Ozzie contacted me for a plan to build a long, low entertainment center. He's also the first to bite at the new sliding door design. It turned out well…
With this build, we switched up the materials a bit and used MDF-core walnut veneered panels which are less prone to warping. This is great for doors. It is veneered on both sides, too, for a fairly luxe look that contrasts with the maple nicely. The grain on this particular sheet is amazing — probably the nicest walnut grain I've seen.
The entire unit is considered a 1X4 — one bay high and four wide — which nets out at 92Wx18Hx15.5D (we were able to make them just a bit deeper than standard at the same cost). The handles to the sliding doors are slotted solid walnut similar to the pulls you'd find on shoji screens and when they abut the adjacent door (on both sides), they're flush… pretty trick. The rails are solid maple to coordinate with the maple multi-ply.
This is really beautiful! I wasn’t aware that you were able to do sliding doors. Looks really cool. Theoretically if they are veneer MDF, could you put different veneers on the doors?
Hi Lee: Thanks for the kind words. The panels are pre-veneered and I can get them (I think) in walnut, teak and maple. However, to put different veneers on existing MDF would be more expensive (the pre-veneered panels are more than 1/2 the price than the veneer if I were to buy it separately… odd, but true)… but yes, possible provided material and time costs are figured into it. What wood were you considering?
The pre-venered panels make sense. I was mainly wondering if other types of panel were available. Walnut, teak, and maple make for good choices! I am really interested in having a low credenza like the one above made later this year. I will contact you soon!
I may need to commission a mini media console version of this. You know, small SF apartment and all. One of these days, I’ll actually sit down and think out the dimensions with you.