Side table

Another pandemic project: a side table. I wanted a small table to put a lamp on in order to accompany a comfy reading chair. The top and shelf are fir, and the base is yellow cedar. This was an interesting project for me due to the inclusion of the curves in the legs; normally, I only work in straight lines. I added the subtle curve and taper in order to “lift” the table a bit, while still grounding it.

The top and shelf are vertical grain Douglas fir, while the base structure is yellow cedar. The fir was left over from previous projects, and had the nice detail of nail holes, which I left as a feature.

I was curious to see how suitable yellow cedar was as a wood for furniture, and I had a substantial amount of it from an aborted project, so I figured, why not? I ended up liking it quite a lot - it cuts and finishes very nicely, and while dense for a softwood, it’s still a bit soft, so I wouldn’t use it anywhere that it would be exposed to wear. Yellow cedar is also a bit pungent when it’s being worked, so that was something to get used to.