Mid-Century Modern DIY Nightstand

DIY Bedside Tables

If you have been following along on my instagram stories, you know that I've been working on some nightstands for our bedroom. I'm excited to share with you the complete how to guide for creating one of your own with the good, the bad and they why the heck I did this in the first place. 

I've been looking for nightstands for about 6 months. I know that sounds crazy, like why can't I make a freaking decision, but the battle between what I wanted and what I could afford were REAL. At one point, I had found what I thought were the perfect ones on wayfair.com but they were on backorder with no date of when they would be back in stock and I was wanting to transform our $6 straight out of college nightstands STAT!

So one day, I started sketching in my notebook what I thought I would want. It took a few sketches and the design evolved but I eventually ended up with a design, the optimal dimensions for our new bed frame (plus all the stuff I like to keep on my nightstand) and voila!

I then decided to google supplies on Home Depot and Amazon and I priced out a rough order of magnitude of what it would cost to build (including purchasing tools that I didn't have at home) and I was super excited to find out that I could build 2 nightstands just the way I wanted them for the price of 1 that I'd picked out on wayfair. Score! 

And so, the DIYing began. 

Supplies

• 1/2" Birch Plywood - I used three sheets and had them cut at Home Depot with my dimensions I had sketched out. Next time I would use 3/4 inch plywood. See my Pocket Hole post for why I say that. 
• Birch Underlayment - one piece was enough for both drawers, again requested cutting done at Home Depot
• 3/4" Wood Screws - 4 bags, 10 per pack
• Wire Nails - 1 Pack
• Wood Stain​

Tools

• Kreg Jig - see Pocket Hole post for more details
• Saw - if you have a table saw already, that is great too. 
• Hammer 
• Electric Sander - you can hand sand as well, but an electric sander will save you TONS of time. 
• Power Drill 

Hardware

• Table Legs - You can choose legs to fit your style, these were the ones I got 
• Handles - Again, choose for your style. There are so many great options at Anthropologie and CB2
• Drawer Slides - These ones are soft close but if you want to save, you can get the plain ones.

Start the Build

The Main Compartment

• Layout the first 5 pieces *(top, bottom, sides x2, and back). And mark an "x" for where you will drill your pocket holes. Roughly 1/3 a part from each other. I utilized this link for guidance on this part,
  • Since I was building a relatively large nightstand, I used 3 pocket holes for connect the bottom and top per connection and 2 pocket holes for the side connections
  • If you haven't checked out the pocket hole post yet, definitely do that, I promise it helps big time.

The Drawer

• For the first part, measure and cut your drawer sides to your preference. Make sure the width of your drawer leaves enough space for whatever drawer slides you purchased. I left 1/2" on each side for mine. I used these directions and they were really helpful. 
• Next, cut a thin, long piece for the drawer support. I used some of the excess from the main board. You can also have these pre-cut at Home Depot, I was learning as I went so cut them by hand at home. 
• Use your nails to hammer the drawer support on the bottom part of each drawer side piece. 
• Connect the four pieces of the drawers utilizing 2 pocket holes on the front and back.
• Cut the underlayment to fit just inside your compartment. I had to sand the edges just a bit to get a smooth but cozy fit. 
• Use the directions on the drawer slides to screw them into the main compartment and attache the sides to the drawer. As long as you are patient with the measuring and centering process, they will fit like a glove. 

The Finish

• Prior to connecting the drawer and main compartment, sand down the exterior facing edges. You can sand the interior as well (except for the interior of the main compartment), I didn't feel I needed to as no one would be touching those places.
• Using a damp rag, wipe down all the saw dust and let dry for 5-10 minutes. 
• Use a cloth or foam brush to apply the stain of your choice. I used 3 coats of the Golden Oak stain and let dry for about 24 hours. 
• The color of the stain was a little bit darker than I was hoping, I wanted more of a sun-bleached look but couldn't find the perfect color. So, I took a chance and sanded the stain down just a bit and it turned out to be the PERFECT color. A little worn looking with the sanding, but perfect natural shade. 
• I took one more damp rag to wipe it all down. 
• Lastly, I applied all the hardware (handles and legs) and did a happy dance as to how awesome it turned out. 

This project wasn't easy since it was my first time doing anything like this. I learned A LOT along the way but I am so excited with how it turned out. My rustic mid-century modern look is perfect next to the new bed frame. Stay tuned for the complete bedroom remodel, I'm excited to share it with you soon. Just a few more finishing touches left. 

Thanks so much for being a part of this fun journey. 

xoxo,
​Jessica

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