3 Crucial Pieces Of Maker Advice I Wish I Had When Starting To Build Things

Back in 2018, I managed to build 100% custom wall-to-wall built-in desks and shelves for our home office.

Since then, I have:

• Built a massive entertainment cabinet

• Powercarved a giant 2x4 Mythosaur Skull

• Created a hardwood Star Wars desk

• (And removed the original built-ins to convert to a kid’s bedroom)

Here are 3 pieces of advice I wish I had back then:

• Start the build before you think you’re ready: I delayed the built-ins for months thinking that I needed the perfect tool to make it work. Instead of starting, I tried smaller projects to see what would be the best method. However, even with more tools and knowledge, I couldn’t feel ready because I wouldn’t until I was in the middle of it.

• Don’t try to make the project perfect: Once I finally started the project, it took months to complete. I wanted every single part to be perfect and would delay week over every mistake. In reality, those mistakes only took a few minutes to fix, but caused countless small delays.

• Add flexibility into the design: Not just functionality that adds flexibility, but flexibility for how pieces are installed as well. When I was installing, I discovered our walls were not flat or square to each other. In my quest to create perfectly square pieces with tight fits, I inadvertently accentuated these room defects where something like trim would hide it flawlessly.

Hope this helps!