#NIGHTSTAND WITH DRAWERS HOW TO#

The last thing to attach are the drawer slides. Here is a shot of my drawers all with views of (starting from the bottom) the front, back, and bottom back. Slide the panel in and attach it to the back piece of the drawer with 3/4″ screws.

Cut a bottom panel to size so it will go into the channel and fully overlap the back piece. When finished you have a U-shaped channel made by the grooves and open on the back. The Kreg Right Angle clamp is a lifesaver when building drawers. Make sure the grooves in the sides and front are all facing inward and are aligned where they meet in the corners. Flip the pieces so the top edges are on the workbench and assemble the drawer with 1-1/4″ pocket hole screws. The groove should be on the bottom of the inside face of each board and should be 1/4″ deep, 1/4″ wide, and 1/4″ up from the bottom.ĭrill pocket holes in the outside face of the front and the back drawer pieces on both ends. Now cut grooves in the sides and front to accept the bottom panel, the back pieces don’t get a groove since they will be ripped smaller later. Then rip the (6) sides and (3) fronts down to 4-1/2″ in width and the (3) backs down to 4″ in width. Use 1×6’s for the draws and cut (6) side pieces at 16″ long and (3) fronts and (3) backs both at 14″ long. Before you start cutting the drawers, take the measurements of the drawer openings and adjust as necessary, leaving enough room for your drawer slides (1/2″ on each side for me). Now that the body of the DIY nightstand is done, it’s time to make those 3 drawers. This sized opening will give your 1×6 drawer fronts a 1/16″ reveal on the top and bottom.

Attach the bottom stretcher first and align it with the bottom 2×2’s of the sides.Ĭut 5-7/8″ spacers and use them to position the 2nd and 3rd stretcher to get perfect spacing on the remaining stretchers. The last pieces of the 3 drawer nightstand to attach are the (3) remaining 16-1/2″ 2×2 front stretchers. Start by screwing the top to the back and then work your way down both sides and finish with attaching the front 2×2 frame. Since you can’t effectively clamp the backside of the top, pull those dusty dumbbells or other heavy objects out and use them to hold the top down flush to the workbench. Flip it over and clamp everything firmly in place. Now we’ll get a little creative to attach the top on the DIY nightstand. It uses (3) 16-1/2″ 1×6’s with only 16-1/2″ 2×2 frame on what will be the front of the panel. The last major assembly to build and attach is the top. I also used a Right Angle Square with clamps on each side to hold the pieces together while attaching them. Use a known right angle to check for square during assembly. Now connect the sides and the back together, clamping the pieces firmly together while assembling.

Next assemble the back of the DIY nightstand, which is exactly like the side assemblies you just made except it doesn’t have 2×2’s on the left and right. I used a combination of the Kreg Face Clamp and the HART Quicktight C-Clamp to clamp together the different sized pieces during assembly. Use glue to really get a solid bond.Īfter joining the 1×6’s together, attach the top and bottom 2×2’s to the panel and then attach the side 2×2’s. If this jig is out of your price range, Kreg also has lower priced models like the Kreg R3 and the Kreg Mini which give you the exact same holes but just take a little longer to use.Īssemble the 1×6 side panels using 1-1/4″ pocket hole screws. I use a Kreg K4 to drill my pocket holes. Prepare one of the side assemblies by drilling pocket holes in the 1×6’s and 2×2’s. Each side panel is made of (3) 19-7/8″ 1×6’s surrounded by a 16-1/2″ top and bottom 2×2 and (2) 26″ 2×2’s for the sides.

Make sure all the pieces are consistent in length and width to get tight fitting panels without gaps.

#NIGHTSTAND WITH DRAWERS HOW TO#

How to Build a DIY Nightstand with DrawersĪlright, let’s start building this nightstand! Firstly cut the 1×6’s and 2×2’s for the side panels, top and back.

Nightstand with drawers