Marcus Sly - Furniture Making and Design

In the last couple of days I've been making some drawers to act as a "desk-tidy" in a bureaux, and it's caused me to reflect on how important it is that a craftsperson should have some sense of fun - the child in us loves cubby holes, secret spaces, little handcrafted knick-knacks, things that fit together in a clunky, unassuming way.  I like to indulge that child where possible - the things we have around us should be fun and enjoyable as well as merely useful, or attractive.  They're enjoyable for adults, and children growing up around such things can be left with an enriching, tactile memory of home.  The things we own should not just fulfil their function, but should make us smile to ourselves when we use them.

This morning I passed a house that was having it's old timber sash windows taken out and replaced with plastic framed ones, and it struck me that plastic windows are the very antithesis of fun.  An old sash window, even though it needs painting and may get stiff as the timbers swell in winter, has character; each one behaves slightly differently, and there is fun to be had in the mechanisms of weights ropes and pulleys.  A plastic window on the other hand is a joy free zone.  There is nothing remotely fun or entertaining about it.  Granted they are effective insulators (as are many wooden windows), but their main reason d'etre, the reason that so many are sold, is simply that you don't have to paint them.  It's not a positive choice in favour of something wonderful, but a negative choice taken to save money and time.