From concept to finished product, everyone has their own style of woodworking that is as unique as the woodworker. This is part of mine: after 12 years and 40 projects, or so, of making “stuff” out of wood, my wife somewhere along the line figured out I was pretty good at making “stuff”, and finally convinced me to show off my hobby to those who can truly appreciate it. On the other hand, apparently she thinks she can show me a grainy Pinterest screenshot photo to give me some inspiration, tell me she wants me to kinda make the thing in the grainy picture, but with 5 things different and have a sketch ready to show her by dinner, then produce some “stuff” out of wood that looks like what she was conceptualizing in her mind. I mean, who does she think she is? She ain’t wrong, though. But when she tells me that she wants certain “stuff” in the new finished basement bathroom, and she expects better than Pottery Barn for 1/10 the Pottery Barn price, that means I get to go shopping for some exotic hardwoods. Like Afro Mosia for the countertop. Afro Mosia might be my new favorite African hardwood. It was a wonderful wood to work with. Very low maintenance. The countertop was made from a 12” x 6’, 4/4 piece of rough-cut Afro Mosia. The side panels are 1/4” Walnut plywood. The frame is Oak. Some other small parts are hemlock. Joints are fastened with gorilla glue and pocket screws or biscuits. When we drew up plans to convert 682 square feet of crawl space into a finished basement, we knew the bathroom would be the most time consuming to finish. It’s a small 5’x8’ bathroom, big enough for a shower, toilet, and vanity. The basement has an earthy, wooded look to it, so the vanity was going to have to fit in. We didn’t want something that would be the focal point of the entire space. Instead, we wanted something with a unique look that fit the theme of the space. After spending hours looking for inspiration and making sketch after sketch to create the “right” one, this is how it ended up. I used to scour the Internet looking for detailed plans for a piece, but found myself altering the plans to fit my needs. So now, with inspiration, I create a project with no plans. I measure and cut to my needs, make notes along the way, and turn out a finished product that looks close to what I thought of at the beginning. It takes me a little longer than others to create something, but I’m also a self-taught craftsman with no formal training. The techniques I used are fairly common to many experienced woodworkers. But as with any work of art, the finished product of one artist will look different than the next. 

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