An Elegant Jelly Cabinet

What the .........?????

Who stores jellies in specially made cabinets these days?  Maybe the Amish, the Mennonites or any would-be-Shakers, but - apart from them ...... well?

Fortunately this cabinet won't be storing jellies, (we call them jams in Australia), but will be utilitarian enough to be turned to many purposes.

I have been looking at numerous styles of antiques for the kind of cabinet that I want to build.  Unfortunately, none of them hits the mark, but between them - all the pieces of the cabinet puzzle are present.

Let me explain.

The cabinet will be narrow in proportion to its height - like this one.  However, it won't be so tall - only around four feet high.

It will have one door - not two.

These doors are solid, and even though they are not made out of plywood, they look as though they could be. Not a pretty look.

This cupboard is useful, but it lacks elegance, and scores poorly aesthetically.

Here is a wall mounted cupboard with only one door.

The proportions are again wrong, but the door is similar to what I want mine to look like.  I won't paint mine.

Frame and panel construction for the door, looks so much nicer than the slabby appearance of the former cupboard shown above.

I don't like the way that this door has been framed by the front of the cupboard.

The top and sides are OK, but the bottom looks unfinished, and the door seems to hang in the air (which, of course this one does - but you know what I mean).

The framing of the door needs a bottom rail.  This will serve two purposes - beauty and practicality - ie it will look good, and add strength to the construction.

Now this is better.


The door is wrong, but it is at least framed, and looks better from that perspective.


The bottom stile is too narrow, and doesn't match the top stile in any way.

 Sitting flat on the floor like this, also makes this cupboard look squat.

The addition of some short legs will make a huge difference to the appearance.  They will also be practical - allowing airflow underneath.

After all the wet weather we have been having, improved airflow will be a big plus.

Here's a good example of the leg height I am after.  Pity about the cabinet.

Some antiques have well and truly lost their beauty along the way.  The years have not been kind to this one.

Now, none of these cabinets have the grace that I am after, and they are all too wide for their height.  I shall have to remedy that in my design.

What each of them does have, is one ingredient that will be utilised in my final cupboard.  I just have to put them all together, and hope that the finished result matches the idea in my mind.
Sounds like fun doesn't it.

Next step will be to find some timber, then .......
..............let the games begin!