Designing Furniture
Designing Well-Crafted, Pleasing and Useful Pieces of Furniture

In this book you'll 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

Introduction:

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 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

Table of Contents:

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
 

Soft-cover, 8-1/2 x 10-7/8 in., 160 pages, with color photos and drawings
Published 2004

ISBN: 978-1-56158-684-4