What if you knew the exact very woodworking projects that sell?
Knowing the best selling products is the secret sauce for not just woodworking but any kind of business. These are the wood crafts that give maximum returns for your work, enabling you earn the deserved sum of money from your woodworking business.
Discovering the wood crafts that sell well is all the more important with todays woodworking because of the competition with the factories and mass manufactures. Individual handmade woodcrafts are still in for a keen fight simply because of the sheer variety of things that can be made with woodworking.
What follows is a short list of best selling wood project ideas. These are not exhaustive by any standard. They can be thought of as general categories within which you can come up with ideas of your own. These are woodcrafts that have historically done well as handmade crafts.
Many of them are small woodcrafts that are simple in construction, and yet highly popular and profitable. The category of small wood crafts is something you must definitely explore to come with many more profitable ideas of your own.
Here are 10 examples of wood crafts that have shown themselves to be best-sellers consistently for many years.
10 Best Selling Wood Project Ideas.
Children’s Wooden Toys.
There was a time when toys made out of wood were the common thing. These days in most markets they have become a novelty. You only have to ask around to realise the premium, crazy prices being charged by stores for wooden toys for children. Wooden toys are a hot selling category for many reasons.
They are considered a novelty, safer than toys made from other materials and they usually last a very long time. The result is that parents and everybody is ready to pay top dollar to buy even the simplest of wooden toys as long as they are well made from quality wood.
When it comes to making wood projects that sell, toys score on double grounds. People not only buy it for their own kids but also for gifting to other children which means multiple sales for multiple occasions.
Since this is an item for children, you do need to make the toys safe, sturdy and durable. Do not compromise on the materials you use. As already mentioned, there will be safety regulations to comply with.
To avoid spending too much time and money with this process, do a deep research as to which children wooden toys are going to sell the best. Shortlist a few, get them approved and stick to selling these best selling toys. You can always add to the list if some new successful project ideas develop later.
Also see: 12 best selling wooden toys and 7 reasons why you should make children’s toys and furniture.
Wooden Cribs and Cradles
A baby cradle is just one example in what is a very popular category for making money with woodworking i.e. baby and children furniture. Parents often like to get special furniture for their children. Most of the times they need it the young age and special requirements often calls for custom woodworking.
Babies and children need tables, chairs, storage cupboards, beds and an assortment of other items. Even if not completely customised from the scratch, individual woodworkers are in a better place to cater to this specialised demand because not much variety may be available commercially.
A wooden crib is a classic woodworking product that is in high demand. Parents will usually spare no expense in picking up the best cradle they can afford to buy. Once more, pay extra attention to the safety and quality of the product and use only the very best materials.
A great option when making children’s furniture is to make it self assembly kind. That way you can even sell your furniture online and easily ship it in dis-assembled form.
Armchair / Couch Side Bookcase.
Bookcases never run short on demand. Every household needs several of them. However, a simple variation can make your project stand out and become a hot selling woodworking item. Make bookcases specifically to complement armchairs. They are a popular addition that very few can resist. Not to mention they are items of great utility.
Think of a shelf that can be kept right next the side of a couch along its side. A person can just reach down to store various things in the compartments including books, tablets and anything else that they frequently use when they sit on the couch.
Picture frames.
Picture frames is a versatile and evergreen woodworking project that sells. You can make it as simple as you like. A little bit of ingenuity allows you to create several original designs. This woodworking project doesn’t get stale, because you cannot run out of ideas for new designs, and also because it is a wood project that will always be in demand.
The key to making money with this wood craft is to reach a lot of people. Wood frames can exist in a wide price range and one can take advantage of this by having a versatile pricing range. Everyone loves picture frames and with your pricing model you can attract a wide range of spenders too.
The simplicity of this wood craft is by no means a reflection on it being a money maker. A single wooden picture frame can go into hundreds of dollars with a profit margin to match. The woodworkers usually achieve this by workmanship and the choice of materials used.
One can also take advantage of promoting and selling online because picture frames tend to be relatively small, lightweight and perfect for shipping to other parts of the country. The potential of selling online is extensive. You can reach millions of interested buyers, specially if you can leverage its true potential. One of the ways of doing that is to sell a portable item that can be sold and shipped to people far away.
