The Unseen Blueprint: Why We Build, Why We Buy
A customer recently asked me why I do what I do when it’s so hard to make a living at it. “Why?!” is something my wife has been asking for years. It forced me to reflect on the core of what drives us—that primal urge to create, to shape raw material into something real, whether it’s a meticulously crafted chair or a complete kitchen overhaul. This isn’t about riding fleeting trends or selling superficial aesthetics; it’s about a pre-existent vision, a profound spark that drives every true maker and influences every meaningful purchase.
Thinkers like Dorothy Sayers, the formidable British writer and theologian, Makoto Fujimura, the insightful Japanese-American artist, and Robert Pirsig, the American philosopher, all converge on this same truth: our very capacity to create—to envision something complete before it takes physical form—is a divine spark. It’s how God forged the cosmos, and it’s how we, in turn, shape our world, from the workshop floor to the soul of our living spaces.
The following gets a little academic in places but bear with me, there’s a point at the end, I promise.
The Blueprint in the Mind: God’s Way, Our Way
God didn’t just magic things into existence randomly. He had a perfect plan, a complete vision before anything existed. In her book The Maker’s Mind Sayers calls this the Idea—the Father in her Trinity analogy. It’s the flawless blueprint, the finished piece existing in the mind before the work even begins.
Then comes the Energy: the sweat, the struggle, the craft of bringing that idea to life. That’s the Son, the Word made flesh. Finally, the Power: the finished work’s impact, its meaning. That’s the Holy Spirit. For Sayers, making means following this divine pattern, respecting the materials and the process.
Fujimura echoes this with his “theology of making.” He’s all about slow, intentional creation, not mass production. His art, with its layers of mineral dust and gold, embraces the brokenness, like kintsugi, where cracks become part of the beauty. For Fujimura, our making isn’t just about perfect objects; it’s about joining God’s work of mending a fragmented world.
Seeing “Quality”: The Maker’s Intuition
Now, tie that back to Robert Pirsig’s “Quality” from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig, an American writer, philosopher and very much a non-Christian, struggled to define Quality because it’s something you recognise directly, before you even think about it. It’s that gut feeling when an engine hums just right, or a design feels perfect. It’s excellence that’s just… there.
Here’s the fun part: despite his being non-Christian, Pirsig’s Quality is essentially Sayers’ Creative Idea, as it exists in the maker’s mind before they start.
- It’s pre-thought. Both the Idea and Quality exist before you can fully explain them. They’re intuitive, a direct grasp of what’s good.
- It guides everything. This inherent “rightness” steers the whole creative process. It’s the standard you’re aiming for, even if you can’t verbalise it.
- It unifies. The Idea and Quality bridge the gap between abstract thought and the physical world. They give a whole vision to the making.
- It gives value. The worth of anything made comes from how well it embodies this core Idea or Quality that existed from the start.
Our Divine Reflection: The Inner Blueprint
We share that divine spark, that ability to conceive something in a state of pre-existence. We don’t create matter from nothing, but for both Pirsig and Sayers we absolutely create ideas from nothing.
- The Maker’s Inner Vision: Sayers got it: the perfect piece exists in the maker’s head before any chisel hits wood. It’s a vision born from within.
- Bringing Unseen Beauty: Fujimura’s quiet contemplation before painting shows this: holding that unformed, powerful image, then bringing it to life.
- Recognising “Rightness“: Pirsig’s Quality is that gut feeling, that recognition of something inherently perfect, like the ultimate outcome already exists and we’re just uncovering it.
Making with Intent: A Deeper Craft
This isn’t just academic talk. It changes how you approach making:
- Making is a Divine Echo: Every time you design a room, plan a project, or even just sketch an idea, you’re mirroring God’s original act. You’re pulling something from pure thought into tangible reality.
- Intentionality is Everything: True craft isn’t random. It starts with seeing what you want to create first—that inner vision, that knowing of what the finished piece should be.
- Value in the Unseen: Your ideas, your designs, your plans—they hold immense value even before they become physical. Just like God’s “Word” existed before the universe, your vision is the crucial first step.
So, being made in God’s image means we blueprint things perfectly in our minds before they even touch the real world. It’s the ultimate creative foresight, a raw, undeniable power etched in our very being. It’s not just about cranking out a chair; it’s about pouring life into it from an unshakeable vision.
