]

My inspiration comes from several sources--we have different 'looks' to different areas of the house. Our front room is a formal parlor with QA inspired furniture (we painted the floor to look like marble tiles and the 'faux' timber-frame trim is a salmon color), the dining room is Shaker and the family room is more of a country look with pieces influenced by the W&M stlyings.

I, too, have a clip-file, but mine came from either Early American Life or the magazine 'Antiques' that our local library sells for .25 every so often.

Makes it a bit more interesting than one theme throughout the entire house--even though we have a rather small house and lot here in the heart of the corn-and-soy belt of Ohio.

Good thread....

TomS

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

I also lean toward the Arts & Crafts/Mission style in furniture, but almost anything that catches my eye is what I enjoy. I also enjoy designing things that are not the norm..........creativity is the biggest challenge and I feel the most rewarding. Winging it can be very enjoyable.......especially when it works! :) Many of the Decorative Boxes I build start with a concept, and evolve during the process. Mixing Wood Species that compliment one another, and unique design details are what make Woodworking enjoyable for me. Some turn out less than what I had expected, but I have learned something, so all was not lost. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have a friend who is a budding Woodworker, and I think he puts it best when asked what inspires him.............."I just do what the voices inside my head tell me to". :D (You would have to know this guy to really understand that statement!) ;)

(By the way Gord, your Table and Chairs are awesome!)

[Phil Phelps]

....I like cut and carved moldings. Chippendale era. No wonder I don't make anything :D

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I'm influenced by everything I see in stores, books, magazines, etc. I tend toward the modern stuff right now which is my wife's influence. She lets me buy all the tools so she gets some input plus I value her opinion. I've only been doing this about a year and lovin' it. Alan in Md.

[Gord Graff]

Hi All,

I'm the first to admit that I play with different designs all the time. I once made a hall table with legs that were designed after the hind leg of my German Shepherd. The clock below was one of those times when I had far too much time on my hands and a bin full of cut offs. Thanks for your comments on the above thread......................I'm getting another design idea.

All the best
Gord

[Jim Becker]

The clock below was one of those times when I had far too much time on my hands and a bin full of cut offs.

That clock would command a small fortune on it's price tag at any of the local galleries around here! Great job!

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I am an avid magazine looker...I grab any magazine and look at nearly every page, sometimes something catches my eye and I file it away in the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Sometimes it gets built sometimes it doesn't, but they all get used for something.

[Gord Graff]

That clock would command a small fortune on it's price tag at any of the local galleries around here! Great job!


Howdy Jim,

I'm glad you think that this clock would command a small fortune, it's just a scrap bin project as far as I'm concerned. In fact the picture below is of the back of this clock and the comment on it sums up what I was thinking at the time. Thanks so much again for you kind words.

All the best
Gord

[Dave Anderson NH]

First and foremost I always have a source of projects, after all I am married. Sue is not bashful or afraid of pointing to a picture in Albert Sack's The New Fine Points of Furniture- Early American or New England Furniture at Winterthur- Queen Anne and Chippendale and saying the simple words, "could you make that for me?" Execution is always more difficult than the request.

Shop furniture and fixtures usually are an adaptation of some piece from a woodworking book or magazine that seemed to meet my needs.

Hand tools are often made based on a magazine article, a piece on display in a museum, or from something I saw at an old tool auction.

I never really work from a set of drawings from a book, magazine, or purchased source. Most of the time I work from photos and scale them based on published dimensions. The balance of the time I just sketch something out and if I'm in a really ambitious mood draft up a scaled drawing or full sized plan. I personally find it most rewarding to have to puzzle out the design and construction and figure out how to make the piece. The reality is that once I have a rough sketch, I just wing it.