CRAFTSMAN STYLE MAGAZINE CABINET
PROJECT #1920
Skill Level: Advanced
Time: 2 Days
Cost: $200
In 1905, Gustav Stickley published plans for this magazine cabinet in The Craftsman magazine as part of an ongoing home training course in cabinetwork. He claims this to be a useful piece in any living room where loose papers and magazines are apt to accumulate. Having built several now myself, I couldn’t agree more. It’s the perfect piece of furniture to sit beside a favorite reading chair or to showcase a few treasures in the living room, and it is far more capable of wrangling the stuff of everyday life than any end table or magazine rack I’ve ever had.
Almost any wood will work. Oak is a classic craftsman choice, but maple or walnut would also look great. Stickley specifically suggests in his original plans that a softwood may be desirable which prompted me to build a version of this piece a few years ago from home store pine. For this iteration I chose mahogany with blackwood keys as a subtle nod to Greene and Greene furniture—another branch of the arts and crafts tradition.
