My 90 year old father works to keep his mind sharp by playing word games. I tell him I keep my mind sharp by creating complex 3D models of furniture using SketchUp Pro. I created two models recently, one of which was especially difficult to complete.
The Leon Max Wardrobe
Leon Max is a fashion designer who invited Architectural Digest to take a video tour through his $21,000,000 California home. During the tour, I saw an amazing wardrobe in the primary bedroom. I liked the piece which is massive and is covered with a bazillion amazing moldings. I quickly began thinking about creating the wardrobe in SketchUp.
To begin, I got a screen grab from the AD video and began to think through how I would make an accurate model of the wardrobe. The main challenge was it’s real size – I did not have any dimensions to work from. Ultimately, I had to guess at it. I created rectangular boxes as an outline and used the tape measure tool to create guide lines of where I thought elements like the doors, cornice, feet, base and columns would be.
Another issue which I never determined a reasonable answer for was “where is the inner door stile (the board which has the door knob)?” In the video, the outer stile is easy to see due to the hinges. But there does not appear to be a traditional opposite stile (doors are often made of rails – horizontal pieces, and stiles – vertical pieces). There are very ornate door knobs, but no definable board the knob attaches to.
I decided to adjusted my design to have a traditional door layout. This lead to a number of changes: the large center panel on the doors then became an upright rectangular shape vs the square shape seen in the original, some of the moldings were omitted, etc. etc.
From the many SketchUp models I have made, I now have a large collection of molding profiles to pull from. I utilized some of them on this wardrobe approximating the needed look. I used the Scale Tool to adjust them where need be. There are five different wood materials which vary slightly in grain and color giving the model a more realistic look. The figured wood has at least three different color tones to help replicate the look of different pieces of veneer.
I’ll admit that I could not bring myself to recreate certain parts of the wardrobe. The ornate door pulls are one such item. I was already getting a headache from making the model even with basic door knobs. This project was a fantastic challenge. I at least succeeded in creating a close representation of the original.
The Peter Waals Sideboard
I have a mild interest in English Arts and Crafts furniture. I was doing an online deep dive researching this style of furniture and found an interesting sideboard which contained unique raised panel doors and an even more unique ebony plate rack. This sideboard was designed and built by woodworker Peter Waals in 1930.
The design of the door panels while common on English Arts and Crafts furniture, are the opposite of what I am used to. The visable part of the panel begins flush with the surface of it’s door and then gets raised three times and includes an octagon shape.
The plate rack looks like a delicate design which includes bridle joinery in some places. The arches are a nice touch.
In this instance, I had the overall dimensions and two good photos of the sideboard. From that, I could import a photo into SketchUp using match photo and began creating accurately sized components.
For this model, I wanted to make the wood material as close to the original as possible. To that end, I took a screen shot of a photo showing the front of the sideboard, zeroing in on the panels. I then imported that into SketchUp to use as a panel material with the paint bucket tool.
Why make such models?
First of all, I find making practice SketchUp models fun and relaxing. I like the challenge and the feeling of success from being able to complete complex 3D models. And I like making them look realistic without using a photo quality rendering program.
Most importantly, as I make these models, I am thinking about how to make them work in real life. Like what kind of joinery I would use, the order of construction, etc. And I get more proficient using SketchUp with each model I make.
Jeff Branch Woodworking 
Those are great!
Thanks Andrew. They were fun to make.