I’ve decided to make a small side table. My goal was to use my aesthetic exploration of contemporary design. I wanted to blend a natural material and texture with something very inorganic. With this in mind, I started sketching furniture that had a cascade of hard white or grey material, with a drawer or shelf made from natural wood.

In my drawings, I meant the orange or blue to be a darker, natural wood like mahogany or maple. With this in mind, I was able to find some good poplar wood at Resource in east Boulder from an old shelving unit. I got a pretty large sheet of 3/4″ thick wood that I was able to cut down to the correct dimensions for all the various parts.  I mainly used the ITLL wood shop to cut the pieces and glue them together. I also used some pocket screws, which create a really strong joint. At this point, the little cabinet can hold my body weight!

Next, I got some wood filler and have filled in the gaps and cracks that result from using “imperfect” wood. Currently, the wood filler is curing and my next step will be sanding and painting the whole cabinet glossy white. Then I just need to install the drawer sliders I bought and install a pretty looking piece of wood for the drawer face!