These last couple of weeks have been stressful and demanding. I’ve been itching for the chance to get back into the shop to build something. As a freelance artist, I often wonder how people find the time or energy to make anything for themselves. With more client work ahead, I decided to squeeze this project in.
A couple of months ago I drew up a plan for a simple caddy. It will house pour-over filters and allow my carafe to sit atop when not in use. It wasn’t a necessity. But it makes my coffee routine more convenient.
My only real goal for this build was to use wood that was already in my inventory. And to keep it as basic of a build as possible. What came to mind for wood was a wine box I got years ago. The box used has beautiful straight-grain pine. Making that a feature in this caddy was a priority. I broke the box down and cut the pieces that looked best to me. Those became the side walls of this caddy. The top and bottom pieces came from a piece of pine I found in a neighbor’s trash years ago. This particular wood plank needed a little cleaning up. A little planing revealed the coveted golden color that pine takes on with age. These scrap pieces were a match made in heaven.
There's no fancy joinery or even a finish on this caddy. It's held together with a little hide glue and wire nails. The total build time is less than 5 hours. It's the epitome of simplicity. It is form following function. And it scratched my itch to make something and already has me thinking about my next project. A sitting bench for the kitchen.
It doesn’t seem like much of an improvement. But having the filters close by is a lot more convenient.