How To Design Your Next Woodworking Project

Are you a beginner woodworker? Maybe you fell into the “I can build that” rabbit hole, or you just saw how expensive nice furniture can be these days. Now you are at a crossroads wondering how to design a woodworking project that you can actually build.

In this article, I’ll walk through my exact process for designing and preparing a project. These are the steps I follow at home and in my professional career as an engineer. 

Where To Find Design Ideas & Inspiration

When it comes to finding project ideas and inspiration, there are a few go-to places I always check out. 

First off, I love browsing through Pinterest because you can find all kinds of cool woodworking projects from beginner to advanced level. There are tons of DIY tutorials and inspirational photos that always get my creative juices flowing.

Another great place to look for project ideas is on YouTube. I love watching woodworking channels and seeing the step-by-step process of building different things. Plus, you can find all sorts of tips and tricks from experienced woodworkers that are super helpful. 

Honestly, I’ll just binge-watch videos for hours and end up with a whole list of new project ideas.

Instagram is also a popular platform for woodworkers. Spend some time on there searching for popular accounts and before you know it, your feed will be full of projects to use as inspiration. 

6 Complete Steps for Planning Your Woodworking Project

When preparing for your next project, there are a few steps you can take to get everything in order before you make the first cut. 

Here are the 6 steps to get you off on the right foot on your next woodworking project.

1. Brainstorm Your Project

What do you wanna make? Chances are you already have an idea. Whether you are making tables, chairs, shelves, maybe even something more creative like a wooden sculpture or a funky cutting board.

The possibilities are endless.

As you brainstorm, think about the use of the piece too. Do you want something sturdy and long-lasting, or something to get you by.

What about the design? Do you want something sleek and modern, or maybe something with a more rustic and natural vibe? 

My Advice? – I like to use a sketch pad to draw up what I am thinking. Take a brain dump and throw out all the options. Many of my ideas come from a wild hair or spark of creativity. 

Don’t forget to iterate!  

2. Make a Rough Sketch of the Furniture

Pulling together a rough sketch of the furniture you wanna make is going to save you a lot of time. It might seem a bit old school, but trust me, it can really help to get the first few ducks in a row.

Plus, it gives you a chance to play around with different ideas and make some tweaks before finalizing the design and getting the cuts going.

You don’t have to be an artist or anything, just get the basic shape down. 

This is a great time to get the rough dimensions figured out. Drawing your sketch to a rough scale can also help you visualize the massing and aspects of the build. 

3. Use A Program To Model

There are a lot of options for modeling your project.  For many this may be seen as an optional step, and rightly so. I mean, you could go off of your rough sketches and most likely get by just fine. 

But if you are like me, why not make it easier on yourself and like, see how everything will look before you even pick up a saw? 

Popular programs like Sketchup and Autodesk Inventor are excellent options for the beginner and the professional woodworker and DIY enthusiast. 

If you are just getting started, Sketchup has a free version that has all you need in the beginning. 

I’ll include this Video to get you started:

4. Compile A Cut List

So, we’ve got the design all sorted out, but now it’s time to figure out exactly what pieces of wood we need and how to cut them.

If you have a 3D model or a rough paper sketch, you can use either to compile your cut list.

Take a good look at your design and figure out which pieces need to be the same size and which ones need to be different. Its easiest here to make a list of all the pieces you will need. 

Something like this:

A word of advice. Make sure you pay attention to how your edges or connections come together. Is there extra length needed in a piece to accommodate a connection? This happens a lot in all types of design.

Once we’ve got everything listed out, it’s time to get those saws buzzing and start cutting away. Just remember to double-check your measurements. 

Trust me, there’s a reason they say “measure twice, cut once.”

Here’s a video I found helpful when I was getting started:

5. Consider Your Connections

We touched on this in step 4. In addition to any surprise additional length, you need to consider how you are going to join the pieces of your project together. There are a lot of options out there. Here are the most common for DIY projects:

Butt Joint:

This is the simplest form of wood joint where two pieces of wood are joined by simply butting them together.

Pocket Hole Joint:

This method involves drilling an angled hole and joining two pieces of wood with screws. It’s commonly used for assembling furniture.

Biscuit Joint:

Biscuits (oval-shaped wooden pieces) are used to align and strengthen the joint between two pieces of wood.

Dowel Joint:

Wooden dowels are inserted into corresponding holes in two pieces of wood to create a strong and durable joint.

Mortise and Tenon Joint:

This is a classic joint where a projection (tenon) on one piece of wood fits into a hole (mortise) on another piece.

Dovetail Joint:

Known for its strength and decorative appearance, dovetail joints involve interlocking fan-shaped tails on one piece with corresponding pins on the other.

Half-Lap Joint:

In this joint, half the thickness of each piece is removed, and the two pieces overlap to create a flush surface.

6. Starting The Build

Now that your design is ready, its time to bring your creation to life. Starting the build is like game day. You have done all the pre-work, now you can go out and put it all together. 

Obviously part of starting the build is getting all your materials. This should be easy now since you have a cut list and an idea of your connections. This will help you compile your fasteners or amount of glue you need for your woodworking project. 

If you did use Sketchup or design software, you can play around with the finish colors as a reference for your finish. 

A Note About Drawing Software

There are a lot of drawing software out there that you can use. Just Google Free woodworking design software. 

If you are just getting started, I’d recommend looking for free software or some software that has a free trial. I did a whole blog post on the best woodworking software you can check out here.

In Closing

Designing your own woodworking project is a fun and rewarding way to assemble furniture pieces in your home. Its rewarding to progress through the design process and get to the start building phase. 

As your skills progress, you can even start to sell your builds or begin to draw woodworking plans for others. 

Happy Building!