If you haven't noticed yet, the country is heading into another era where simple is better. And while some of these clean and contemporary pieces are criticized as merely boring wooden crates with drawers, others show off the elegant proportions of the furniture using only understated accents. We hope you'll agree that the subtle black accents on this wardrobe have achieved that goal.

The wardrobe uses frameless construction, and it is built almost entirely of plywood so it's stable and lightweight. The visible plywood edges are covered with iron-on veneer tape to retain the simple clean lines of the piece. The concealed hinges (above) provide smooth door operation without interrupting the proportions of the door and drawer arrangement of the front. The pulls are unobtrusive and echo the black line of the reveal at the top and the bottom and the black base.

Construction begins by cutting the case pieces to size. Next, cut 3/8" x 3/4" rabbets on the back, top and bottom of both side pieces to accept the back, top and bottom. Also rabbet the top and bottom pieces on the back edge to hold the back. Now cut a 3/8"-deep x 3/4"-wide dado in the top and bottom pieces to leave an 11" opening between the right side and the vertical partition.

Before rushing to assemble the case, there are a few things to do first. Cut your four drawer dividers to size and apply veneer tape to the front edge of each. Mark the location of the drawer dividers and decide whether you want to use biscuits or dowels to hold the drawer dividers in place between the left side and the partition. The drawer openings are graduated in size and should be as follows from top to bottom: 5"; 5-7/8"; 7-1/4"; 9" and 11-1/8".

Because the door section of the wardrobe is only 11" wide, it's a good idea to pre-drill the right side and partition for shelf pins and also for the European-style hinge plates before assembly. One more pre-assembly task: sand the inside of the shelf section and the part of the back that's visible. You'll be glad you did.

Now assemble the case using glue and by driving nails through the top and bottom pieces into the sides and partition. When in place, the drawer dividers should be proud of the front edge of the case by the thickness of the veneer tape. Lastly, nail the back in place into the rabbets. This will square up the case.

With the case assembled, go nab your spouse's iron. Apply veneer tape to the front edges of the case, and to the top of the case on the front edge and sides to hide the rabbet joint. The 7/8"-wide tape is plenty because the reveal will only show 1/4" of the top of the case.

The false top is simply a piece of plywood edged with veneer tape. Check the size against the finished size of the assembled case to make sure the false top will flush up with the sides, front and back. Remember that the false top extends over the door and drawers and should flush up to them. The 1/4" reveal between the top and case is created using strips of 1/4" x 1" hardboard, with one edge spray painted black. Fit the strips to the underside of the top, allowing the 1/4" setback on the front and sides. Add a fourth strip flush to the rear of the top to level it out. With the strips fit, use black spray enamel paint to coat the visible edge and the underside of the front piece, then attach the reveal strips to the underside of the top.

Now attach the false top to the case. Drill clearance holes through the case and attach the false top using screws up through the inside of the case, again, flushing the back edges of the case and the false top.

The base is a simple frame held together by biscuits, dowels or mortise-and-tenon joinery, with the legs attached between the stretchers at the corners. With the base glued and assembled, add 1/4" x 13/16" hardboard strips to the top edge as you did to the underside of the top. Next, finish the base and strip with black paint to add visual "weight" at the base of the chest. When dry, attach the base to the cabinet using metal chair braces at the corners.

Now build the drawers using simple 1/4" x 1/2" rabbet joints on the sides, with the fronts and backs captured between the sides. The bottoms slide into 1/4" x 1/4" grooves in the sides and front that are cut 1/2" up from the bottoms of the drawer pieces. The back is cut 1/2" shorter than the front to allow the bottoms to slide into place. Use the bottoms to hold the drawers square while the glue dries, then remove them to make finishing the drawers easier. I set up a 1/4" radius router bit in a router table and ran the top edges of the drawer parts (both sides) to make them more finger-friendly. Don't round over the front edge where the drawer face will attach. With the drawers assembled, attach the drawer slides to the cabinet and to the drawer sides and check for smooth operation.

Cover the edges of the drawer faces and the door with veneer tape. Then rout the a shallow mortise centered in the top edge of each for the pulls. Use a router with a straight bit. See the photo above for the jig I built for this.

I want to mention that the screws provided with the pulls are round-head screws. In an effort to keep things flush and simple I used a countersink on the clearance holes in the pulls and then used flat-head screws to attach the pulls. Now attach the drawer faces to the drawers using the hardware shown in the photo at right. This allows for easy adjustment.

Now drill the door to accept the European hinges and mount them to the cabinet. If you haven't used concealed hinges before, take a few minutes to play with the adjustment to get a feel for the versatility of these hinges.

Lastly, cut a groove the length of both sides of the shelves and then add veneer tape to the front edge. The shelf pins shown slip into the slots in the shelves and provide invisible support. It's your choice whether to make the shelf locations adjustable by adding more shelf pin holes. I preferred to use set locations to keep the interior clean and unmarred.

The case is now ready to finish. Remove the hardware and finish sand. Use a clear finish everywhere, and don't worry about coating the black accent strips. After the finish has dried, attach the hardware and hang the door. Adjust the drawer fronts and door to make all the spaces equal. Then step back and enjoy the clean simple lines of your work -- until the tastes of the furniture world swing back the other way. Then perhaps you'll have to apply some fancy moulding or something. PW

--David Thiel, PW staff

HARDBOARD REVEAL • The hardboard reveal strip is painted black, then mitered to extend beyond the front of the cabinet itself. The reveal strip is recessed 1/4" in from the edges of the top.

LEARN SOMETHING FROM THE EUROPEANS• European hardware is a broad term covering a number of hinges and shelving systems. Best known for its use in commercial furniture, I chose to use it in this piece for a number of reasons. The door hinges allow adjustment of the door in three dimensions after the door is attached, and it is invisible from the exterior of the piece, keeping the lines clean and simple. The hinges do require a 35mm Forstner bit ($14.99) to insert the hinges in the side of the cabinet, and a jig designed just for installing ³cup² hinges is available from Rockler (800-279-4441) for $29.99, (item #10260).

Contemporary decorative hardware can be tricky to find, so I was pleased to find Spokane Hardware on the Internet. Offering a large and varied selection of contemporary, fanciful and traditional hardware for sale on the web, this saves a lot of time running from store to store. The pulls selected for this piece are commercially available to cabinet shops, but it's nice to find them accessible for the home woodworker as well.

This was the first time I'd used the drawer front adjusters, though they've been available for years. Having fought with adjusting drawer fronts on inset and flush-mount drawers forever, I found these clever plastic devices to be a big help. Allowing 1/8" adjustment in any direction, fine-tuning a drawer front is now a snap rather than a chore. Though the instructions specify a 25mm bit to mount the adjuster in the drawer face, a 1" Forstner works admirably with a little shimming.

JIG FOR THE PULLS • I cut the top and back recesses for the handles using the same jig. Unfortunately I made my jig a little short and had to move the clamps between cuts. Make your jig the width of the drawer and to fit your own router template guides and you'll be in good shape.