We make a bedside table with our own hands. How to make a cabinet from natural wood
Cabinet, i.e. a rigid, durable structure capable of carrying loads as a whole is the main unit of cabinet furniture. Sometimes it transforms and hides, but it's always there. Incl. and in the form of an independent product - nightstands - suitable for a variety of applications in the home. In this form, it does not stand out in the interior, and in the utility rooms its appearance can be somehow out of hand, if only it was strong. Therefore, it is from the bedside table that the novice furniture maker needs to get close to cabinets, beds, chests of drawers, furniture sets and walls.
The bedside table, with all the variety of design and construction, has a place to be, in general, in the following guises, see Fig.:
Bedside cabinet, pos. one. Unsightly without painstaking finishing, but durable, tk. assembled on a frame. It allows, on the one hand, to do without a sheathing, which is important for balcony bedside tables, or to make it easily removable, which is no less important for a bedside table in the bathroom. On the other hand, a solid tabletop can be applied to the frame, which will come in handy in a garage, barn or workshop.
Bedside table-chest of drawers, pos. 2, lives mainly in kitchens, nurseries and dressing rooms: you can put a lot of stuff in it, and taking out the boxes is easy to clean or repair. This is already a product of a panel structure with walls and shelves that make up a single power circuit. The usual dimensions of the chest of drawers, see fig. on right.
Volumetric cabinets, racks, pos. 3, and cabinets, pos. 4, more suitable in the living room, bedroom, hallway, office or common nursery. The design is also panel.
Extremely simplified nightstand-rack, pos. 5, it can be bedside, but most often it complements a coffee table in a soft corner of the living room.
Bedside tables are more combined. For example, the product in pos. 6 below is a locker, above it is a chest of drawers from the 1st drawer, and above it is a rack from the 1st half-closed and 1st open shelves. Combined cabinets due to their versatility are the most common.
How are pedestals made?
Factory-made bedside tables are assembled, as a rule, on furniture self-tapping self-tapping screws and / or eccentric connectors. They are collected either in trade organizations before the sale, or home buyers on their own. With a different technological cycle, the production of such a simple product as a bedside table will be unprofitable. But, when making a cabinet for yourself, it is better to use more labor-intensive, but cheap, reliable and durable connections of the “wood on wood” class; at least for load-bearing parts.
To make a cabinet with your own hands, you need, firstly, to master 2 types of furniture joints: tongue-and-groove (groove-comb, tongue-and-groove connection) and on dowels. For example, the frame of the cabinet, see fig. on the right, it is assembled from 4 lower tsargs, 4 drill (vertical) tsars and also 4 upper tsargs. The upper and lower sides can be front / rear and side, i.e. different.
The tsargs forming the frame are connected by tongue-and-groove joints; the shelves are stacked on support bars, also embedded in the front tsargi on spikes in the grooves. Properly made with wedging, tongue-and-groove joints in such a small item as a nightstand will not require the expense of glue.
Pedestals of panel construction (all except pos. 1) are assembled on dowels with gluing. Supports for shelves are also made dowel. Only guides for drawers are fixed with metal hardware.
To make a drawer for a nightstand or cabinet, you will have to master a type of tongue-and-groove connection - a drawer. The general sequence of its working operations is shown in the figure:
Well, a more complete picture will give a selection of videos:
Video: box connection completely by hand using a conventional jigsaw
Video: box connection with an electrified tool
Video: dovetail connection on a conventional circular
The last video may be useful to those who, over time, having improved in carpentry skills, decide to work on order. Furniture assembled on a dovetail is highly valued by connoisseurs, but on the condition that the tails must be handmade, not milled on an automatic machine. And the method shown there gives tails that are neat, but completely artisanal. In addition, knowing how to connect parts to a dovetail, you can try yourself in an equally profitable area - the restoration of old furniture.
Straight tenon-groove joints are usually assembled with glue, but you can do otherwise. To do this, vertical blind holes are drilled at the corners of the box from the side (4 at the top and 4 at the bottom, 8 in total) with a depth of 2-4 spikes and a diameter of 2.5-3 mm. Studs made of bamboo or beech are tightly driven into the holes. They “spike” the box after fitting the parts and finishing the assembly.
Nightstand drawer
The device of a furniture drawer is shown in fig. on right. The bottom is made of plywood 3-5 mm thick, depending on the desired strength. Please note: the front of the drawer is not included in its power circuit, it is an overhead part. To do it differently - from pushing in / pulling out, the box will warp over time or even break apart. Drawers are made from boards with a thickness of 12 mm or plywood from 6 mm. The box is assembled with a box connection.
It is advisable to take hard and durable wood for cranial bars: oak, birch. However, if you have a wood router, you can put the bottom easier and stronger: select a groove in the drawers at the bottom along the contour and insert the bottom into it during assembly. The distance of the lower edge of the groove from the bottom of the box is from 3 mm for solid small-layer industrial wood and not less than the thickness of the drawer side for an array of soft rocks; groove depth - from 4 mm, but not more than 1/2 of the thickness of the side.
The facades of the boxes are internal, pos. And on the trail. fig., or external, pos. B. Interior façades are more elegant but require finer fitting. Mechanically, there is no significant difference between them.
Facades and homemade furniture drawer guides
Wooden guides for drawers are made on the bottom rail, pos. 1, on the side rail, pos. 2, and on the fold of the quarter rail, pos. 3. Installation of boxes on the lower rail is technologically simple and provides an acceptable width of the box, but "eats" a lot of space in height; a box on the lower rails can jam a completely new and neatly made one. In general, the worst way.
