I just finished my version of Thomas Stangeland's Anderson Server that's pictured in Darrell Peart's book G&G Design Elements book. Photos are up in photobucket
I took a lot of time working out dimensions and proportions with the bracket sizes, lower shelf support (angles, width, placement,...), drawer sizes, .. Cardboard models helped with dimension / placement choices for the overall look.
I was going to build it out of maple initially and got talked into alder at the place where I get lumber. Alder was a mixed blessing - really easy to work with but very susceptible to dings, dents, scratches, and finishing woes. Frame construction was straight forward. No major mishaps except the shelf mortises on the back were cut on the wrong third of the back legs. But that's really not noticeable unless you're familiar with the design. Details of the plug holes, shapes of ebony inserts, and finishing make (or break) the piece. The alder was almost too soft to get a nice crisp plug hole. Shaping the plug tops took some (well a lot) of time to get right. I didn't try the jig in your book, I just free handed them and polished them up on the grinder.
I finally understood the point of care during finish sanding. The radiuses everywhere could've used more attention. 1/8" on alder disappeared quickly with surface sanding. Maybe the radius would've stayed defined on a harder wood.
Finishing almost broke the piece. I put a wash coat of shellac down first. The main finish was ½ clear shellac, ½ amber shellac, and medium brown tint. I was trying to simulate a mahogany finish, maybe a slight degree of success. Next time I'll finish the piece prior to assembly and insertion of the plugs. I think that would help a lot. You'll probably see a lot of finishing issues in the pictures.
I think the lines of the table are great. Next time I'll probably try the piece with a different type of lumber. Have you ever seen a Greene and Greene piece out of walnut with maple plugs? Thinking about something like that. It'd be different but maybe not in a good way.
BTW - You can see in my 'auction' album on photobucket. I scored big in the lumber dept. The man had cut, dried, and milled oak and walnut. I bought ~350 bd ft of walnut for 1.20 a bd foot. Most of the pieces are
7" - 14" wide and 9-11 ft long. I also got 5 pieces of red oak 15-18" wide 11 ft long for $40 total. There was also a stack of 4 pieces of oak 26" + wide x 11 ft. long. I didn't buy that - just didn't know what to do with pieces that massive. He had ~14 piles of lumber with 100-150 bd. Ft. in each pile. It was a great sale!