Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #321336 in Books
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

In the Craftsman Style
Fine Woodworking provides excellent photographs, sophisticated projects and adequate details for building. This book exemplifies these qualities with respect to craftsman furniture. I particularly liked the modern adaptations which are less heavy than many of the originals and the variety of projects.

An Excellent Guide to Building Arts & Crafts Style Furniture
This is the best introduction to building Arts & Crafts style furniture I have read.

I found it to contain an excellent balance of history, theory, project plans, and inspiration. The articles are well-written, accurate, and thorough. The photos and diagrams are crystal clear and colorful.

The first section (approx. 30 pages) introduces the Arts & Crafts style, highlights the schools of design and the designers (Morris, all the Stickleys, Greene and Greene, etc.), and showcases ways in which the Arts & Crafts heritage can be adapted for modern homes.

The second section (approx. 105 pages) contains diagrams and detailed instructions on the construction of 10 pieces of furniture, plus instructions on making Stickley-style legs and on fuming the pieces with ammonia).

The third section (approx. 20 pages) contains photos and descriptions of several Arts & Crafts-inspired pieces (though not detailed instructions on building them).

This third section seems to have upset other reviewers, either because they didn't like it or didn't expect it in this book. I found this section vitally important to the book's stated goal, which is to help the reader apply to the Arts & Crafts style to designing and building her own furniture.

In my opinion, the difference between successful Arts & Crafts furniture and cheap knock-offs lies in the subtleties of design, proportion, and details. The discussions contained in the third section of this book focus precisely on these elements, walking the reader through the often lengthy decision-making process of the furniture designer. The importance of careful attention to line, function and form are emphasized here. I might not have purchased to book just to get this section, but excluding it (or not reading it) would be a shame.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone interested in buying or (especially) designing and building Arts & Crafts style furniture.

Excellent book
This book covers the design elements and construction of Arts & Crafts/Craftsman styled furniture, including the design element differences between Stickley, Greene & Greene, etc. It also lightly covers the history.

There are several plans, unfortunately not the one on the cover. And chairs are not something that plans can easily be drawn, even when overall dimensions are given. It doesn't take much to make a chair uncomfortable.

Some more plans covering the gallery items, especially the cover item, would have been nice. But, overall it is a really good book.