Landing on the middle rail requires milling grooves in the side drawers, but it provides the greatest width and depth of the drawers, because. gaps both from below and from the sides will be enough and 3-4 mm. If the rail is oak, and the drawers are pine or plywood, then the boxes on the middle rail almost never jam when extended by 2/3-3/4.
The quarter lath can be planed by hand with special planers: zenzubel and folded hebel, see fig., Therefore, in the old days, setting up boxes of handicraft furniture in a quarter fold was widespread. Extended by no more than 2/3, the drawer slides in a quarter almost without jamming, but a lot of space in the design of the cabinet is wasted.
About the full stem guides
If you decide to invest in modern full-removal rails for your cabinet drawers, then consider the following:
- Look first not at the brand, but at the complete fasteners. Responsible and conscientious manufacturers give hardware with shaped heads, and the key to them, so that no one gets in with a "self-propelled gun".
- The assembly instructions must contain the exact dimensions for fastenings, a full description of the technical operations with the drilling depth and the requirements for the base (wood - what?, laminate, MDF).
- It is better to take inexpensive guides with propylene rollers. They run smoothly and silently, but are not as strong and durable as ball bearings. However, this is not important for the nightstand, unless you store gold bullion in it.
- Guides of full removal are lower and side. For a bedside table, the lower ones are better, the drawers can be made wider. Side guides require technical gaps from the sides of 30 mm, which, with an overall width of the pedestal of 400 mm, reduces the internal width of the drawer to 250-280 mm. And the lower guides will have enough side gaps of 6-16 mm.
What are pedestals made of?
Wooden nightstand can be made from any wood suitable for furniture, e.g. the same as for a stool or table, as well as from plywood, laminate, MDF. The thickness of the boards is 12-40 mm, depending on the design. For dowels, cranial bars, wooden guides and drawers of the frame of the cabinet-locker, it is still better to take a solid dense tree - oak, beech, birch; in the latter case, also on the countertop, because they work on such bedside tables and load them with weights.
The back side of the panel cabinets is most often sheathed with a thin, 4-6 mm, laminated chipboard, pinned with a furniture stapler. In cheap furniture made of laminated chipboard, the bottoms of the boxes are also made, but it’s not necessary for yourself: it sags, crawls out of the grooves or breaks off the “shards”.
The doors of the bedside tables are most often hung on hidden adjustable furniture hinges, but under them you need to choose holes in boards from 20 mm thick with a cutter. If there is no possibility or desire to install hidden hinges, then the doors are hung on piano hinges. Cupboard doors on card hinges soon warp due to the small size of the hinges and the small drilling depth for fasteners.
About finishing
The bedside table is not a meaningful piece of furniture, so it makes no sense to spend money on expensive finishes. Ready, planed and sanded to smoothness, the cabinet in the living room is best pasted over with wood-like self-adhesive and coated twice with acrylic varnish. Then even an experienced cabinetmaker will not immediately distinguish it from the “real” one with veneer, and the film under acrylic in direct light will last at least 10 years.
Where is the nightstand?
Hallway
This is the first room where a homemade cabinet, as they say, asks for it. The furniture in the hallway is not looked at very closely, and the cabinet for shoes is very necessary here: the average family of 4 now has about 20 pairs of shoes, see fig. The old Soviet shoe rack is no longer enough here.
Shoe cabinets are on sale in a wide range, but the prices encourage non-standard, and looking at the design of the hinges, it seems that they were copied from the turning points of the solar panels of spacecraft. Meanwhile, a cabinet for shoes can be made much simpler and no worse: on the left in fig. see the drawing below, and on the right there is the design of the bedside table-pouffe to it, in which accessories for shoe care are stored.
There is not enough shoe storage in the hallway, you also need a bedside table for gloves, hats, handbags, etc. little things. It should be higher than usual so that you can look in the mirror while standing. Dimensions and general view of the bedside table in the general hallway, see fig. on the right, only it’s better to do it not on legs, but on a skirt of 20-30 mm boards so that debris does not accumulate under it.
Bedroom
The choice of a nightstand for a bedroom set is determined by the habits and temperament of the owner. Regular bedside table, pos. 1 and 2 on the next. rice. combined: top open shelf for alarm clock, phone, glasses; the middle one is for reading at night, and everything is stored in closed compartments: from books “for later” and the next change of bed linen to intimate accessories from lovers of “strawberries and cream”.
Fans of long and meaningful reading before going to bed prefer bedside tables, pos. 3. This habit, by the way, greatly develops mental faculties and helps to maintain clarity of thought until old age: what is read for a future dream, unless it is meaningless reading, is absorbed by the brain in a dream especially deeply and clearly.
Shelves-racks like fans of sophisticated design, pos. 4, but the sophistication of the nightstand can also be functional. How do you like the nightstand in pos. 5? Half of the table transformation mechanism and a bit of fiction.
In general, the bedside table is a grateful object for creative ingenuity. To begin with, we give diagrams of two, see fig. In the nightstand-dresser on the left, additional overlays on the facades are used, which allows you to get an elegant design with simple means. And the nightstand-rack on the right consists of only 4 parts of a simple form.
Balcony
The glazed balcony is a utility room, narrow, with an unstable microclimate. Therefore, the bedside table on the balcony is made on the frame, see fig. This allows, firstly, to dispense with the casing of the cabinet and put it without gaps in which condensate will accumulate. Secondly, the increased strength of the cabinet-cabinet will allow you to work on it or, say, move a refrigerator to the balcony, which will save a lot of electricity. And so that small objects are not lost, the countertop is upholstered along the contour with a furniture fillet or plinth.
