Walnut Bar Cabinet

A bar cabinet that has to house equipment is an exercise in tolerances. A wine refrigerator and a kegerator are both fixed sizes. Each one needs air behind it and clearance at the hinge, the doors have to swing without catching the case, and the tap tower has to land where a glass can sit under it. All of that gets resolved on paper before a board is cut, because a cabinet built a quarter inch tight is firewood.

This one was made to the client’s specification, in a mid-century shaker style with nothing on the case to catch the eye. Walnut carries the piece, with sustainable veneer, plywood and hardwoods used where each does its job best. Veneer over a stable panel is a deliberate choice rather than an economy: a broad panel in solid stock will move with the seasons and eventually say so, while a well-made veneered panel stays flat for the life of the cabinet and lets one log run continuously across a face that solid boards could never cover.

The two appliance bays are set by the machines, so the middle bay was the only part of the composition that was free. It holds four open shelves and is laid out to read as the centre of the piece. The stone top sits down into a walnut edge rather than resting on top of the case.

The plinth carries a shaped arch, the one drawn line in an otherwise square cabinet, and the whole piece rolls on casters so it can be pulled away from the wall.