I was approached to design a credenza/sideboard that matches a conference table I made in the past. A+L Conference Table. The main purpose for the sideboard was a storage unit that housed all their conferencing equipment when they weren’t using it as well as all the wires and misc things that should be hidden when it’s not used. The sideboard also makes a great platform to showcase all the awards they have won in the past.
Since there wasn’t a whole lot of space between the wall and the conference table chairs, I wanted to avoid having a door that swings out- especially if they needed the cabinet open for one reason or another. That left me with sliding doors or tambour doors as the options for the doors. Tambours are doors that slide in a track and roll so that it’s able to tuck into the sides and hide behind the back panel. You see this used on roll top desks.
After our design meeting, the client and I both agreed that tambours were the better choice for this situation. Not only does it look nicer, it’s a better solution functionally since you can reveal just the center shelf area, or open it all the way to showcase the whole interior of the cabinet. I also believe tambours have a certain nostalgic feeling that reminds us of beautiful furniture of the past.
The design inspiration came from mid-century modern furniture. I think the simplicity in form of the designers of this era got it just right. It’s hard to improve upon it, so I left the lines as clean as possible and tried to let all the details shine. Like many of SYD furniture, the eye is in the detail and the craftsmanship. Spend time on those elements and you don’t need fancy or unusual forms to stand out.
Most of the furniture in the room is made of pecan, so pecan was the natural choice of wood for this project. We didn’t want the room to look like a forest of pecan, so we decided to make the tambour doors out of a different, but complimentary wood. In this case, we decided on teak. The warm color of teak and the rich grain makes the door the focal point without taking all of the spotlight.
