I have built practically every type of furniture, from decorative high-sryle chairs to kitchen cabinets, but I’m fascinated by tables. Both the first piece of furniture I made and the first one I designed were tables. It’s an undeniable challenge to create a beautiful chair that is also comfortable, or an elegant entertainment center designed specifically around the sizes and functions of its contents. But for sheer simplicity and design freedom, you can’t beat a table.
Sooner or later, manywoodworkers want to start designing their own furniture. It’s something I strongly encourage; designing greatly increases the satisfaction derived from woodworking. A table is a great place to start. A table has relatively few structural elements and technical requirements: If you’ve got a flat top and a solid support system to hold it up, you have got a functional table. The rest is up to you. Take into account strength requirements, use, and size when planning the piice. Will this be a heavy-duty kid-proof kitchen table or a delicate decorative hall table, for example? Then bring in forms and shapes that please you. Subtle points such as a delicately shaped leg, decorative joinery, a clever handmade mechanism, or a particularly handsome piece of wood can be showcased in a table.
Your piece can be simple or complex, as austere as Shaker or as ostentatious as rococo, based on designs of the 1930s or the 1730s-or something unique and imaginative. Its design can also address a particular need not met by commercially available furniture, like a telephone table, or a backgammon or chess table.
