Kumiko Wall Shelf

This wall shelf is an elegant, simple way to showcase a special piece of woodworking —an Asa-no-ha Kumiko panel.

- Logan Wittmer

Inspiration can come from any number of places. Often, I find (furniture) pieces in antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales. I don’t buy them usually—I have too many hobbies the way it is. What I do instead is take photos of them. That way, as I’m working on a design, I can reach back into my phone’s library and pull design elements from these pieces I’ve come across.

Sometimes, however, it isn’t a design or furniture piece that inspires. Instead, it’s a technique. That’s precisely what happened when I got a hold of a copy of Matt Kenney’s book, “The Art of Kumiko‚” a couple of years back. Not that I hadn’t been aware of Kumiko. In fact, it seems to have been the “in” thing the last few years. What really struck me was the way that Matt laid out the process. It seemed approachable and logical, so off into the mental design library it went. When I started working on the design for a wall shelf, I thought this was the perfect place to incorporate one of these Kumiko panels.

Break Down the Stock

This wall shelf doesn’t take a ton of stock. I usually try and sell relativity high-quality material that I’ve cut, but I always end up with a “bargain bin” stack that I like to use where I can. The walnut for this shelf came from that stack— it had some knots, cracks, and pith streaks. But, nothing we can’t work around.