Living room
Cabinet in the living room, except for the magazine, pos. 1 in Fig., according to the modern and well-founded trend of interior design, is long and low. The design is chosen based on the design style of the room, pos. 2-4. But a TV cabinet with the same general design must meet specific requirements.
Cabinets in the living room
The efficiency of acoustic systems (AS) is related to the wavelength of sound, which in the bass (bass, low frequencies) is meters and tens of meters. Speaker designers are doing their best to circumvent these limitations, and they are not without success. But still, the size and volume of modern flat-panel TVs do not allow them to be equipped with built-in acoustics that satisfactorily reproduce low frequencies. And here a TV stand can come to the rescue: it will “catch” the low-frequency vibrations of the TV and transmit them into the air, adding richness to the sound. Only if the TV is not a “bubble” of previous generations: a heavy tube suspended in it will extinguish them.
The TV stand must, firstly, have an open resonator tuned to approximately 80-100 Hz. A niche for a player with dimensions of about 800x400x200 mm is just right. Secondly, you can add “juice” to the sound if the TV works on small-sized external speakers by placing them in niches with a volume of 20 liters or more with a gap of 4-8 cm on the sides and top; the effect of "saturation" of sound from speakers of a closed type in niches is well known to music lovers. The “ideal” design of a TV cabinet is shown in fig. on the right, and drawings of 2 suitable ones, for external acoustics and without it, in fig. below.
But that is not all. The box of the bedside table, its back wall and the bottoms of the resonating cavities must be made of a board of 30 mm or more, and the intermediate parts - of a board of 20 mm or more. And that's not all: the material (spruce, pine, larch, hemlock, laminate, MDF) must have its own mechanical quality factor in the range of 0.7-1.2. However, there is no need to look for a sound-measuring laboratory, it is enough to tap the blanks with your knuckles: the sound should be clear, but short and dry, without ringing. A “cotton” board will absorb any vibrations, and a ringing one will “catch” unnecessary ones, which will give unpleasant overtones. And that's for sure everything, the glue on which the cabinet is assembled must give a seam that retains plasticity for years; PVA is the best.
Bathroom
It is impossible to give any general dimensions for the bathroom cabinet, because. a sink with a siphon will lie in it, of which there are a number of different ones on the market, and the release into the sewer bed can be arranged in any way. But the general principles for designing cabinets for wet rooms are quite definite:
- The cabinet in the bathroom must be raised above the floor, otherwise unsanitary conditions are inevitable, on the left in fig.
- Therefore, it is attached to the wall, right there.
- Fasteners, in order to provide access to plumbing fixtures, must be detachable: stainless (worse - bronze or galvanized) self-tapping screws in propylene dowels. Metal in metal, eg. stainless bolts and the same collets, it will stick so that the pedestal will have to be broken.
- A cabinet for a washbasin is made of decay-resistant wood: oak, resinous pine, larch.
- After the initial dry assembly and adjustment of the parts, they are individually treated with an aneseptic for wood, and after 3-7 days with a water repellent, i.e. water repellant. If an inexpensive (but very good) water-polymer emulsion is used, then the treatment is carried out twice with an interval of 1-3 days.
Under the aquarium
Aquarium - the most useful thing in all respects. But the aquarium is subject to the square-cube law almost in its purest form: with an increase in the size of the aquarium tank, its volume and weight grow faster than the size of the reference area, i.e. the load from the aquarium per unit area of the bearing surface increases. It is believed that the weight of an aquarium with soil, population and equipment in kg is equal to approximately 1.5 liters of water in it. It follows from this that the curbstone for the aquarium must satisfy the following conditions:
- An aquarium up to about 100 liters can be placed on any cabinet that is suitable in size, because. ordinary furniture is calculated for a load of 150 kgf.
- Under the tank up to about 150 liters, a reinforced cabinet is needed; preferably frame. Its combatant tsars are made of timber from 60x60 mm; horizontal - from 100x50 mm. The installation step of the combatant drawers is not more than 400 mm; their height is up to 650 mm. The tabletop is made of solid laminate from 32 mm.
- In aquariums with a larger capacity, the pressure on the support exceeds the building code of 250 kg / sq. m, so the stands for them are calculated individually based on the size of the tank and the parameters of the building structure; the aquarium stand is usually mechanically connected to the building structure. In an apartment building, the design of a large aquarium must be checked / developed by a specialized organization and approved by the building operator.
About corner cabinets
The bedside table is essentially a subordinate element of the interior, so corner cabinets in living rooms are not in use: what is on the corner is always in sight. There is simply no place for this in an ordinary bathroom or in the kitchen, but a corner cabinet can come in handy in a narrow wall behind the door for every little thing, which is equally inconvenient to hide far away and keep in plain sight. For example, for toys that are not the most beloved, knitting / weaving, which are taken as soon as there is free time, etc. In such a case, in Fig. on the left is a diagram of a corner cabinet-rack. The dimensions in the plan can be changed according to your apartment.
Just in case
All this is good, the reader may say, but if you need a bedside table “for the day before yesterday”? Not chic, but from junk material, so that it could be done in half a day and was it enough for 5-7 years? Let's say, to the dacha, to the garage, to the barn?
You are welcome. On fig. it is shown how to make a durable and comfortable bedside table from a pallet or other unnecessary boards left over from a construction site. It's so easy to make that no explanation is needed. But the manufacture of this will give a sense of the material and design, which will then allow you to take on products that are quite aesthetic and even exclusive.
