01
American Cherry
Book-matched / Aged Brass
The species we reach for first on case pieces. Cherry darkens for decades, so a credenza that reads pale-rose today settles into a deep russet — the grain gaining depth the whole way.
Furniture — Sideboards & Credenzas
Solid wood sideboards
and credenzas, made to order.
A sideboard is the hardest-working piece in a room and usually the longest one, so it has to be built for movement as well as for looks. We make ours in solid hardwood — no veneered sheet goods — with book-matched door panels, hand-cut dovetailed drawers, and hardware chosen at the drawing stage rather than at the end. Sized to your wall, your storage, and your light.
How a case piece is built
(01 — 04)01
Book-matched panels
Doors and side panels are cut from consecutive boards off the same log and mirrored, so the figure runs continuously across the face of the case. It costs yield and takes longer to lay out, and it is the difference between a cabinet and a piece of furniture.
02
Dovetailed drawers
Every drawer box is hand-cut dovetail at the front corners, with solid bottoms fitted into grooves so they can move with the seasons. Drawers run on wood or on soft-close hardware, whichever the piece asks for — both are specified deliberately, never as a shortcut.
03
Frame-and-panel cases
Case sides are frame-and-panel rather than glued-up slabs, so a wide credenza stays flat through summer humidity and winter dry. Backs are shiplapped solid wood, not sheet goods — visible from behind and finished as carefully as the front.
04
Hardware as design
Aged brass pulls, blackened steel bases, exposed fixings. Hardware is chosen at the drawing stage and left visible, because it is part of how the piece reads — the quiet contrast against warm timber that customers come to us for.
Timbers for storage pieces
(01 — 04)A case piece shows more face grain than any table, so the species decision matters twice over. For a fuller account of how each of these ages, read our guide to choosing hardwood.
02
Walnut
American Black / Oil Finish
Chocolate heartwood with violet and grey streaks. On a long sideboard the figure carries across the doors, and it lightens toward honey over the first ten years.
03
White Oak
Quarter-sawn / Fumed or Oil
Quarter-sawn for medullary fleck and for stability across wide doors. The most robust choice for a piece living in a humid or sunlit room.
04
Hard Maple
Sugar Maple / Natural
Pale and architectural, tight-grained, and dense enough to take daily use. Ambers slowly from cream toward soft wheat.
Hickory, ash, elm, and select exotic hardwoods available by request for one-off case pieces.
Commission
Commission a sideboard or credenza.
Send the wall length, the ceiling height, and what has to live inside — records, linen, glassware, a television. We will come back with a drawing, a hardware selection, and timber samples.
luke@greatplainswoodworks.orgWrite to the studio