Marcus Sly - Furniture Making and Design

Whenever I'm working on a new piece I seem to go through a period of coming up with wild and ingenious ideas.  I find myself thinking, "wouldn't it be interesting or 'funky' to.......".

This happened last night at about three o'clock in the morning.  I woke in a slight panic, thinking that the cabinet I'm working on was not interesting enough somehow - that it would be a disappointment.  I found myself imagining ways I could jazz up the interior to add some kind of appeal which, in the early hours, I felt to be missing.   

Then this morning I came down to the workshop and there was the cabinet carcass on the workbench, rather nicely lit by the skylight.  Sanity returned!  There really is so much satisfaction in working on the details until something feels nice enough enough to not need to be "jazzed up".  Simple, well proportioned, carefully made things are, to me, so much better to have around than funky, "interesting" ones.  They have an appeal that lasts, and a timelessness which adds warmth and soul to our experience of the room in which they are placed. 

I have a semi-serious rule that whenever I find myself thinking, "wouldn't it be interesting to....", the idea should immediately be abandoned; and if I ever find myself thinking the word "funky" in connection with a piece of furniture I'm making I know I should stop working on it and go for a walk until I've calmed down again!  I would be less tired today if I'd remembered my rules at three o'clock this morning....