If you are serious about making money with your woodworking, you must look into 2 things seriously:
- Making small crafts with high profit margin that take less time to make.
- Promotong and selling your wood craft online so that you expand your market exponentially.
We wrote a post on how to promote and sell woodcrafts sometime back. Read it for some extra information on the subject.
Small wooden boxes.
It doesn’t really get simpler than this. Think of ideas for making small boxes that serve a purpose. There are so many things that people need small wooden boxes for.
As long as you use good wood, make the box strong with a great finish, your project does not have to be either elaborate or complicated. I’m sure you can find dozens of other useful ideas for your woodworking box projects including jewellery boxes, chip boxes, drawer organisers, boxes to keep expensive pens and stationary, cases for glasses etc.
Wood Birdhouses For All Kinds Of Birds
You should know that outdoors woodworking projects are extremely popular. There are many small projects you can do for the garden, portico etc. A very charming and popular woodworking project is a birdhouse.
It’s a little strange but you can charge premium prices for birdhouses and people are ready to pay for it. People who want to enjoy birds coming to the garden, attach a high value to a functional and nice looking bird-house. And who doesn’t really want pretty birds coming and chirping in their gardens. Therefore, birdhouse is one of the top-selling woodworking projects.
Here is a link to a post we wrote on how to make perfect birdhouse for the right birds.
Blanket Chest and Other Big Storage.
I can tell you from my experience and perhaps you know this as well, a blanket chest is an item of great utility. A blanket chest is not necessarily an item to be only used in cold weather places.
Most of the households use items that need to be stored away either during the day or at night. For example, extra throw pillows need to be removed from the bed every night before sleeping. Similarly, sheets, covers, blankets that are used while sleeping need to be stored in a convenient and accessible place during the day.
A blanket chest is a utility item of everyday need in a majority of households. And that makes it one of the best selling wood projects. Once again, the stress on making this woodworking project is on quality, endurance and finish. The design and the construction can be left simple.
Wooden Fruit And Serving Bowls
You may be well aware of the fact that items for household are always popular. This is an example of a really simple woodworking project that sells very well. While making fruit bowls, the finish is important. Many crafters prefer to leave it as natural as possible, relying mainly on beautiful grain of the wood to give the food bowl it’s look. You do get food safe finishes for finishing wood crafts such as this.
A note on the safety of solvent based wood finishes: An interesting fact that many woodworkers point out is this. General finishes are considered unsafe for wood crafts that will come in contact with food. However, many professional woodworkers tell us that this doesn’t matter so much as one might think. The reason is that a finish has two compounds in it, one is the solvent and the other one is resin. The solvent part is the harmful one whereas the resin is not. After a finish has curated and dried completely, all the solvent has evaporated and only the resin remains on the wood surface, which is not dangerous.
Anyway, this is something I have heard some professional woodworkers say and I don’t know how far it is correct. If you know something about this, please free to leave a comment below.
Because a fruit bowl is a common item, it sells a lot. However, because of the same reason there are lots of them available. The good news is that it is not difficult to make unique wooden fruit bowls, as well as the fact that simple and elegant food bowls sell just as well.
While wooden bowls are very famously a handmade wood craft as well, getting a simple lathe will be a great idea for this wood project. It will speed up the work allowing you to make more and sell more. Besides, getting familiar with a lathe will hold you in good stead in creating other hot selling wood crafts as well, some of which we are going to mention further on in this post.
Wood Clocks.
You will be very surprised at a lot of things about this project. It is very economical to make, simple, takes little time and ends up looking and selling like a premium high quality woodworking item. Well, clocks come in all shapes and sizes and you don’t have to restrict yourself to any one. There are 2 different ways you can go with this.
First example is the picture shown above. You can source the watch mechanism from somewhere and then craft a well finished wooden body to fit that body in. The overall result should be something you see in the picture above. There kinds of wooden clocks are a great addition to office desks and wall mantles. But there really are hundreds of designs you can create for all kinds of clocks for walls, desks, side tables etc.
The second option is to actually create the complete clock from wood. This means making a pendulum clock with every part cut from wood, including the gears inside and everything. This is definitely a niche wood craft and even though it is not very practical, as it needs to be winded often, minimum once a day, many people would love to have it hanging on their walls as a unique show piece. Do look into it and see if you find the project interesting.
