Mid Century Modern Shelf Unit
Solid Cherry Mid Century Modern Shelf Unit
Introduction
For this project, my client wanted a mid Century modern shelf unit based upon one she had seen at a big box store, but she wanted it customized to different dimensions and with an additional drawer in the bottom section. No problem!
The Design
As I mentioned, my client had seen a mid Century modern shelf unit at a big box store, West Elm I believe, but it was not quite the right size for the space she needed it to fit. She also wanted the bottom section to have an additional drawer; the original design only had one drawer. So we worked together on the dimensions and the details of the design elements, as well as the material of choice, which is cherry wood.
The shelf unit is built around the bottom case, which houses the two drawers. This case is all solid cherry wood and features a beveled front edge which allows the drawers to be recessed a bit which is a very mid Century modern style. The drawers ride on under mount, soft-close, drawer glides as well for a nice clean look and operation.
the build
The Case
After having selected the rough sawn cherry wood I would need, I started by breaking down the rough dimensioned parts that I would need for the base cabinet that houses the drawers. Everything else with this shelf unit is built around this cabinet so it is the most critical piece and will have the critical dimensions for other parts later on.
I began by cutting the case pieces to their rough length, leaving them about an inch long that I will trim off after gluing them together.
In my milling process, I ran the pieces over the joiner to get them initially flat. I then left the pieces to dry overnight. I often do this when doing flat table tops or case pieces as the wood is often under stress and after doing some initial milling you can expose the stress in the pieces and they will slowly move on you. By doing some initial milling, or skip milling, you can work to keep the pieces as flat as possible during this process.
After this initial milling, I stacked the pieces and left them overnight. Then, the next day, I ran them across the joiner again, then planed them to final thickness.
Once the case pieces were all milled up, I glued them together to get the proper width I would need for the depth of the case.
Once the case pieces were dried, and sanded down to 120 grit to remove all the glue and get the panels nice and flat, I used the table saw and my table saw sled to cut the 45 degree bevels to join the case together
Next I used the Domino to put some small dominos in the miter joint to add strength to the joint. Simply gluing a mostly end grain joint, such as a 45 degree bevel, is not very strong on its own. It also allows me to dry fit the case and get other measurements I needed.
With the case dry fit I would measure for the drawer dividers that will separate the case into two equal halves. I could also measure for the back panel that will need to go in. In the photo below, you can see the drawer dividers as well as the back.
The drawer dividers are held in place with dominos. Because the back panel is solid cherry wood, it is slid into oversized grooves that were routed into the case sides. These oversized grooves will allow the back panel to expand and contract in the changing seasons.
Also in this view, you can see the bevel on the inside of the front edge of the case. This is a pretty classic mid Century modern detail that was also in the original design.
Before I assembled the case, I went ahead and prefinished the back panel as well as the inside face of the case parts. It will be much easier to do this now rather than trying to do it after it is assembled. The finish for this project is OSMO Poly-x Satin, two coats.
Once the finish was applied, and dried, I glued the case together and clamped it up ensuring it was all as square as possible.
The Frame and Shelves
After the main case was completed I could move my attention to the frame and shelves that make up the majority of this piece. Using the completed case as my guide for the critical measurements I needed for the width, I started to construct the frame and lower case supports.
The frame is made up of two main vertical supports in the back and then two more vertical supports in the front that are only as tall as the case and then they go off at an angle to the top. So I started with the back verticals and the front vertical first as those would be the easiest to calculate.
The case is supported by two stretchers in the front and the back, but they have a curve in them as well so the main points of support are a 4” stretch right in the middle. The lower side supports only help hold the frame together and do not provide any support to the case. Again, this was part of the original design and actually worked just fine.
Here I am building the frame around the case as described above.
Once that was done I was able to assemble the frame in pieces. Here is one side of the frame being glued.
And here is the whole frame glued together with the shelves. The frame assembly is done with dominos and the shelves are also held in place with 8mm dominos.
Once everything was sanded down and ready for finish, I applied finish the the frame and the case separately and then placed the case inside of the frame and further secured it with some screws from the inside of the case into the frame. Here are some photos of the finished piece.
Conclusion
This was a really fun and interesting build. I do get a lot of requests to build things that are based upon something someone saw in a furniture store, which is more than fine, as long as I can put some twists in the design and make it my own. With this project, I was able to do that in a few ways, such as adding the second drawer to the bottom case. I hope you enjoyed this project and if you are in the market for a unique piece of your own, please contact me!
Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links meaning, I may get a small commission if you purchase anything from these links. Thank you for your support!
This mid-century modern inspired coffee table is built from solid cherry wood and features a glass top.