BH | Studio Youghal Grid-Panel Sideboard

Panelled doors are among the oldest tricks in the cabinetmaker's book. Framing a door around raised and recessed fields began as a way to let wide boards move without splitting, and by the 1960s and 1970s designers were multiplying those fields into bold, geometric grids across sideboards and cabinets.

This sideboard has four doors, each faced in a grid of raised rectangles with recessed centres, so light and shadow pick out a deep, three-dimensional pattern across the whole front. The doors open with a press, without pulls, onto shelves that can be set at three heights. The top is rated to hold 308 lbs, enough for a large television, and each inner shelf takes 83 lbs. Four tapered legs carry it, with a fifth adjustable leg at the centre for a level stance and non-marking pads underneath. It is made from engineered wood with a wood-grain finish in Jet or Almond, and needs some assembly.

Set it in a dining room as a buffet, with serving bowls and table linens inside and a large mirror hung above, or in a living room as a media stand beneath a mounted screen. In a hallway it gives handsome storage for hats, gloves and dog leashes. The panels look crisp with white walls and brass lamps, and they bring a dash of 1970s glamour to a room with a shag rug and a smoked-glass vase.