Designing Furniture

Designing a piece of furniture should be fun. Yet woodworkers who think nothing of building a complicated jig or mastering a difficult finish feel lost when it comes to designing a piece of furniture. The articles in this book will help you understand the basics of designing for both form and function and learn approaches to planning your designs for successful construction.

In this book youll discover:

• Design inspiration - from Shaker to Arts & Crafts
• The four objectives of furniture design
• Drafting basics and how to create working drawings
• How to choose the best construction methods for your designs
• Models that help projects succeed
• Tips for designing graduated drawers, legs and aprons, doors
• Design strategies for coffee tables, sideboards, chests of drawers

THE NEW BEST OF FINE WOODWORKING series collects classic articles from the last 10 years of Fine Woodworking magazine (published between 1992 and 2002). Organized by topic, fully indexed, these books make it easy to access the best woodworking ideas and information straight from the experts.

Introduction

1. Finding Design Inspiration
A Short History of Design
Quintessential Arts and Crafts
Building in the Language of Greene and Greene
Elements of the Shaker Style

2. Developing Designs and Organizing Projects
Furniture Design: The Four Objectives
Designing Furniture: A Survival Guide
Building Without Plans
Creating Working Drawings
Drafting Basics
Models Help Projects Succeed
Organize Your Projects
A Drafting Table for Shop or Home

3. Construction by Design
Doors Make the Difference
Joining Legs to Aprons
Graduated Drawers
Exposing Your Back Side

4. Designing Furniture
Making Dining Tables That Work
Large-Case Construction Strategies
Designing a Chest of Drawers
Sideboard Strategies

5. Designing for Style and Function
Designing on the Go: A Coffee Table Takes Shape
Where Furniture Meets the Floor
Dressing Up a Basic Box
Going Over Edges
Designing Table Legs

Credits

Index

There is something wonderful about turning a rough idea into a well-crafted, pleasing and useful piece of furniture. The successful furniture makers find a way to tie the piece together with little consistent details. They expertly craft the way the horizontal surfaces meet and compliment the vertical lines and parts. Their eyes and minds give them the proportions that make the piece of furniture feel grounded and statuesque at the same time.

But it doesnt just happen -- at least not for most of us. Every woodworker should save his or her first original project, just as a reminder of how far theyve come. My greatest furniture-making disaster is also the only piece Ive ever sold. It was a svelte but pitiful wall rack for displaying plates. The shelves were too small, the joinery was ugly and the finish was not finished. But some needy soul took pity on it and its $5 price tag at our yard sale.

My second, and much more original, project is still in our house, although its been relegated to the basement guest room. Now, when guests remark on the crude, pine coffee table, I joke that my blind grandfather made it. My ego doesnt suffer because I assume theyve seen the subsequent furniture projects were good enough to bring up from the basement.

Ive learned a great deal about furniture design in the years since that coffee table took shape. Much of it I learned from the woodworkers who have written the chapters of this book, because many have been sharing their secrets in the pages of Fine Woodworking magazine for years. In the chapters that follow, youll find guidance on furniture styles such as Arts & Crafts and Shaker. Youll learn about developing your sense of aesthetic design and the correct approaches to construction design.

The Taunton Press editors of this book searched the issues of Fine Woodworking magazine to find the best articles about designing furniture. The advice from our experienced authors will surely improve your appreciation for all fine furniture design. And if your woodworking projects are already good enough to bring up from the basement, youll undoubtedly find that your future work will be even better than what youve already put on display.

Tim Schreiner
publisher, Fine Woodworking