The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING
Chests, cabinets and sideboards
CHESTS
Chests, man's oldest furniture, continue to have a place in modern households, being used chiefly for the storage of blankets and linen, but not exclusively so, as the cedar one in 419 by
David Savage illustrates. They often double up as occasional seats, and the contoured tops as used by David Savage and Alan Peters (421) help to facilitate this as well as to provide visual interest.
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419 Chest in solid cedar by David Savage |
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420 Chest in solid Scots pine with through tenons and padauk feet, by Alan Peters |
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421 Specially commissioned chest in ash for Kirkham House, Paignton, by Alan Peters |
CABINETS Corner cabinets and cupboards
Corner cabinets are useful for display purposes, also for conversion into cocktail cabinets, but are unsuitable as general cupboards, bookcases, etc. owing to the wasted space. Figure 423:1 shows a typical example of a glass door corner cabinet, and 423:2 a single-door corner cupboard. If tall cabinets are built-in it is usual to make the side pilasters extend beyond the sides and scribe to fit the walls, while the angle of the cupboard plan should be slightly more than a right angle as it is never wise to assume that plastered walls will be plumb or the corners at true right angles to each other. Such precautions hardly matter with free-standing cabinets (423:1) as the skirting boards will throw the carcass clear of the walls, but may be necessary with the wall cupboard.
