Welcome to the project review series, where I review completed builds and reflect on the wins, the challenges, lessons learned, and what I would change for future designs. This is both a tool for me to consistently improve, and I hope it will provide some helpful insights for others in their own woodworking journey.
This post covers my recent build of a set of mid-century modern nightstands as a Christmas present to my wife. Let’s dive in.
Design Goals:
This nightstand set was designed in a mid-century modern style with simplicity and elegance as the core themes. Subtle angles, subtle design details that aren’t trying to fight for your attention.
The nightstands were to be 24” wide, 18” deep, and 25” tall to match our current nightstand footprint. Two large drawers with undermount drawer slides would provide plenty of storage space for personal odd and ends. The drawer fronts were to be matching white oak and large, stylish brass drawer pulls.
We also have a bookcase in the bedroom that I built previously, and I wanted these nightstands to complement the style of that piece well – not match it – simply complement it. Like siblings with different personalities.
What went well:
Win #1: The main boxes of the nightstands were simple mitered boxes with dowel joinery to strengthen the miter joints. In the past I have used 5/4 material (approx. 1 1/6” thick) but I decided to go with 4/4 on this build (slightly over ¾”). This was a gamble because you want to have enough thickness in the material to account for milling of the boards. I control this by trying to select the flattest boards I can, but no piece of wood is perfect.
After milling and making the panels for the boxes, I was at just over 5/8”. While I’m not used to working with material thinner than ¾”, the strength of these seemed to be plenty sufficient for the intended application. The nice surprise was that the design felt lighter – less clunky – with the thinner material, and less costly material was turned into dust. WIN WIN.
Win #2 was the late-stage design change to use walnut for the drawer fronts versus white oak. I sometimes shy away from hard contrasts in furniture pieces as I think it can become too busy, visually. Took a chance with this one, assuming that the pop of the walnut and the brass on the clean white oak would be just what these pieces needed to give them some punch. I don’t regret my decision.
Win #3 was simply the choice for drawer pulls. I wanted long and hefty solid brass pulls to give the piece a more refined feel. I was hesitant about these purely for the cost ($75 for 4), but I do not regret the choice. These came extremely well packaged and have a very high manufacture. I easily could have let frugality win and chosen something cheaper, but it would’ve likely impacted the final vibe of the pieces. These are a tactile pleasure.
Challenges:
Challenge #1: The night stand bases ultimately came together very well, but boy was it a time-consuming process. The base feature 2 identical leg assemblies joined by two cross members. The shape of the leg is such that it provides some visual detail that goes beyond the bottom of the boxes, as if the boxes are held safe in the “hands” of the base.
After milling the material, machining the legs required the following steps:
-Rough cutting the pieces on the bandsaw
-Cutting the inside leg tapers on the table saw with a tapering sled.
-Cutting the joint faces of the legs with the same sled
-Creating a leg template from MDF to cut the upper leg detail.
-Rough cutting the detail on the bandsaw
-Flush cutting the detail on each leg at the router table
In retrospect, creating the leg template earlier and getting most of the shape cut using that template would have sped up the process. The joint face between the legs and the aprons are still better suited for the table saw as it will produce a cleaner cut and a resulting stronger joint.
Challenge #2 was dealing with some slight bowing in the panels prior to making the 45-degree cuts and gluing up the boxes. Sometimes this just cant be avoided. You might leave the panels face down on the workbench overnight and the boards absorb moisture unevenly causing the grain to expand on one side.
Because the final thickness of the panels was just over 5/8”, I knew that these panels could be persuaded back into flat once the joints were glued up. The key awareness here was making sure that the panels were held flat when cutting the 45-degree joints. If I had cut the 45 on the panels with a bow, the resultant edge of the board would now be curved when force into flat. Mo more clean miters…
This always makes joinery and assembly a little more difficult, but with awareness of the issue and cognizance when cutting the joints, it can be remedied. That’s exactly what happened here (insert long sigh of relief).
What I would change:
For future builds, below are some action plans for how I think I can improve my workflow and improve the quality of the final product...
1. Build corner clamping jigs specifically for glueing up mitered panels. (Less sanding to clean up the CA glue…NO ONE LIKES SANDING)
2. Utilize MDF templates to cut the majority of the leg and apron shapes, using only the tapering sled on the table saw for cutting the joint face.
3. Opt for a more dramatic edge profile on the front, inside edge of the upper boxes. I used a ¼” round over, but I think a larger 45-degree chamfer might have provide a little more depth and interest. It also would have matched the case of the bedroom bookshelf.
Conclusion
I’m very happy with the outcome of this build. The drawers provide more than enough space and the pieces definitely elevate the style of our bedroom. The only collateral problem is that the rest of the furniture now needs an upgrade.
I have a long-term goal to develop a line of signature furniture designs and I think this piece definitely fits the style that I am working towards.
Let me know what you think of the finished pieces! What would you have done different?