Everyone needs a bedside table, I can’t imagine how to live without it. Nowadays, there is a huge selection of cabinets, but what if you didn’t like everything that you saw in the store, but you want exactly what you can’t buy on the market.
This is a great opportunity to make a cabinet with your own hands. Cabinets come in different sizes in width, height and depth, color and material.
The usual width of the bedside table is 500mm, the recommended depth of the bedside table is 300-350mm, and the height of the bedside table should be made according to the height of your bed.
How to make a bedside table with your own hands? Everything is very simple!
The material from which bedside tables are made can be different, but most often it is wood or chipboard saw (chipboard). In our example, consider the assembly of a bedside table made of 16 mm chipboard.
We have a cabinet with drawers, which is a little more difficult to manufacture than a simple version with one door and a shelf in the middle.
Any project begins with calculations on a sheet of paper and a drawing of the future product.
And so, after all the blanks have been made, we need a melamine or PVC edge on the ends of our parts, which will be visible when looking at the assembled product.
Why it is not necessary to hem the entire perimeter of the part, this is an extra waste of material and your time, for example, only one front side is edged at the shelf, since the sides and back are closed by the walls of the pedestal body.
The most important thing when assembling the bedside table is not to leave protruding bolts, you should make recesses with a drill with a diameter of 9 mm so that the head of the wood screw sinks a little inward and can be sealed with a PVC plug.
If you look closely, then a gap of 16 mm is left on each side for the side racks of the cabinet.
The cabinet stands themselves, they are attached to the decorative frame and base of the cabinet, we close all the places for self-tapping screws with special plugs.
Ready cabinet, but without a drawer.
Install drawer guides
If you already have a bedside table, and you need to update the nightstand with your own hands?
Step one: I recommend taking it apart carefully.
Step two: iron to go over the melamine edge, for further removal.
important: As a rule, edges and ends wear out in cabinets, a budget way to update a bedside table is to remove the old edge and stick a new one, you can even use a different color. It will look very interesting.
Step three: the removal of the edge occurs by smoothing the edges with a hot iron, the glue acquires a liquid form and you can easily dismantle it without damaging the workpiece.
Step four: clean the ends of chipboard from glue.
A bedside table in the bedroom or a nightstand next to an armchair in the living room is an integral attribute of the interior of many apartments. Of course, now you can buy any cabinet in stores, but will it be unique? We bring to your attention 10 unusual ideas on how to make an original bedside table with your own hands from different objects and materials.
1. Bedside table with your own hands from the drawers
Place a wooden box from vegetables, fruits or a postal parcel on legs or wheels. Attach a shelf inside the box. The drawer can be placed both horizontally and vertically, as well as making a high cabinet of two or more drawers.
The box can be decorated, for example, with cut branches. How to make such a nightstand with your own hands, read.
2. DIY nightstand with rope shelves
From an ordinary wooden box or box, as well as ropes, you can make a nightstand with a flexible design. You can customize the shelves and different rope holders yourself, depending on the items and things that will be stored in the cabinet. To do this, you need to drill rows of holes in the side walls of the cabinet and even on top. Pull a strong natural or synthetic rope through the holes and make different shelves and compartments for things.
3. Bedside table with your own hands from books
Unusual and original bedside table design for the bedroom or living room. Pull stacks of books with belts, ties or tie with thick ribbons. At the same time, place wooden modules, square or rectangular boxes between the stacks. It can even be thick cardboard boxes from shoes or small household appliances. Old books, vintage leather belts and wooden elements will give the nightstand a unique charm and style.
4. Nightstand from the chest
The chest has long been the main piece of furniture in huts and huts. Now ancient or modern chests are a rare phenomenon in the interior. However, if you are the owner of an old grandmother's chest, then you can make a vintage nightstand out of it with your own hands. The capacious space under the lid of the chest will allow you to store many things, including bed linen or toys in the children's room. In addition, designers offer exclusive options for cabinets in the form of expensive leather chests. These ideas can be taken as a basis and inspiration. The transformation of a chest into a bedside table consists only in the decor of the chest itself. It can be both updated and aged, left in its natural form or painted.
5. Bedside tables from suitcases
Unlike antique chests, finding old suitcases is much easier. A do-it-yourself bedside table from a vintage suitcase will decorate the interior of the room, and also provide an additional closed storage space. You can even hang a small combination lock on the bedside table from a suitcase and store intimate things there. To make a cabinet, you can either stack several suitcases on top of each other, or put one suitcase on legs, for example, on a stool or table.
6. Do-it-yourself cabinet from a barrel
A do-it-yourself bedside table from a barrel will look very unusual in the bedroom or living room. A round wooden barrel is a ready-made cabinet. The main condition is that the barrel must be clean and free of foreign odors, such as wine. You can also cut a door in a barrel, put it on hinges, and attach a shelf inside. Another option - from one barrel you can make two bedside tables with your own hands, simply sawing the barrel into two even parts.
A metal barrel can also be useful as a cabinet, especially if it is old.
7. Bedside table with your own hands from a chair
Very often, a chair acts as a bedside table. We offer to improve it by turning it into a real bedside table with a drawer. To do this, it is advisable to choose a wooden chair without upholstery. Purchase in the store special fittings for drawers and the drawer itself according to the size of the chair. Attach the entire system under the seat. Also, under the box, you can nail another shelf from a square chipboard sheet.
