Too many choices...

My frustration level was getting pretty high while working on this dresser. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the phone ringing every five minutes, with solicitors offering me deals on mortgages, or Google trying to sell me some ad space. All I know is - none of the phone calls were important, and they definitely affected my concentration. 

So I had pushed the dresser off into the corner, and decided to sketch some details for the drawer layout. 

I had printed up this scaled sketch sheet, 

 so it was easy to fill it in with some different door and drawer arrangements. People who visited the shop this week lent their opinions, and the general consensus was that everyone liked the layout on the bottom, left. It's funny - when you see something that is pleasing to the eye, you just know it.

There're still so many decisions to be made, to choosing the layout wasn't all I had to consider. The back of this cabinet is going to feature a carved area, similar to the headboard below, so I need to figure out what I'll be carving there. It's a very long, skinny space, which doesn't leave me a lot of choices.

Remember when Ned built his beautiful cherry sideboard? He did such a nice job on it that he kind of set my piece in motion, in my head. 

Which got me thinking about the tile inlays that he put into his piece. 

These areas were stunning! His craftsmanship was superb!

Damn, all these decisions were giving me a headache! 

So I decided to do what I do best -  and started prepping wood for some upcoming classes.  I must have had that saw running for four or five straight hours, and when I was done - all that was left was a big pile of toothpicks.  But I pretty much worked out all the details in my head while I was working. 

That's my usual MO...  

Hopefully I have everything straight in my head, and I'll start working on this piece again soon. At least that's the plan!

Thanks for the inspiration, Ned!