Working with Wood: Build your toolkit, learn the skills and create stylish objects for your home

A complete guide to producing desirable wooden objects and furniture for your home from scratch. Discover the satisfaction or making something with your own hands.

'It is more motivating to make something that you genuinely desire, to create an object that you want in your home. The things we choose to have around us say something about who we are, but things we have made ourselves do that even more strongly. I want every project in the book to be something that the reader wants to make, to work really well in use and be something that can be proudly shown to others.'

This book is aimed at people who are engaged in a career, but looking to learn a physical craft to balance out their lives and make nice things for their home into the bargain.

Offering a series of desirable projects that all relate to each other, use the same small collection of tools and gradually build your skills and tool collection as you progress. The projects are backed up by sections about wood, design, and tools - including fixing up old tools as this is one of my specialities. The book uses mainly hand tools as they create less mess, take up less room, are quieter and offer less potential danger than power tools.

The projects range in size and skill level and are designed to made at home.

Tom Trimmins started woodworking as an eight year old child when he was given his first workbench and tools, and it's been a lifelong passion ever since. After years of making projects at home as a kid and hanging around a local cabinet maker's workshop, he studied furniture making at degree level in Buckinghamshire. After that he worked for several high-end furniture workshops before starting his own business in 2009. He has now been teaching woodwork every week for nearly 8 years and has worked professionally for 12 years. Tom now teaches woodworking classes and makes fine furniture at his workshop on a city farm in Islington. He works on commissions or teaches during the day and teaches two evening classes every week. Tom is a traditionally trained craftsman, but also has a very fashionable and modern Japanese and midcentury-influenced style.