Seeking design help

[D11RDozer]

I'm working on building a mudroom bench for my wife and I've come to a point in the design where I'm unsure what to do.

The piece is based on the following two similar plans:

http://www.woodstore.net/hatrstbe.html http://www.plansnow.com/dn1158.html

I'm trying to merge the designs taking the basic features from the first bench (open shoe shelf and drawers) and the frame-and-panel look from the second.

My question is in regard to the drawer box top (horizontal area above the drawers) and the underside of the very top piece. How should these components be constructed? Frame-and-panel or solid panel?

I'm concerned about both the aesthetics and wood movement.

Wood movement is easier to manage with frame-and-panel, but would it look right on the horizontal surfaces that butt into other frame-and-panel assemblies?

Solid wood visually matches the seating surface, but wood movement becomes an issue in joining the piece to the rest of the upper assembly.

I haven't been able to find pictures or plans for an existing piece that addresses this problem so I turn it over to the community for help.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[JMadson Custom Wood]

The top cab is mostly plywood and the bottom is mostly solid wood.

The seat of the bottom cab is probably solid wood with breadboard edges. It's a lot work and a little pricey.

For a mud room, I would go with the top design. My best guess on the shelf (above the drawers) is that it's made from a piece of plywood, edged with solid wood or a veneer strip. I don't really like using veneers, they're a little tricky and if not done right, they don't last (others here might swear by them though). I normally use solid wood and attach it to edge, just like the face frames on the left and right, but only 3/4" instead of an inch or two.

Does that make sense?

[D11RDozer]

JMadson, thanks for the response.

I understand and agree with what you are saying about the first cabinet being constructed with plywood and solid edging.

Perhaps I should clarify my question. I'm not trying to decide between the two plans or the material. I have already decided on the frame and panel design with solid wood using QSWO left over from another project. The base section is already completed. Now I'm moving on to the upper section and the sticking point is how to incorporate the drawers into the frame and panel upper assembly. With the plywood unit it would be simple to just dado in a banded plywood piece. But with solid wood, I'm not sure which would be better, a solid piece or yet another frame and panel assembly. The solid piece obviously would need to be installed allowing for movement (directed to the back). My thinking is that this would result in better visual balance. The closest examples I can find are frame and panel bookcases, but the shelves are typically free floating in that case.

[duckkisser]

without know what you have done so far its hard to say but if you made the dark one on the right for the bottom i would match the top. its got a simple line lay out with a few small curves plus i learned that the left one those drawers usully end up full of things like wet gloves and scarves that end up melting and geting the wood wet. also it ended up being a catch all for junk as the family came in the door.

[JMadson Custom Wood]

I think I've got it now.

Do you plan on making the sides of the top section deep like the top picture or shallow like the bottom?

Either way, I've seen drawer boxes like this made as separate units. It doesn't even have to go all the way across from one side to the other. You could make it all out of solid wood then. Fasten from under or from the back.

[D11RDozer]

I plan on the top section matching the depth of the one with the drawers (about 11-12" deep) but constructed as frame and panel rather than plywood with a face frame.

Interesting idea of having the drawer box be a separate unit from the rest of the top. I'll think on that one a bit more.

Thanks again for the advice.

[ChetlovesMer]

Duckkisser makes a good point.

The picture shows a nice clean pair of boots sitting on the shelf. This doesn't happen a lot in real life. Be prepared for snowy, wet, muddy boots to go on the shelf. When I did the one we have in our mud room I suspended the bottom portion off the floor and we put a rubber boot mat under there. It worked out great in so much as snowy boots didn't destroy the wood.

Here's a photo of what I did.

[Beechwood Chip]

I think I remember a New Yankee Workshop episode where Norm made an entryway bench and used ceramic tile to create a tough, waterproof, easy to clean surface. Also, think about wet umbrellas.

[duckkisser]

Duckkisser makes a good point.

The picture shows a nice clean pair of boots sitting on the shelf. This doesn't happen a lot in real life. Be prepared for snowy, wet, muddy boots to go on the shelf. When I did the one we have in our mud room I suspended the bottom portion off the floor and we put a rubber boot mat under there. It worked out great in so much as snowy boots didn't destroy the wood.

Here's a photo of what I did.

i like how it is fit the space too bad my mud room is the outside porch.