Practical Implications for Modern Making: No More “Fast Furniture”
If a maker truly embraces the idea that they’re channelling a pre-existent vision, that they’re bringing an Idea/Quality into the world, it changes everything about their process.
- Intentional Design, Not Trend Chasing: Forget chasing the latest fad. A maker driven by an “inner blueprint” doesn’t just knock out another piece that looks like what everyone else is selling. They’re solving a problem, embodying a specific aesthetic, and striving for a timelessness that transcends fleeting trends. This means slower design cycles, more prototyping, and a fierce commitment to original thought.
- Materials Matter: When you’re making something that embodies Quality, you don’t skimp on materials. There’s a reverence for the timber, the metal, the leather. You’re not just picking the cheapest option; you’re choosing materials that will honor the vision, that will last, and that will age gracefully. This means sustainable sourcing becomes less a marketing ploy and more a fundamental ethic.
- Process Over Speed: “Fast furniture” is built for speed and obsolescence. Furniture made with a pre-existent vision in mind is about the meticulous journey. This implies traditional joinery, careful finishing, and a willingness to spend the necessary hours—not to hit a production quota, but to achieve that inherent rightness. Quality control isn’t an afterthought; it’s baked into every cut, every joint.
- Embracing Imperfection as Character: Perfect isn’t always flawless. A true maker understands that minor “imperfections” in natural materials, or the subtle marks of a hand tool, aren’t defects. They’re character, proof of the process, and part of the object’s unique story. This moves away from the sterile, machine-produced uniformity.
- Durability and Repairability as Standard: If you’re building to last, you’re building to be repaired. This means designs that can be disassembled, components that can be replaced, and a fundamental understanding that the piece should serve generations. It’s the antithesis of the flat-pack, throw-away culture that’s choking our landfills.
Influencing How People Buy Furniture: A Shift in Values
For the buyer, connecting with this philosophy means a shift in how they approach furnishing their home. It moves beyond price tags and superficial aesthetics.
- Investing in Longevity, Not Disposability: The biggest implication is buying less, but buying better. Instead of cheap pieces that fall apart in a few years, buyers seek out furniture that will last a lifetime, or even multiple lifetimes. They’re buying future heirlooms, not just a place to sit. This counters the consumerist cycle of constant replacement, which is a drain on both wallets and the planet.
- Appreciating the Maker’s Hand and Story: People start asking who made it, how it was made, and what it’s made from. They value the story behind the piece, the human touch, and the thought that went into its creation. This creates a deeper connection to their possessions, something profoundly missing from anonymous, mass-produced items.
- Seeking Unique Character Over Uniformity: Forget buying matching sets. True character comes from curating pieces that complement each other, each with its own story and a palpable sense of quality. This creates spaces that feel lived-in, authentic, and reflective of the homeowner’s personality—not just a showroom floor.
- Aesthetics of Substance: The focus shifts from superficial styling to the inherent beauty of good design, honest materials, and robust construction. The “Quality” is evident in the weight of a drawer, the smooth action of a hinge, the feel of a hand-planed surface. It’s an unspoken language of excellence.
- Conscious Consumption and Sustainability: When you value this deep connection to creation, sustainability becomes paramount. Buyers seek out local makers, reclaimed materials, and pieces that minimize environmental impact. It’s about aligning personal values with purchasing decisions, actively rejecting “fast furniture” and its hidden costs (like the 30,000 tonnes of commercial furniture Australians dump annually, 95% of it in landfill). This isn’t just a trend; it’s a fundamental commitment to responsible living.
Ultimately, embracing this philosophy transforms both making and buying from transactional acts into profound engagements with creation. It’s about seeking out furniture that possesses that life, that warmth of intention and enduring quality. It’s what D.H. Lawrence wrote:
“Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into / are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing / for long years.”
That resonance—that transferred touch—is the spirit of the maker, the “Quality” infused into the very fibers of the wood. And Vita Sackville-West, the unflinching poet, understood in that in her poem “Craftsmen”:
“have been concerned with prison, not escape; / Pinioned the fact, and let the rest go free.”
Craftsmen don’t shy from the brutal realities and constraints of the material; they embrace them, and in that embrace, they unleash something truly vital and enduring.
It’s what makes the furniture in your home not just stuff, but something that genuinely belongs, humming with the life it was given, and destined to become part of your own story.
Material culture has led many of us to believe that buying things, collecting things, is a hollow act that is destroying the world. While this can often be true, it doesn’t have to be. The things we buy can be imbued with deep meaning, if we buy well.