A recent furniture piece involves book matched door panels and metal legs. The book matched door panels are veneered and originate from a piece of figured Zebrano I had been saving for a special project. The challenge was to have the book matched veneers line up to create a flowing graphic. The clear portion of the figured Zebrano is in the center part of the (2) doors where they meet (by design). A set of metal legs is incorporated into the stand design. The case itself is maple with a frame and panel back. This provides the option of having the cabinet away from a wall. A dilemma I faced was the minimal depth of the cabinet at 7 inches. The original design was to include a stand with 4 wood legs but stability was a concern. I would need to add Bird's Feet at the bottom to add stability (by increasing the depth of the stand). This to avoid the risk of tipping forward. So a metal stand solved this problem and created a new wood + metal aesthetic. Wood selection took a while as I seeking a consistent grain pattern throughout. This to maintain the focal point of the bookmatched doors.
The interior has (3) dovetailed drawers with Beech drawer fronts. I used Maple for the cabinet case, interior compartments and frame & panel back. The inside panels of the doors are maple veneers to maintain a consistent, light appearance of the interior. The interior drawer compartment layout is staggered and introduces asymmetry into the design. I like that maple is a naturally light wood and retains its color... unlike Cherry for example. I learned a few techniques in this furniture build. The cabinet and stand are diminutive in size at only 44 inches tall. It has a frame and panel back so there is no issue placing it away from a wall (Krenov philosophy). The finish is shellac applied in multiple, thinned coats.
A short video of the display cabinet from different anglesat my YouTube channel.