Wooden Spoons and Ladles.
A very very interesting woodworking project you can undertake is to make spoons and ladles of all sizes out of wood. These items are really coming back in a big way. I sincerely feel you can attract a lot of attention and sell these items very well. People are beginning to use more wholesome utensils in the kitchens. Wooden spoons and ladles are going to be raging popular products.
This is another project we recommend using a lathe for, just like the wooden bowls mentioned above. Getting a lathe will go a long way in making any kind of wood bowls, spoons and ladles, although this wood project can be done with a handful of hand tools. All you will really need is a set of good chisels and sanding pads.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Some wood crafts will be sell better than others depending on where you live, if you intend to sell locally.
- The options for making wood crafts is limitless. Choose a popular category or specialise in a particular project. For example, you can either make only children’s toys or expand to making children furniture, cradles, cupboards etc.
- The best selling wood crafts mentioned belong in profitable woodworking business niches. Your job is to discover more such crafts in every niche.
- Your own skill and interest plays a large part in what you make. The more you enjoy making something, the more you are likely to be creative about the process and come up with new successful ideas constantly.
- Target a niche. I cannot say this enough number of time. The more specific you get with what you make, the more money you will make. Find ways to target people with a particular need. Read more about creating niche best selling wood projects.
So, this list is not just naming 10 individual high selling wood projects. They are also broad categories that you can work in, and come up with other great ideas of your own.
If you would like to share your own ideas about bestselling woodworking crafts go ahead and post your comments below. Thank you for reading.
This is great. My husband is a cabinet refinisher and often comes home with different pieces of wood that would be perfect for these projects! Thank you.
It helped when you said that the industry could make the most out of wood materials because they are efficient. My best friend informed the other day that my nephew loves birds. He wants to buy birdhouses that will allow them to feed the birds every morning. I value this instructive article, I’ll tell him he can buy birdhouses by searching online birdhouses websites to gather details about their birdhouses.
I am looking for someone to come up with a new, unique, innovative idea to design an inexpensive way to frame diamond paintings. Something that would not end up being too expensive, wholesale, per piece price. and what the minimum order quantity would be per size, that I will need.
Please google diamond paintings so you can see info on exactly what diamond painting is.
Come Jan 2020, I am launching my own business ~ Serenity in Diamond Painting. I’m selling diamond painting kits. I would like to offer an option of purchasing a frame to go with each of my kits.
Each canvas will come in one size, so I will offer “one size” frame, per piece.
Possibly offering options of white, black or natural wood.
The box the kit comes in, is approx 24″ long x 4″ wide x 4″ depth. This can be adjusted if the right framing idea is achieved.
The box will include a rolled canvas, diamonds and tools included to complete the diamond painting.
If the purchaser chooses the option to purchase a frame to go with it, I would need to fit the frame in the box for shipping also. So something that might come in pieces and easy for the purchaser to assemble?
Right now, the U.S. market is using stretcher bars as an inexpensive way for framing the diamond painting canvas.
some also use the scroll bar effect as a simple framing solution (one on top and one at bottom)
They are able to be shipped in individual pieces in the same box with the diamond painting kit.
Not too difficult of an assembly process for the person who is buying it.
I would like to enter the market with something new, unique, exciting and creative way for framing diamond paintings.
As an example, one of my designs is 50 cm wide x 60 cm high, the actual diamond painting is done on a canvas, so it’s thicker than paper.
Once an idea/design for the framing is created and chosen, I will use that same framing design for all my pictures. The only difference would be the sizes and option of white, black and natural wood for each design.
I look forward to hearing back from someone with ideas and possibly a portfolio of work.
SerenityinDP@gmail.com
Best Regards,
Nicole Merle
Serenity in Diamond Painting
I said yooooooooo!!!! Good read. My comment is regarding your advice on “food safe finishes”. You are correct. Once the finish has completely cured, it is food safe. People say, “well what if it chips off,I don’t want my children ingesting that”.
