I'd prescribe a healthy dose of realism... Go window shopping

I think that most of the general public has no idea what constitutes
quality work. I've been in some of the "up scale" furniture stores
around here. The ones where a dining room set costs more than all my
shop. I've seen countless pieces with finishes *I* would not tolerate
on my work. Doors and drawers that don't quite line up. The list goes
on. The general public buys a lot of mass produced junk that's labeled
"heirloom".

Looking at jewelry boxes in the store, I've only once seen one or two
that I thought were really well done. Gorgeous burls, immaculate
finish, everything fitted together perfectly. The prices ranged
US$750.00-1250.00. I don't think they sold very many of those. The
$39.95, badly veneered, pine boxes, however, moved like hotcakes.

Take one of your pieces, place it next to a store bought piece. Look
how much better your joints fit, how even your finish, how much nicer
it looks. *That* is the typical customer's response.

That said, I do it too. Every little blemish stands out to me. When it
starts bugging me I go over to my little poplar and walnut book rack.
It was the first thing I built. I compare the "then" with the "now" and
take comfort in that while the "now" isn't perfect, it is getting
/better/.

dcm

foggytown wrote:
Striving for perfection is one thing. Being dissapointed when you
don't attain it is quite another. But how do you curb your own
excessive fussiness?
[...]
I'd like to turn this hobby into some kind of earner by doing
made-to-measure boxes to order. My big problem is that I'm rarely
satisfied with my work and I assume that a potential customer will be
even more critical than I am.
[...]
Question for the wreckers here who do pieces for customers. Are you
ever truly satisfied with your work to the point where you think it
will probably be rejected? Or am I overestimating the capacity of the
public to be critical of something they can't do to begin with?