We enjoy the challenge of boxes and small chests, and we enjoy trying different combinations of woods in our projects, so it was only a matter of time before we united cherry and maple in this cute little treasure chest.  The sides of the chest are solid cherry, cut and joined so that the grain flows smoothly around the entire perimeter. 

We knew we wanted to make the feet from maple, but also knew it wouldn’t look right to have the feet be the only spot of maple in the whole project.  So, we sliced up the cherry we intended to use for the bottom and top of the chest and inserted maple strips down the center of each as accent pieces.  The maple for the feet and the idea for the shape of the feet both came from the feet we cut for our Birch Girl sculpture.  These shapes were the ghost outlines of the shape of her feet, pared down to a proper size for the chest, and attached to mirror the overhang of the chest lid and add to the sense of feet in motion.  We also think they add to the cute factor. 

 

It is finished with a durable clear, satin, polyurethane (General Finished High Performance Polyurethane).  It has multiple coats of finish on it to bring out the grain depth in the wood.

 

The chest is constructed is 100% hardwoods (Pennsylvania cherry and curly maple).  The corners of chest are done with lock miter construction to provide added strength.  In addition, the lid is re-enforced additional cross members.  All pieces are 0.50 - 0.75 inches thick.

This chest measures 24” long x 12” deep x 15” high.  A nice size for the foot of a twin bed, or tucked under a home office desk or console table.   It would also make a great toy chest.