It was October of 2021, and I was happily working in my 1,100 sq ft shop on our beautiful 10-acre ranch in Fort Collins, Colorado, when my wife called me from Maui (where she was visiting our kids who had just moved there) and announced, “We’re moving to Maui.” It was the middle of the pandemic, and she had found a place to buy. She sent me a picture of our future home, which had a broken-down covered carport, and said, “You can build a new shop.” I was not happy. But as the saying goes, “Happy wife, happy life,” and that is certainly what has come to pass.

Having the opportunity to design and build my shop with my own hands (and a lot of help from new local friends), I now have 850 sq ft of everything I want and need. Even though the square footage is smaller than my previous shop, I was able to design the space to efficiently accommodate all the tools that traveled with me from the mainland as well as a place to store all the beautiful wood I continue to collect. I soundproofed the shop and installed dust collection systems to ensure I will always be a good and thoughtful neighbor.

My shop itself is an expression of my craftsmanship. It holds a bit of my past—gifts from my father—and each time I open the door, I walk into that magnificent aroma and know I get to be in my happy place and create.