Mid-Mod Sideboard

All the flavors of walnut shine in this versatile storage and serving piece.

- Phil Huber

PROJECT #2313
Skill Level: 
Intermediate 
Time: 60 hours 
Cost: $1,000

My sister asked me to make a dining table and sideboard for her house. She was ready to move on from garage sale finds and inherited pieces that filled the dining room but didn't suit the house or the way she wants to use the room. She's drawn to the crisp cool of Mid-Century furniture. But she also gave me an opening to come up with an "inspired-by" look rather than a "copy-of" knock-off.

The design I came up with combines strong geometric shapes. The case is divided into thirds: banks of drawers flank a center section of open shelving. Two bypass sliding doors aren't strictly necessary, however I like a sense of motion and transformation in otherwise static furniture. A separate base assembly lifts the case off the floor and allows light and shadows to play in the openings.

For the materials, I worked with a co-worker who happens to be a sawyer, who happens to be the editor-in-chief of this magazine. That gave me access to plenty of air-dried walnut. Slow, natural drying preserves the range of colors and tones in walnut: chocolaty browns, veins that lean toward purple, and midnight mineral streaks. An added benefit is that the air-dried stock works much easier (in my opinion) than its kiln-dried brethren.

Working with wide rough sawn planks holds particular delight. I get to find project parts within the board to fulfill project needs. Sometimes it's color, other places grain pattern takes priority. Even the leftover sections can be used in the unseen parts of a project. I'll highlight a few of these decisions as we go along with this project.