8. Nightstand made of mirror and stool
If you have a stool as a bedside table, we suggest improving and decorating it. In the same way as in the case of a chair, you can attach a drawer or shelf between the legs of the stool, and you can use a framed mirror as a tabletop.
9. Bedside table from a ladder
A small ladder - a stepladder or a ladder for cabinets - is a great solution for a bedside table. Additionally, you do not need to do anything, if you wish, paint or age the stairs.
10. DIY hanging bedside table
A bedside table, or rather, a bedside table, can soar in the air! How to make such an unusual project for the bedroom - read.
There are a lot of things that should be at hand at the right time - for example, a mobile phone, a cup of tea, a newspaper or a book, a pen, glasses, and so on. For such things, a bedside table is intended, in which dozens of useful little things are stored. How a bedside table is made with your own hands will be discussed in today's article.
If you choose the right bedside table, then it will go well with the bed, look like a single ensemble with it. Although we note that the color of the cabinet may contrast. The dimensions in this case must be selected with special attention - it is important that the bedside table does not turn out to be “squeezed” by the bed and the wall, since you should always leave enough free space. But if free space is in short supply, then it is better to give preference to a hanging pedestal- in this case, it will fit better.
On a note! For the bedroom, a cabinet with closed and open shelves is perfect, which will allow you to hide your personal belongings from third parties, while a vase of flowers or various decorative items can be placed on open shelves. As an option - you can make a coffee table with your own hands.
A few words about the functionality of bedside tables
If you plan to store a large number of small items, then it is better to give preference to a cabinet with many drawers. If only a few books are stored there, then you can get a light non-standard design, abandoning the massive traditional "cube".
The optimal location of the bedside table is near the bed. It’s not even worth talking about the benefits of a bedside table - you can store books here, and put an alarm clock on top or, say, a glass of water. In addition, in the bedside table there can be a place for linen - both underwear and bedding - or a first aid kit, cosmetics and other things that are indispensable in everyday life. And for the most convenient and ergonomic arrangement of all this “good”, the selection of a bedside table must be taken with all responsibility.
Obviously, it is the floor construction that is the most common. In addition, such a cabinet can be of two types:
- without legs;
- with legs.
The original version - an open nightstand without legs A slightly less common option is hanging. It, due to its design features, looks weightless, as if floating in the air.
In any case, you will have to decide for yourself which cabinet to buy / do it yourself - it all depends on the interior features of the bedroom and your personal preferences. But note that the hanging pedestal still has a significant advantage over the floor one - it allows you to install some objects under it (say, a basket for various small items or a box).
Also, bedside tables are classified depending on the shape. Let's take a look at the most common options.
Rectangular/Square. Such designs are universal, and therefore easily fit into any design. In addition, they can be located anywhere in the room.
corner. The best option for small spaces.
oval/round. Of course, they look elegant, but they are not universal, so they will not be appropriate in every interior.
Important! There are also more exotic pedestals - such as a design in the form of a pyramid or a chest. Yes, such bedside tables can hardly be considered universal and functional - they are rather decorative interior items.
Another classification is based on the purpose of the cabinets. Special attention deserves medical, which should be in every home.
Features of choosing a bedside table depending on the style
Yes, each style of interior will suit its own kind of bedside table. And no wonder, because we are talking not only about a useful thing, but also about an interior element that can focus on the stylistic orientation of the room or, alternatively, nullify all efforts. How to organically fit a nightstand into the interior? Let's get acquainted with the most popular styles and find out which designs are suitable for each specific case.
East style. In this case, the ideal option is a nightstand with small legs made of rattan. Frequent weaving, natural colors, a traditional rectangular silhouette will look great.
Classic style. Here preference should be given to furniture made of natural wood. It is possible, for example, to use an overall and squat cabinet with curly handles as decorative elements. As for color, dark tones will look good in a classic style. A bedside table that meets all these requirements will emphasize the aristocracy and fundamental nature of the classics.
Palazzo. The main thing in the Italian style is attention to detail (aged or varnished shelves, wrought iron elements, etc.).
Scandinavian. For him, the best option would be a white cabinet, made of natural wood and not having unnecessary decorative elements. The design should be as simple as possible. A good option is a bedside table made of unpainted beech. Give preference to massive legs and narrow simple shapes.
Scandinavian-style interior - rational, but very attractive Provence. For this style, wooden pedestals are suitable, preferably with graceful outlines and narrow figured legs.
Minimalism, high-tech. Obviously, metal-framed designs are more suitable for these styles. Glass doors are a great addition. It is important that a minimum of unnecessary details be used.
What material to use for the nightstand?
Most often in this matter, the difficulty is the choice of material from which the bedside table is made. Let's get acquainted with the most popular options.
Is there any way to save money?
Any repair work is, first of all, a blow to the seed budget. Yes, it is at least impractical to save on building materials, but the situation can be saved by making furniture with your own hands - even a non-professional can handle this, by the way, with detailed step-by-step instructions. Undoubtedly, this applies mainly to simple subjects. A bedside table, for example, can be quickly and inexpensively made by hand.
On a note! It is impossible to save on materials for self-production. After all, everyone knows that the miser has to pay more than once. If you use low-quality consumables, then the work may have to be redone.
Making a bedside cabinet - drawings and preparation
First you need to decide on the design of the future bedside table. You can draw a drawing on paper, although it is easier to use special computer programs (Google SketchUp, T-FLEX Furniture, Astra Furniture Designer). In any case, you need to know exactly the design parameters - height, length, width ...
