Other times, however, there are “gaps” in the image I want and I can’t quite seem to fill them in.  My brain gets locked into an “it must be this way” attitude where I refuse to come up with a better solution to fill in the gaps.  My creativity at this point gets blocked by my own gray matter.

At times like these, there are several solutions that I have tried in the past.  some of them seem straight forward and others seem kind of crazy, but at least one of them usually helps to get the creative design juices flowing again.

1 – Start over

No, seriously, get a clean piece of paper and start over.  I was once having a hard time designing the legs that I wanted for a coffee table.  I had the top figured out the way that I wanted it, but I couldn’t get the legs to look right with the top.  It was at this point that I grabbed several clean pieces of 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper and taped them together.  I did this so that I could create a sketch of a leg in full scale.  I then proceeded to draw some free hand curves of a leg.  I made a few modifications here and there and eventually wound up with a shapely leg that was pleasing to the eye.  Next, I redesigned the tabletop to match.

2 – Look for inspiration outside of your brain

Sometimes you need to look elsewhere for inspiration.  Start looking through woodworking magazines, or furniture catalogs, or look for images online that might stimulate your creativity.  I am not saying that you should copy what you find, but you might see something that sparks your interest and gets you going again.

I have a box full of pages that I have ripped out of old catalogs.  Whenever I am looking through a catalog and I find something unique, or just something I like, then I rip the page out and put it in the box.  Sometimes when I am stuck on a design, I will flip through these pages and find something that will work in my particular situation.

3 – Forget about the “how” and focus on the “what”

Sometimes I get too focused on how I am going to make something, and it stifles my imagination.  It is at this point that I need to forget about “how” to build it, and figure out “what” I want to build first.  Once I figure out the “what” then I can focus on the “how”.

Of course, at this point the “how” can take on some creativity of its own.  For instance, look at the rocking chairs that Sam Maloof built.  If he had tried to figure out the “how” before the”what” he may never have come up with such a creative design.

4 – Forget about tradition – add a fifth leg!

Get a little crazy.  Throw something completely crazy and off the wall at your design.  If your trying to design a chair, add a 5th leg to it, or something equally crazy.   Your design may or may not end up with a 5th, but adding it in may kickstart your creativity.

5 – Forget about it – go have some fun

Sometimes you just need to step away from the design.  Go outside and throw a ball around with your kids, or take your spouse on a date, or go jogging.  Leave the design behind and think about something different for a while.

I am sure there are other ways to get your creativity kick started, and I would love to hear about them.  Go to my contact page and let me know how you get past your Design Block.