I bought the maple hardwood for the plinth before I designed the plinth. The maple boards were plain, so I knew I had to use either contrasting tones, grooves, or accents to add visual interest.

It took me well over a year to finalize the design. I explored numerous designs. You can't beat CAD (I use MicroStation) for this type of iterative design process.

I started by considering horizontal cuts or stripes. I've seen similar designs on the web.

I considered vertical segments.

I considered a two-tone variation of the vertical segments.

I considered a V-waist design with an aluminum dowel "belt." I came very close to building this design.

While trying to decide about the V-waist design, I started thinking about slightly curved or contoured shapes.

The final design combines elements of the V-waist and contoured designs. I'm very pleased with it; it doesn't look like any other plinth design I've seen.