Mid Century Record Cabinet

I wanted a piece of furniture that could hold records and magazines, but also function as a strong visual anchor in my office. Realistically, it started as a desire for a better Zoom backdrop—but it also solved the problem of my record collection and Golfers Journal issues living in milk crates on the floor.

I initially planned to buy an existing mid century cabinet and modify it: make it taller, deepen the shelves, refinish, and adapt it to my storage needs. After a couple weekends of digging through Facebook Marketplace and local antique and consignment shops around the Denver area, I came up empty.

At that point, I remembered I had a full sheet of mahogany plywood leaning against the wall in the shop. That was enough motivation to build the cabinet from scratch.

I sketched a rough design, generated a rendering, and then broke the sheet down on the table saw. Dados were cut for the internal dividers, followed by a full dry fit before committing to glue-up. The back panel was painted black to create visual depth behind the open cubbies, then the carcass was assembled and squared.

For the base, I designed and cut a set of mid century–inspired splayed legs on the Shaper Origin. The legs attach to a separate base frame, which is secured to the cabinet with Z-clips to allow for seasonal movement.

Because the Domino wouldn’t physically fit in some of the tight leg joinery locations, I used a Festool Domino template from Shaper Hub to cut mortises with the Origin—making it possible to place accurate mortises in confined areas.

The drawer became the focal point of the entire piece.

After seeing a Bourbon Moth Woodworking video demonstrating a fluted texture using a small roundover bit, I decided to try a similar approach. I designed a series of evenly spaced parallel lines in Shaper Studio and used a 1/8" radius point roundover bit to cut 182 individual grooves into a 3/4" thick mahogany drawer face. It’s slow, dusty, and slightly unhinged—but the result is exactly the kind of subtle texture I was after.

Hardware took longer than expected. We bounced between far too many options before settling on a set of brass pulls that feel simple, understated, and in line with the mid century aesthetic.

The entire cabinet was finished with Rubio Monocoat 2C Pure, keeping the color natural and letting the material speak for itself.

This project ended up being less about saving money and more about building something purpose-built, learning new workflows with the Origin, and creating a piece that feels both functional and personal.