So, if you've worked with me as a customer or partner or been close to me, you probably know that I often bounce ideas off people, and ask opinions on certain aspects like color, stains, and some design. The project I'm currently working on is no different. I'm making a live edge walnut coffee table. But it's what's underneath the table-top that I've had questions about.

    I love to challenge myself, that's what I call it when I'm trying to be nice, but really sometimes it's just making things more difficult than they should be. This project is no different. I like my pieces to stand out. Not just be the "run-of-the-mill," strong, durable, classic pieces that many non-woodworkers be indifferent to. I like to make pieces that make people question how wood is able to look like that. So there's not much I can do to achieve that with the live edge slab, so I start thinking about the legs and support framework.

    I get several ideas and plans together in my head, but I'm so excited for each idea, I change the plans several times over. This can be a problem because the longer a project is in my shop, the fewer new projects I can take on. So with the plans jumping around and in all directions, I seek out some help from those close to me, and I got some of the best advice I've ever heard...

"This is for the live edge coffee table, right? So the focal point is the live edge slab on top. You don't want to take the focus away from that. You should save those ideas for another project, and do simple legs and supports and keep the focal point on the top."

And he was right. Some of those leg ideas are really good (some of them no so much). But they weren't necessarily really good for this particular project. So on your next project, remember - pick what the focal point is going to be and draw the attention to it, not away from it