Blanks can be ordered at the nearest carpentry workshop. Here, of course, it is better to trust the experts, but you can still save money. So, you can glue the edge on the end of the boards with your own hands using a regular iron. To do this, you need to purchase a tape and, using an iron, fix it on the ends of the blanks. You can go even further - make blanks yourself using chipboard boards. But in this case, the workpieces will have to be further processed with a grinder to make their surface smoother. Also, all elements should be treated with a stain to protect against the harmful effects of the environment.
Now it remains only to assemble all the elements into one structure using glue and self-tapping screws. The blanks ordered in the carpentry workshop must be connected with hexagon bolts - for such fastening, holes of the required size must first be made.
At the end, the selected fittings are installed. By the way, when choosing it, you need to be guided by both external attractiveness and functionality. The edges must be glued.
On a note! Now let's take a closer look at the process of making a bedside table with our own hands. Below are step-by-step instructions for making a few simple options that you may be interested in.
Video - Bedside table
Option #1. Simple bedside table with your own hands
This example will look at the assembly process from blanks ordered from a carpentry shop. So, for work will be used:
- 6 furniture corners (plastic double);
- 1 countertop;
- 2 drawer bottoms;
- 2 sidewalls;
- 1 back wall of the bedside table;
- 1 inner bottom shelf;
- 4 guides;
- 4 front/rear walls for drawers;
- 2 handles;
- 2 drawer fronts;
- 2 facades of the lower part.
We also note that for the manufacture of the lower shelf and drawers, chipboard sheets were used, for the facades and sides of the drawers, the countertops were made of wood (pine), and for the back wall of the structure, 5 mm fiberboard was used.
After receiving all the required blanks, painting begins. There is nothing complicated in the process itself, so let's just get acquainted with the result of the work.
The lower shelves were not painted - even if this is not very attractive, no one will see them anyway.
To begin with, furniture corners are screwed to the inside of the sidewall - 2 in the lower part (100 mm from the edge), 2 flush on top, as in the photo.
An inner shelf made of chipboard is attached to the lower corners, and a countertop is attached to the upper corners. When 4 elements of the frame are assembled, the structure may be somewhat skewed - do not be afraid, everything will be aligned with the back wall.
Important! By the way, about the tabletop. Its width in our example is 600 mm, and its depth is from 430 mm (at the edges) to 460 mm (in the center). As a result, the front of the tabletop turned out to be somewhat convex to match the design of the bed.
After assembling the frame, the guides are attached.
In our example, they are screwed to the bottom of the drawers, but this is a bit wrong. It is preferable to fasten the guides to the middle of the drawers so that they do not touch the facades. In addition, the length of the guides should be less than the depth of the entire structure, about 5-10 cm. They must be fixed flush from the front.
Below you can see the handles that were chosen for the drawers.
After painting the facades with one layer, the places of future holes for the handles are marked.
This is how facades with handles painted in one layer look like.
And this is how they should look after applying the third layer of paint (handles, of course, must be removed before each painting).
The next step is to assemble the boxes.
The details of the boxes are fastened with self-tapping screws, under which holes were previously made with a thin drill.
The assembled boxes should look something like this.
The bottom of each box is attached, for which a stapler is used. On one side, the bottom is fixed flush, while on the rest it is aligned so as to avoid distortions.
After that, the boxes are attached to the rails.
Facades are attached to the boxes. After that, a fixed facade is attached, for which a pair of furniture corners is used.
Option #2. Unique pine bedside table
Today it is not easy to find a truly original, but at the same time simple bedside table. And if you have previously dealt with wood, then we suggest making such a unique design with your own hands.
Table. Instructions for making a pine bedside table.
| Steps, photo | Description of actions |
|---|---|
 | To begin with, all the necessary tools shown in the image are prepared. |
 | The material will be natural wood (pine), which you can buy at a hardware store. |
 | Work begins on the inside of the future structure. |
 | The boards are connected to each other, as shown in the image. |
 | They are installed vertically. |
 | After that, the lower and upper parts of the bedside table are nailed. |
 | The result should look something like this. |
 | Here are the materials needed to make the box. |
 | First, the bottom of the box is created. |
 | Photo of the work done. |
 | After that, the guides are nailed. |
 | The second guide is nailed on the opposite side of the box. |
 | The finished box will look something like this. |
 | It remains only to insert the finished box into place. Everything, a simple wooden cabinet is ready! |
 | At the end, you can paint it (preferably white paint) or stain it. |
Option No3. Pallet bedside table
To minimize costs in the manufacture of bedside tables, you can take pallets from under building materials. They (pallets) can be not only wooden, but also metal, plastic.
Pallets have many standard sizes, but often only 2 are used:
As for the tools, you will need:
- pencil, square and tape measure;
- mount;
- screwdriver;
- a hammer;
- clamps;
- Circular Saw;
- holdfast;
- Sander;
- electric jigsaw;
- ballerina (or hole saw);
- screwdriver;
- electric drill.
On a note! If we talk about glue, then it is better to give preference to PVA - it dries quickly, the connection provides a strong one, and when squeezed out, it is easily removed.
Stage No2. Pallet removal
Of course, new lumber can be used instead of old pallets, but the cost of the bedside table will increase greatly because of this. Therefore, we begin this instruction with the analysis of the pallet.
To work, you need a hammer and a mount. In order to minimize damage to the tree, it is recommended to first loosen the boards using a chisel. By the way, an electric reciprocating saw is perfect for dismantling - its metal blade should be inserted along the connection of the boards to cut the nails connecting them. After that, the nails can be easily removed, while the wood practically does not deteriorate.
