Midcentury Modern Console / Buffet Cabinet

Wood isn't always true to width, and the doors drive everything. Measure the 1x4s you'll use for the door panels. If they're a full 3-1/2" wide, proceed as drawn; if they're under, note the difference — your door will be narrower and the face-frame opening has to shrink to match. Decide this now, before you cut the carcass openings.

Cut the plywood parts, planning them onto the single sheet so they all fit. Assemble the top, bottom, sides, and dividers into the carcass. If you altered the opening width for the doors, that changes the small-shelf width too — cut those to fit and attach them, pocket-holed on the underside with 1-1/4" pocket screws. Edge-band the exposed shelf edges if you want a finished look.

Build the face frame flat on the ground with 3/4" pocket holes and 1-1/4" pocket screws, then nail the whole frame onto the front of the cabinet. Building it flat first gives cleaner joints than fitting stick by stick.

Nail and glue the 1/4" back onto the carcass. It squares the cabinet and closes the cabinets off behind the doors.

Assemble the 1x6 base sides and front with the 1x3 rail into the lifted base, and attach it under the carcass. The base is what gives the buffet its midcentury float.

Build the plank doors carefully so the ends match — square is everything here. Glue between each 1x4 panel board, and glue and nail the back supports (the beveled 1x2 frame) on. A door out of square will never hang with an even gap no matter how you fuss the hinges.

Hang the doors on simple butt hinges set into the gap between door and face frame. Shim for a consistent 1/8" reveal all the way around — this is the detail everyone notices. Add magnetic catches to keep the doors shut and mount the knobs.

Stain the whole cabinet a medium tone. Then work the doors: sand some boards back to lighten them and re-stain others a touch darker, so the door panels read as a random midcentury gradient rather than one flat color. Seal when you've got the look you want.