The Inevitable Begins With a Set

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Next up on the project wheel is a build that will lead to multiple future builds.  Randy and I, like most young and frugal couples, have a hodge-podge of bedroom furniture.  The nightstands are mismatched hand-me-downs, our headboard is from Randy's childhood, one chest-of-drawers is mine from birth, and the other was left by the previous tenants at our Ave. D rent house in Abilene.  Needless to say, my part-time job for the last few years has been convincing Randy that we don't need to buy expensive, matching, bedroom furniture.  I was delaying the inevitable.  Luckily, we can build them piece by piece.  First-up, matching nightstands.

Randy was in charge of looking at other pieces of furniture to help determine the style.  Luckily, the designs she picked were simple, classic, and elegant designs that would look good and make my life a little easier in the building process.  We quickly decided on a custom style based on a couple of selections and also decided we wanted the finish product to be stained.  We made sure the style would transfer well on a large scale as we will eventually make a complete matching bedroom suite.  I won't bore you with many more details but I will say that we used solid 3/4" Oak for the casing with Oak plywood tops (1/2") , sides (1/4"), and backs (1/4").  The drawers are made of 1/2 " Birch plywood and faced with 3/4" Oak.  I used full extension drawer slides on the drawers which makes for very smooth operation.  The stain is oil-based Minwax "Red Chestnut" with oil-based Minwax "Clear Satin" polyurethane.  If you want any additional details on supplies, build techniques, specifications, etc., let me know via the comments.  No trade secrets here.

 

My next woodworking post will be all about the work benches I've built and I might throw in some information about my tools and what-not.   Let me know if you have any requests.