Drawing of a wooden bedside table
With the help of a circular saw, 10 boards 520 mm long each are cut (the length can be any). Strips are selected for the rear wall and those that are suitable for the side walls in terms of quality. Each set of boards is chipped together to measure the overall width. The resulting figure will be required when creating rectangular frames.
Each frame is made from 4 bars. When cutting bars, it is very important to observe all dimensions exactly.
Note! It is advisable to use a hand tool for cutting blanks, and not an electric one - so the results will be more accurate. You will be surprised, but a hacksaw is ideal for this. If we consider power tools, then preference should be given to a tape jigsaw, but, alas, not every home craftsman has it.
Stage No4. Rectangular frames
When all the blanks are made, rectangular frames are assembled. In the finished cabinet, the latter will not be visible, and therefore you don’t have to worry too much about the aesthetics of their connection. The width of each blank is 7 cm. In the absence of screws of the required length, holes are made with a 12 cm drill to 1⁄2 of the width of the bar.
You need to make sure that the dimensions of both frames are identical.. When tightening the screws, it is recommended to clamp the lower and upper parts together so that they exactly match in size.
Stage No5. Planks under the table
At the end of the previous stage, blanks for the countertop of the structure are cut. Pieces of the required length are cut with a circular saw with a slight allowance.
Stage No6. Workpiece grinding
The boards are carefully cleaned with a grinder before starting to assemble the frame. Of course, you can try to do this manually, but using a grinder is both better and easier. The movements should be circular - this will create a beautiful texture.
Note! If you want, you can get an unusual effect - for this, the outer surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned (almost to a mirror finish), and then treated with coarse, coarse-grained sandpaper to intentionally create defects and irregularities.
Stage No7. frame
For the final assembly of the body of the structure, only nails are used. Additionally, you can use glue, but this is not necessary - the frame will already turn out to be quite strong.
It is important that the wood be dry during work, otherwise it will dry out while already in the house, and its attractiveness will noticeably decrease. Yes, this can later be attributed to the rustic style, but it is still desirable to dry the tree beforehand.
First of all, a top cover is assembled on a rectangular frame. The ends of the boards that go beyond the structure are brought to the required dimensions with a grinder.
Next, the back and side walls are nailed. Let's make a reservation right away that this is quite difficult to do - the lower frame must be well fixed, otherwise the squareness will be violated when the nails are driven in. After that, the front surface is assembled.
Gluing plywood inserts
Due to the fact that it is the box that will be subject to the greatest loads, its walls can be additionally connected with iron corners - so its rectangularity and strength will be preserved.
Stage No10. shelf
When the box is ready (its front wall will be finalized a little later), you can begin to strengthen the shelf. A pair of rails is attached to the side walls with screws, after which it remains only to make sure that the box moves freely inside the structure. If so, then you can safely nail a shelf to the rails. By the way, to mark its position, you can first place the box inside to draw a couple of lines a few millimeters higher than the side walls.
Stage No11. Heart-shaped cutout
First, we note that the cutout on the front wall can have any shape - it all depends on your personal preferences. In accordance with our project, it will be in the shape of a heart, although you can simply make a simple pattern from a few small holes (they can be drilled with a drill).
- So, first a piece of board of the required dimensions is cut off.
- Next, a heart is drawn on the board, it must have the correct shape. If a hole saw is used for cutting, for example, 3.2 cm, then it can serve as a template.
- A pair of holes are drilled with a hole saw.
- All the pieces that remain are finally cut out with a jigsaw.
- After that, the front wall of the drawer remains to be completely assembled, which will require all the same nails and glue.
On a note! Cutouts of other shapes will also look great - these can be, for example, images of card suits. However, for this, the nightstand must have an appropriate number of drawers.
Stage No12. Finishing touches
After the assembly is completed, the cabinet can be coated with a clear varnish in order to protect the wood and reveal the details of its texture. Moreover, the varnish can be slightly tinted with a pigment (white or black) - this way you get a slight gray haze.
So what do you need to do:
- clear the tree;
- sand it with No150 sandpaper;
- clean again;
- cover with a layer of varnish, then wait at least 4 hours;
- lightly sand with #200 sandpaper;
- clear again;
- apply a second coat of varnish.
Note! The finished bedside table will look great if you treat the surfaces with a stain before applying varnish. By the way, instead of stain, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate or iodine, diluted tea, and so on.
Video - Provence style bedside table
small bonus
In the absence of experience or the necessary tools, a bedside cabinet can be made using improvised means.
5 /5 (7 )A do-it-yourself nightstand is often made, but this concept is very diverse. This piece of furniture can be a product that will stand by the bed, another possible option is a place for a tea mug and newspapers in the living room. However, making this design yourself is quite simple. To do this, you must first prepare certain tools and materials, as well as familiarize yourself with the process technology. Only in this way will you be able to successfully complete the work, and the product will please the eyes of the household and will be easy to use. The only thing that you may not have to do yourself is cutting the material.
Preparatory work
If you will make a bedside table with your own hands, then you need to prepare the following tools: a drill driver, a set of bits, a cutter, a tape measure, an iron, a pencil, sandpaper, a carpentry tool, a set of drills. The best solution would be to use a cordless screwdriver, which is true if the farm also has a hammer drill. Drills should be selected according to the tree, but as for the set of bits, it should have a hexagon for confirmations. Be sure to prepare a right angle with a measuring ruler. A dry rag should also be on hand. Due to the fact that sawing chipboard will be carried out in the workshop, you should expect that you will have to transport sheets of 1830x2448 mm on your own or with outside help. These dimensions are the smallest. That is why experts recommend saving on edge gluing.
