I'm building a new credenza/shelves for my office and basing it off a design I really liked which was for a typical long credenza (https://www.wescover.com/p/furniture...pa--PS1Fcoig7r). I plan on using the basic design queues, but the width will be shorter (~32") and I want to extend the side legs up and add some shelves. I'm afraid that adding the top shelves makes it feel too much like a japanese temple/gate and less midcentury - my wife is Japanese and she loves midcentury, but doesn't want to evoke the temple aesthetic.

I've attached a screenshot from my rough sketchup. Note that it doesn't reflect any bezels on the parts so feels a bit more square than it will eventually end up. Maybe the rounding of the hard edges will be enough to mitigate the "temple" feeling, but I cannot help feeling that the top just doesn't feel very midcentury/interesting.

A couple of thoughts:

1. It would be nice to find a way to incorporate the curves from the bottom legs/base in to the top, but when I modeled that it felt very heavy.
2. As modeled the shelves are simple slabs that run from edge to edge of the legs. I considered getting fancier - for example adding side bars (between the front and back top arms) and then using brass dowels to attach the actual shelves (so the shelves wouldn't actually touch the arms). Are the simple slabs too boxy/plain?

Apologies for the relatively rough sketchup...I'm not very good at capturing the small details (bezels, exact joints, etc...).

Any other design thought welcome!

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This is the (lovely!) original design I'm using as inspiration:


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