An old friend of mine from the Army and his wife life nearby me here in Georgia. She has a birthday coming up and he asked if I could make a downsized version of a wall unit she has over a buffet in the dining area. I had been to the house a number of times and knew the piece well. Sure, can do! So I finished it up today. Like the original, the new unit is made of red oak and uses MinWax Jacobean for the shelves and Golden Oak for the cross slats. Final top coat is MinWax Rattle can Satin lacquer. All the shelves , except for the lowest, are movable.
This is a photo of the original piece . The new unit is only 24" x 36".
Update as of 07/25/2025 Just arrived home from delivering the new piece to my friend and his wife. The unit really matches the original well and it was liked by the recipients. A few of you asked for photos after it was in place and so below are a couple of photos of the unit installed as promised earlier.
Thanks, BB1. The shelves are friction fit between the uprights and the cross bars. The cantilever design works well and this particular piece will not have heavy objects on it. Shelves are 7" from wall to front, with 5 1/2" usable space.
Thanks for the added info. Neat design that gives flexibility for the display. Nice to be able to build a match to the larger display - bet she will be happily surprised.
I’m a big fan of configurable display units, and this one is very nice. It looks like a near-perfect match with the inspiration piece. The only possible difference I see is that the uprights on yours seem to extend a bit higher than the ones on the original, but that could be because of the viewing angle.
It is an interesting way to hold the shelves but while they are 7" back to front, there is 1 1/2" holding the shelf in place with tight friction. The shelves enter the frame and extend flush with the back wall with 3/4" thickness of the upright sides and 3/4" top and bottom cross members providing the needed support. There is only 5 1/2" extension. Also on the original the shelves will hold nearly 15 lbs. And this one will only have a collection of owl statuettes that weigh less than 6-8 oz each.