Today, its melamine variety is sold, the thickness of which is 0.5 mm. Due to the fact that this element has an adhesive base, it will be quite simple to install it. To do this, attach it to the desired end and iron it with a heated iron. A dry rag will help reinforce the hot edge more firmly to achieve maximum grip. Excess should be removed with a blunt knife, processing the edges with sandpaper.
Detailing
When a bedside table is made with your own hands, it is important to familiarize yourself with the details. However, the interior content may vary. Everything will depend on the desired appearance and functionality, as well as the budget that you plan to spend on fittings. The details of the simplest and cheapest piece of furniture will be described below, but the skids and facades will be made of chipboard. As for the side parts, they will need two pieces. In the first case, the size of the element will be 772x500 mm, while the bottom and shelf should have dimensions equal to 368x502 m. There should be two upper bars, but only one base, the dimensions of these components are 368x100 mm. It is important not to forget about the side parts of the box, there should be two of these elements, and their dimensions are 480x110. It will not be possible to create a structure without back and front walls, there should also be two of them, and the dimensions are 334x110 mm. The facade is limited to 150x395 mm, and the cabinet door has dimensions equal to 515x395 mm. The above dimensions are for chipboard with a thickness of 16 mm. The worktop must be kitchen and its thickness is 28 mm, while the length and width are 525x400 mm. When making a nightstand with your own hands, it is important to know not only how to stick the edge, but also how to prepare the parts for assembly.
Preparation of consumables
A confirmation can act as a fastener, for which it will be necessary to drill holes. Their diameter should be 8 mm, while when the holes are located in the end, the diameter must be reduced to 5 mm.
Hardware preparation
Even if you plan to purchase an inexpensive fastener option, then this should be taken seriously. Confirmations must be purchased in the amount of 22 pieces, their dimensions are 5x70 mm. The plinth and tie bars will be installed on one confirmation, each of which should be located on one side. Self-tapping screws must be purchased in the amount of one package, dimensions - 4x30 mm. They will be needed later for other chores around the house, but in the case of a cabinet, they are used to screw the countertop to the slats. As for the facade, the self-tapping screw in this case is installed to the front wall of the box. In this case, the fasteners must be located inside so that it is not visible. You will also need self-tapping screws with dimensions of 4x16 mm, they must also be purchased in the amount of 1 package. With their help, you will strengthen the hardboard and hinges, it is important to purchase fasteners with a hidden hat. Find suitable furniture hinges in the amount of 2 pieces. The cutter has a diameter of 35 mm, the hinges must therefore be suitable. Optionally, you should purchase decorative furniture handles that are installed on the facade. Additionally, you can get screws for handles, the length of which is 35 mm.
Cabinet making process
When creating a bedside table with your own hands, the photo of which is presented in the article, you can use one sheet of chipboard, it will make 2.5 products. The assembly is very simple, in addition to the sidewalls from the bottom, you can screw them which are simply called "hooves". They help to establish a curbstone on an uneven floor. If it is made by you, then you can purchase adjustable legs, which can be found in a furniture fittings store. First, the master makes a selection for the loops. It should be remembered that the step from the edge of the facade to the central part of the hole should be 22 mm. For hinges with fitting dimensions of 35 mm, markings should be made at the top and bottom of the door. This is usually done at the level of 80 mm, but this parameter cannot be called critical. The next step will be the installation of a facade with twisted hinges, then everything is strengthened to the body. When making a do-it-yourself TV stand, you can use the same dimensions, as they are great, while it is important to remember that when assembling the box and drawer, you need to check the geometry of the resulting parallelepiped. Otherwise, the product will turn out to be lopsided, and the facades will be impossible to open or close.
Making a bedside table or cabinet for shoes
In order to make the design for a bed or for shoes more stable, you can make it in the form of a trapezoid, while the product is assembled on dowels. One of the side ends of the bottom needs to be cut down, this applies to covers and sticks. In this case, an angle of 10° should be used. An electric saw and guides are perfect for this. At the next stage, on the cut ends, you need to select the grooves for the keys, while placing a flat board under the cutter. The latter, including the workpiece and workbench, should be compressed with a clamp. Before you start assembling the cabinet, all fittings should be temporarily fixed, this will allow you to determine its exact location.
The sequence of work
When a nightstand is made for the left side wall, you first need to attach the top cover using dowels. At the next stage, the right side panel is strengthened, and the structure must be in a supine position. As soon as the glue sets, the back wall can be fixed to the body. The surface must be sanded, before painting the edges are varnished. After the cabinet is turned upside down, you can screw the rollers to the corners, each of them must be fixed with two washers and nuts. When it is made by hand, you can be guided by the same technology, while on the door you have to mark the places for 50 mm should be measured from the lower and upper ends. As for the side edge, 22 mm must be retreated from it. To install the hinges, you need to drill holes at the intersections of the lines. The master retreats from the top cover by about 3 mm, this will further ensure easy closing and opening of the door.
Final works
If you are thinking about how to make a bedside table with your own hands, then in the next step you need to assemble grooves in the bottom of the three sides for this. The ends of the back and front walls are sawn off at an angle of 10 °. It is important to remember that the sides of the box must be butted to each other. Roll-out mechanisms should be installed at the same stage, it is best to use roller guides, as they are easy to install and durable in operation.