Bookmatched Étagère
Completed: August, 2022
During my internship at Trystcraft, I was given the opportunity to design and build a piece of furniture for a month-long sprint project. Although many of the pieces sold at Trystcraft were large pieces of furniture, we also had a small collection of mid-century modern decorative pieces. At the time, these pieces were kept in storage containers, hidden to customers.
I wanted to design a display case to show off these items. The decor idems are a variety of sizes, with a maximum height of 15 inches. As the collection grows, the furniture piece also has to have the ability to expand. Trystcraft, acting as my customer, was also interested in asymetrical forms and texture, so I tried to design around these aesthetic desires. Mainly, the piece had to be inspired by midcentury modern design to fit in with the other furniture pieces in the space.
My ability to constuct this design was limited. To keep costs low, it had to be made with construction-grade plywood and 2 by 4s. Additionally, I had limited tools at my disposal to create this design. I found ways to elevate the final product by lining exposed plys with leftover veneer.
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While designing the Étagère, I planned to created some graphic element on the front. However, as soon as found this bookmatched plywood, I knew it had to be the feature of this piece.
I found ways to add some detail into this piece by creating overlapping edges on all four corners. I also decided to embrace the material restriction to make this continuous leg that wrapped up and around the body of the Étagère.
The cutouts on the side create some contrast through lighting, making the items placed on the center shelves more well lit than the top and bottom. As this collection of vintage pieces grows and can no longer fit on the shelves, some items can be placed on the top. The legs acting as a divider so each item can have it's own space to shine.