A client said my drawer boxes looked 'cheap' because I used 1/2 inch plywood.

He pointed out the sides felt flimsy compared to the solid maple fronts, and he was right. I switched to 3/4 inch for all my drawer boxes after that, even though it costs more. Has anyone else had a client call them out on a material choice that you later agreed with?

3 comments

3 Comments

noahjenkins2mo ago

Doubt it's a big deal unless you're building museum pieces. Troy_fox talks about the sound, but most people just open and close drawers without overthinking it. Does a slightly thinner side really ruin the whole piece?

troy_fox2mo ago

Consider how the drawer sounds when it closes... that solid thunk from thicker sides sells the quality before anyone even touches it.

morgan31619d ago

Okay, let's pump the brakes a little. I'm not entirely convinced the sound of a closing drawer is some make-or-break quality test. Sure, a solid thunk is nice, but you can get that from a well-made box with decent joinery, not just from having extra thick sides. I've closed plenty of cheap kitchen cabinets that sound fine because they have a soft-close mechanism, but the particle board underneath is garbage. It feels like we're overthinking a moment that lasts half a second while ignoring how the thing actually slides after a year of use.