**Reality=if someone is biting or chopping hard enough to remove the finish, that also means that they’re removing wood itself. So a lesson in restraint is probably in order….. Regardless, even if they did chip it off and ingest it, wood won’t hurt, and they’d NEVER be able to eat enough poly to suffer any negative side effects. EVER!!!
Any person that wants to argue that, should go do their own research first. Because at that point, they will have the proper info & will no longer desire to argue the point.
P.S.- for you “all natural” folks that are hell-bent on making your kids sick, a good way to achieve it is by coating you’re wooden kitchen wares in Olive oil, like in the YouTube tutorial you watched.
Fact: Olive oil, grapeseed oil, and all the other vegetable oils WILL
GO RANCID.. PERIOD.
I don’t care what wax you mixed it with, etc.
Use mineral oil, polyurethane, etc.
I must say that I am in love with wood. It is such a versatile, beautiful, warm and interesting material from which you can make so many interesting, beautiful and practical things.
I absolutely love the wood toys here on the top of the page, as well as the bird house. Something about bird houses fascinates me. Could it be the fact that it is a comfy dwelling for our beautiful flying friends that are full of energy and keep moving around? It is such a pleasure to see the birds get into the houses quickly, and also quickly fly out of them.
Sure, you can make different things from other materials, but they don’t compare to wood in many senses.
I know a lot of people make wood items, like their own furniture, dens, chicken houses, etc. for their homes. But also to be able to keep making so many items to offer for sale really takes a lot of talent, efforts and time. However, it is so much fun to make wood objects.
I recently came across a resource that shares tons of woodworking plans and ideas. If someone loves working with wood, and especially is looking to sell their creations, I would definitely recommend checking out the following page, where you can get even more ideas and woodworking plans to expand your wood making business.
I would like to put together a Christmas project. I have purchased 4″ burlap and red birds. I want to make a scenery picture on a flat rounded piece of wood. Do you have a Christmas project magazine I could buy one?
gregoryterry06111969@gmail.com Thanks for the pep talk. I’ve been kinda stale on my creative thinking lately. A few years back i made a birdhouse for a gal friend of mine,except the birdhouse wasn’t for birds it was to hide or disguise a security camera for her small motel she owns. She loved it and i enjoyed making it although i spent too much time with intricate details. My first attempt on the first piece i cut was unsatisfactory to me so i discarded that piece and continued with the project. After it was completed and she loved it so much she paid me 125$ for it. Well longer story shortened I get bored easily and one day sometime later I was looking at that first piece I had discarded and it inspired me to create something i call the ” Perpetual Puzzle”. Turns out everybody I’ve shown it to absolutely loves it and say that they would definitely pay good money for one. My problem is I don’t know the first thing about marketing or patents, copyrights and so forth. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Gregory T.
Hi there. I’m very interested in creating with wood. I’m good with my hands (I’m an oyster surgeon, after all) and I’m creative minded. I’d like to get started, but what I need is someone to buy what I make. I don’t have time to set up and sell somewhere, and I don’t wish to do it online. Are there companies that purchase what you make?
Hello Eva. Thank you for commenting. I know and feel what you are saying. But selling is an integral part of any business and there is no escaping it. There are no companies as such that pick up things from artisans and craft persons. But it might not be difficult to find a business or a store where you live that will do just that. And maybe other ways of selling your wood crafts are worth looking into as well. Here is an article we wrote on it… Easy places to sell more of your wood crafts..
Do try a couple of things before you start to think that they are difficult or won’t work. It may take some time finding a local place to sell your crafts to. But then that relationship could be worth a long term source of extra income, so why not.. As for selling online, if you are making small crafts, selling is easier than ever before. You can read about selling on Etsy here.
I don’t know if they have any where you live, but look for a craftmart where you can rent a booth, place your items and they have one cashier to make the sale. One word of warning, brand your items in a way that can’t be easily removed and keep an accurate inventory.
You might contact some craft stores and see if you can put items in their store on a consignment. When I was making Wooden Garden Bridges, this is what I did. I told the owner the price I wanted, he tacked on an extra 10%, and sold all four bridges I had made.
