Morgan Shaver’s unique designs show off his passion for woodworking

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Morgan Shaver is convinced that he was born with a calling.

“Even as a toddler I would take things apart just to see how they worked, and then would put them back together,” he says.

Woodworking has been his passion since he was a child, creating things in his childhood garage. As he grew older, he began helping his dad build kitchens and furniture and after he completed school he moved into building as his full-time career.

For more than 20 years, Shaver ran a building and woodworking business with his father. He started his own company, Morgan Shaver Design, when he and his family moved to Muskoka in 2018.

His primary work is building custom homes and renovations—he says he puts the same amount of care into each house he builds as if it were a forever home for his own family—and between those large projects he turns to his passion for woodworking.

“I enjoy getting into my workshop and making whatever I feel called to build that day,” says Shaver. “Most of my woodworking has been charcuterie boards, but I have also created geometric animals with the scrap pieces, and mountain art. The thing that people can expect from my work is great craftsmanship and something that I truly enjoyed building. It’s a craft, or an art, so when I make something it’s because I’m loving the process and I know that someone will love it enough to welcome it into their home, too.”

Shaver sells many of his woodworking projects on his Instagram page, @morgan.shaver.design, which has gathered more than 18,000 followers. He says that most of the time items are sold within a day of posting them.

Most popular are his charcuterie boards. “I’ve been making quite a few of those over the last year,” he says. “Some have a hand-carved maple leaf, or shamrocks, or just epoxy-filled voids in the wood, but each one is very unique.”

Shaver loves giving back to people who love his work and often does giveaway contests for his online followers.

An oak charcuterie board (above left) that Shaver made for a giveaway in conjunction with Muskoka Brewery, and his daughter (above right) with the little lending library he built for the Muskoka Montessori School (supplied)

Shaver and his family have always dreamed of donating an entire library to a school, but as that is such a huge dream he recently built a Little Lending Library for his daughter’s school, the Muskoka Montessori School.

“The idea was to give the kids the opportunity to share their love of reading with others, while also having the opportunity to give back by donating their old books,” says Shaver. “It made us feel so good to see the kids exchanging books before and after school, and my daughter also made a cup of free bookmarks for anyone to take. It might not be a full library (yet) but it was a pretty awesome moment of giving.”

To see more of his work, visit @morgan.shaver.design on Instagram, and for more information about his building or woodworking projects, email [email protected].