Textured Walnut Wall Cabinet

This simple cabinet is elevated by thoughtful details.

- Collin Knoff

When you get right down to it, a wall cabinet is basically a box with a door on it. That doesn't mean there isn't plenty of opportunity for creativity though. The design for this one here evolved over time in my sketchbook, but as soon as I started actually building it, I changed almost every single thing... Why? Bits of it were practical, but mostly it was due to the fact that as soon as I started cutting things out, the wood inspired me in a different way than I expected. Some of the core ideas remained intact—I was always going to make it out of Walnut, and a cabinet by Lara Mays inspired the idea of texturing the door, though the choice of texture changed. Some details came into play later, like the shape of the decorative cutout, which is cribbed from a Maloof design.

Basic Joinery

Speaking of Sam Maloof, the joinery decisions for the cabinet were also closely inspired by him. I've been reading his autobiography, and his pragmatic approach really spoke to me when it came to the joinery. Sure, I could have actually used dowels for the joints, but it would have added a lot of complexity with no real upside. Instead, screws with plugs over the top, just like his chairs, work great. The top and bottom are held in a rabbet and dado—but sticking with the straightforward theme, we chose a foolproof way to cut them.

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