I do trust all the ideas you’ve introduced in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for beginners. May you please prolong them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
It’s given me some ideas to try and bring some creativty while i’m on a dud for crafting stuff to sell. If anyone needs any marketing advise i’m happy to help some fellow wood workers along the way. The most awesome thing i’ve made is a goblet which my college stole. 😛 but I’ve not thought of making boxes so that should be interesting try 🙂
Hi Eva – Lots of folks rent space in upscale flea markets/craft stores to sell their projects. I have not had to do that yet since I have had good luck selling on Craigslist. BUT< BEWARE that scam artists work Craigslist. When they email you and ask about the "ITEM" rather than the project by name, that's a scam artist, delete them. Do not open them. I have a full time business and my shop time for projects is limited so I don't make a bunch of things. One more tip, lumber is much cheaper at a local saw mill, rather than lumber yards. Check them out in your area.
MARVIN’S TINY WOOD SHOP – Coffee and end tables,
quilt ladders, jewelry boxes, toy boxes.
planters, napkin holders, Cedar chests.
479-419-5548
Marvin Shelley, Master Sawdust Maker
I had to leave a reply just to say how much I love the title ‘Master Sawdust Maker’. If I had the money to buy anything handmade in the first place, let alone get it shipped all the way over to the UK, I’d definitely put some money in your pocket. Hope business is good and stays that way!
Hi Louisa – Boxes – small,medium and large – sell well. There’s enough designs on Pintrest to keep you busy. Most of my small boxes I make with a scroll saw and saw out the center. Google “SCROLL SAW BOXES.” I use a different type hinge/thing. Shoot me an email and I will show you how to make the hinge feature in 1 minute or less.
MARVIN’S TINY WOOD SHOP – Coffee and end tables,
quilt ladders, jewelry boxes, toy boxes.
planters, napkin holders, Cedar chests.
479-419-5548
Marvin Shelley, Master Sawdust Maker
Hello everyone.for a less expensive turning tool, I use a mini lathe for small turning projects..up to 10″. The smaller projects I have in mind are mini baseball bats, lamp bases, smaller bowls, candle stick holders, and the list goes on and on. my favorite turning projects are pens. I make over 100 different types of pens and pencils from inexpensive wood from all over the world..once you start turning on a lathe…you’re hooked..have fun.
I would be cautious about making children’s toys. Too many liability issues. One lawsuit could wipe out years of work.
I make grape vine baskets and trees and other things but in this area peopl cant pay what they are worth so i have to sell them cheap im not getting anywhere fast they sell as fast as i can make them shops buy them and doubl and tripl prices im about to call it a day its to much work for sombody to make all the money i just dont live in the. Rite area is ther a answer to this im just a getting old country boy
Scott sell them yourself, don’t let people take advantage of your hard work.sell them on Craig list, get a younger person in your area to help you with it,they know how to use computers, and u could pay them for there help, have shipping cost included in price, just a thought good luck.
I sell all of my projects on Facebook Craigslist to many weirdos
Don’t give up man but remember there is always the internet, try selling something on craigslist or ebay and sell it at what you think they cost. People are harsh out there so you got to be tougher and more demanding.
Wondering if you are still hanging in there Scott? One thing I notice woodworkers often do when getting started (including myself) is they sell their hand made items way too cheap, it doesn’t help anyone except the customer. You say yourself that they sell as fast as you can make them. Put your prices up! Double or even triple, the amount of orders may slow down but you will be doing yourself a favour. Don’t bother with Etsy or Craigslist or local markets in my opinion. Build it up for yourself to make money not making the giants even richer from all your hard work. I’ve been selling my woodwork online since 2004, before all these giants came along. I feel I have the experience to offer advice if anyone is interested. Trust no one! The internet has become a place for giants to make money off you (Facebook, Etsy, GoogleAds, Amazon…… the list goes on.) Don’t let them take your money, learn how to use them to your advantage instead of being a sucker and paying them money to grow even bigger while you stay the same size. They don’t care about you, they only care about their own business models. Grow your own business brand and ignore anyone who appears to want to help you, especially if their main business is making money online. That’s all they care about! Not you. Invest your time and money in yourself, your own website – not others and you will succeed, providing you are doing what you love and are passionate about.
The best advice I could give you is to learn WordPress or find a friend who can help you figure it out. Once the light bulb goes off there will be no stopping you, you will have the power in your own hands to provide what your end user needs and to educate them about the benefits and your products value – in a selfish, wasteful, throw-away society who expect everything delivered yesterday and expect to pay dirt cheap prices for your skills and repetitive hard work. End of rant….Sorry but I just had to comment. I know what it’s like, don’t lose hope!
Thanks.
Hi Andrew I think you’re being very nice and helpful by sticking up for all the little guy’s out there strugglin to make it . People like me as well. Thank you Very Much for All your advice. I know I Greatly Appreciate it. Also please tell me how to make my own website please. I’m definitely going to take your much needed advice. My name is Karen dollar please respond to me on my Facebook . I live in Bakersfield ca. Thank you again very much and stay Safe & Healthy in this crazy pandemic world we All live in now a days . My email is : karendollar62@gmail.com
Hi Scott – Your nearest decent sized town should have a flea market or craft store. Rent the space, fill it up, and check back every couple of weeks to get your money and restock. I tried craft shows and they were a bust and too much work loading, unloading, setting up, reloading, taking down the set up, unloading what did not sell into your garage. As with lots of things, the craft show promoter makes most of the money.
“Start a woodworking business” link doesn’t function ( doesn’t match ..). So what to do to get the correspondant page to this link page ??
Also for the “download the complete woodworking business guide”…..!
Please do some thing to allow me to download the guide at least !
Many tanks !
nassim1er@yahoo.fr
I can’t believe that they left out old beat up furniture that can be refinished to look like new. This is my favorite thing to do, and you don’t have to be really skilled to do this
Love to restore furniture as well
This is so cool. I wouldn’t thought half of these. I might try’na start looking onto DIY of these. Thanks for sharing.
Currently I am working on building a floating deck, which is challenging but fun, so for those who want to try here’s the article that inspired me 🙂
I just built a floating deck for my sister a week ago I was sore but it was fun
Nice site. Very interesting.
Wooden chess sets are used nowadays for decoration purpose as well as for playing. These chess sets are of very high quality. Designing the chess pieces at home is quite difficult. But they are very detailed and some can get pricey but the quality is well worth it!
I very much enjoyed this article! I have a new found appreciation for woodwork so making a little bit of profit from it wouldn’t hurt.
I’ve found a really good one lately in boxes that you can sit a phone in and they basically act as a simple amplifier. Quite fun to make, and I’ve come up with loads of different designs. Amazing how well they sell.
I love wood projects! I make jewelry boxes and toy boxes! Very detailed and some can get pricey but the quality is well worth it!
Not all of these items sell well. It all depends on your location. Always remember the time and money you have into it and whether you can make a profit. With so much cheap merchandise flooding into america from China and other location’s it becomes harder for average Americans to make a profit.
How right you are. People are blinded by price not quality
I would think of them more as “bound” instead of “blinded”. I also agree that it has become exceedingly difficult to compete with outsourcing.
I am from pittsburgh and I make a lot of my projects out of pallets from blanket chest to nautical lamp post and they both sell well here wine racks are Good sellers in the fall and winter months bird houses in the spring it seems what’s the best time of year and the rite product to build I lucked out and I am busy all the time and I can’t forget my best seller is a Raised doggie feeder and water tray with a bone I cut out and it hangs on the front of the tray with 2 small chains and can be personalized with the pets name on it I love to up cycle wood and keep on building
Raised doggy feeder can u send me a link or a way to find out how to do it think that would be cool for my dog. I live in Wisconsin just started out on refinishing furnagure for fun
Hello John
I work a lot with pallets and would love to see some of the items you build with pallet wood for ideas. I have not made anything for resale but projects just for myself. I am interested in making stuff for resale. Do you have a website?
I have purchased the online kit and now have no site to download from received confirmation of payment. Please respond to how i retain access. Thank u
Hello Danielle,
Thank you for purchasing. You should have been automatically re-directed to the download page after the payment, if you did not close the browser window. Even if you did, it does not matter, you will get your login information in an email as well. You can click on the link in the email to access your downloads in the future as well.
If you cannot find the email in your main inbox, please look for it in the Junk mail folder. Gmail users might also find it in the Promotions folder. Please let us know if you still have any problems. Thank you.