Yes Shed Plan

Fashion Proof

I approach my woodworking avocation from several different personal view points. I want to build things that will last the test of time. I want to build things that are beautiful and artistic. I want to build things that are challenging, I want to build things that others will appreciate. I want to build things . . .   you get the point.

If I boil all those strained and sometimes conflicting desires into one homogenous sauce it would taste and smell like independance. I want more in life than to be the consumer Ive been socially conditioned to become. I hate, HATE, the built in obsolescence of nearly everything built and sold today, where its cheaper to throw away and buy new than it is to repair, renew, and replace.

Flipping channels the other day, I found myself watching "Hometime" on PBS. Its a standard home improvement / remodel / build stuff television show. The episode covered part of a complete kitchen tear out and remodel. The host was interviewing the lady the show had contracted to do the design work and create the layouts and elevations for the custom cabinetry shop to follow. I was a little struck when she said what I found to be the oddest thing.

"You have to be sure you like the design of the kitchen cabinets you put into your home because youre going to have them for the next twenty to thirty years. I tell customers you have to think about them like theyre permanent furniture for your home."

If "twenty to thirty years" is the equivalent to "permanent" then I am swimming in the wrong depth of water. By deductive contrast the "less permanent" furniture in your house should debatably be swapped out for new every three to five years.

How could anyone reasonably keep that pace and still pay for high quality furniture? By the default of rotting replacement youd be relegated to the purchase of cheap, big box store, pressboard crap. Better yet, if you only have to look at a furniture shaped object for four years, then the proportions, design, and affect of the piece are things hardly considered.

I want to build furniture that is fashion proof. Pieces that will stick and stay around for generations, not something that will be set out on the curb or discarded for a shiney new poly finish on the supermarket shelf. The strategies to accomplish that are several fold. Foundationally it happens through real wood construction using traditional, strong joinery. As woodworkers we can all appreciate these things in spades, but truthfully its something only only another maker truly notices or cares about. The average man on the street isnt able to discern between mortise and tenon joinery over a handful of pocket screws unless hes educated about it, and even then the amount he retains or cares about is probably minimal.

The real strategy to get someone who doesnt know a thing about woodworking to give a crap is in the design of a piece.

We have a new home we are getting used to and everywhere I look I see spaces for furniture to build. I have the technical skill and ability to build these things, but its important to me to do things right and build things that count for the long term. Im just smart enough to know the ability to cut dovetails and joinery isnt the complete picture to filling a home with furniture. Thanks to Jim Tolpin and George Walkers book "By Hand and Eye" Ive been doing a lot of learning and thinking about design lately. There will be more of these thoughts to come.

Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf