DIY Modern Nightstand

4 Materials
$20
2 Hours
Medium

I needed a modern looking nightstand to go with the bed that I had just made. I had some ideas in my head, but really didn't know what it was going to look like until it started putting pieces together. The first thing I needed to figure out was the dimensions. Once I figured out how tall and wide it needed to be I started with making the box. I used 3/4 in birch plywood to make this box and 1 1/4 in kreg jig screws to piece it together.

I put my kreg jig holes in the inside of the side pieces.

Then screwed those side pieces to what would be the top of my nightstand.

I attached the bottom of the box by using 1 1/4 wood screws. These would be hidden since it was the bottom of the box.


Now it was time for the legs.

The legs were made out of 2x2 boards. I kind of made of up measurements for how tall I wanted these legs to be. The actual legs ended up being 18 inches and then I measured the distance in between each leg for the connecting pieces. I used kreg jig holes and placed them on the back or the bottom of the legs so they could be hidden from views.

To attach all of the legs I used 2 1/4 kreg jig screws. You could bypass using a kreg jig and use regular 2 1/2 in screws, it just doesn't look quite as nice.

I flipped the whole thing upside down to attach the legs to the top of the nightstand, making sure that the kreg jig holes were facing the back of the nightstand.


Now it was time for the drawer. I have never made a drawer, and this drawer did not turn out amazing....but it worked.

I used 3 1x4 pine boards for the inside of the drawer. Using the measurements of the inside of my box, I assembled the three sides of the drawer with regular 1 1/4 wood screws.

I made sure to predrill all the holes so the wood didn't split. Then I outlined the drawer to some 1/4 in underlyament, which I cut out with a tables saw and stapled on with brad nails.


I finished it off with using the same 3/4 in ply wood to the front of the drawer front. I don't have a drawer pull in the picture, but I did end up adding a drawer pull later. Then gave everything a nice sanding to smooth it all out.

I would say that this is a pretty beginner project for someone who is familiar with a table saw and miter saw.

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2 of 6 comments
  • Judith Hughes Clevenger Judith Hughes Clevenger on Jul 05, 2021

    Looks wonderful! Great job!

  • Mcgypsy9 Mcgypsy9 on Jul 05, 2021

    Love it very much! I also love looking just like you do in your workshop. That’s my element! I’m alone doing my thing and haven’t got a worry in the world!

    P.S. at least yours is decent…mine is a total wall to wall mess and I just love it like that. It’s the only place in the world I can keep such a mess. I’m generally a perfectionist, but not in shop! LOL

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