This rustic solid wood dresser features five drawers and one large open bottom shelf. Framed in solid wood.
2 – 4′x8′ Sheets of 3/4″ MDF or Plywood, cut into 15 1/2″ wide strips, 8′ long
1 – 4′x8′ Sheet of 1/4″ MDF or Plywood (can be a scrap, used to cover the back)
2 – 1×3 Boards, 8′ Long
10 – 1×2 Boards, 8′ Long
1 - 1×6 Board, 8′ Long
1 – 1×6 Board, 10′ Long
2 – 1×8 Boards, 8′ Long
5 – Drawer Pulls or Handles
2″ Nails
1 1/4″ Nails
Wood Putty
Wood Glue
Sand Paper
Stain, Paint, Varnish, or other finishing supplies
Box and Legs
A) 2 – 1×16 @ 59″ (Shelves for the Drawer Housing)
B) 1 – 1×16 @ 8 1/2″ (Bottom Partition)
C) 2 – 1×16 @ 7 1/4″ (Top Partition)
D) 2 – 1×16 @ 17 1/4″ (Sides)
E) 2 – 1×16 @ 60 1/2″ (Top and Bottom Shelf)
F) 4 – 1×2 @ 31 3/4″ (Side Legs)
G) 4 – 1×3 @ 31 3/4″ (Front and Back Legs)
Trim (I always cut my trim as I go to get perfect joints)
H) 6 – 1×2 @ 12 1/2″ (Side Trim)
I) 2 – 1×2 @ 15 1/2″ (Top, Ends)
J) 2 – 1×2 @ 63 1/2″ (Top, Front and Back Edges)
K) 8 – 1×2 @ 57″ (Front and Back Shelf Trim)
L) 2 – 1×2 @ 7 3/4″ (Bottom Partition Trim)
M) 4 – 1×2 @ 5 3/4″ (Top Partition Trim)
N) 1 – 1/4″ Plywood or MDF @ 18″ x 59″ (You could actually omit this and the piece would be fine)
Drawers
O) 6 – 1×2 @ 15 1/2″ (Drawer Guides)
Top Drawers
P) 3 – 1×16 @ 16 1/4″ (Bottoms of Top Drawers)
Q) 6 – 1×6 @ 15 1/2″ (Sides of Top Drawers)
R) 6 – 1×6 @ 17 3/4″ (Fronts and Backs of Drawers
Bottom Drawers
S) 2 – 1×16 @ 26″ (Bottom of Bottom Drawers)
T) 4 – 1×8 @ 15 1/2″ (Sides of Bottom Drawers)
U) 4 – 1×8 @ 27 1/2″ (Front and Back of Bottom Drawers)
General Instructions. Use 2″ nails and glue to fasten pieces, unless otherwise directed. Take a square of the project after each step. Work on a clean, level surface. Keep outside edges flush unless otherwise directed. If using MDF, avoid nailing within 1″ of the outer edges to avoid splitting. Cross nail to reinforce whenever possible. Whenever possible, mark out your joints with a square. This will save you time. Be safe and have fun.
Top. I refer to these first four steps as “building the box.” After building countless pieces of furniture, I now know that most storage pieces are simply a ”box” trimmed out to become a bookcase or dresser or other storage piece. This one is no different. Fasten the top in place, using the measurements above to guide you.
Top Drawers, P and Q. Fasten the sides of the top drawers to the bottoms, as shown above. A trick to get your drawers to slide better is to bring the bottom piece up slightly. Then rub vasoline on the drawer sides. The bottoms of the drawer sides act as glides, and the bottom of the drawer is not dragging on the bottom shelf. Just 1/4″ would do the trick.
Drawer Faces. Insert the faceless drawers in the correct openings. Position the matching faces on the drawers, keeping approximately 1/8″ gap around the drawer face. As shown above, you want the space to be equal on all sides. When satisfied, use the 2″ nails to fasten the drawer face to the sides and bottom of the drawers.
plans looks great anna!
thanks a lot!
You are so inspiring. I would also like to know if you could do plans for the easels that are shown! I gave myself a gift of a compound miter saw just because of you.
I love it. Well, I love all of your plans but I'm a little apprehensive with my skills. When I look at this piece I see a bathroom vanity. Of course you'd have to adjust the drawers for plumbing but that's not such a big deal. Honestly ... this is just what I was looking for in a vanity. Hmmmmmmm ... got me thinking on this one.
Can you just tell me how you can be so fantastic? I am so dying to make furniture!!
Wow - I love it! This is definitely going into my project file to try once I develop my woodworking skills a little more. Thanks for the inspiration!
Love these plans! I would use this as a media stand! Could you make some suggestions how to modify the hutch to fit a TV and DVD player. I am really excited to get started.
I posted on facebook and here, I must REALLY love/ want this table. Ana you're so awesome, I know you can do it!
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/norfolk-dining-table/?pkey=csquare-r...
I'm curious if i'm the only one who cannot access the facebook group - I've tried several searches from 2 addresses using different ISP's and still cannot find it.
could someone please help?
I really like this! I think it will go well with the Farmhouse bed. Thanks again for all of the plans you so generously share. You're awesome!
You Rock!!! I look forward to reading your blog every day. I am wondering how to modify it to where it is like the Farmhouse dresser.........
WE've been looking for a buffet for our dining room! This is such perfect timing, I can't wait for hubby to make this! In a red finish it will be so pretty and go with the rest of the house... THANK YOU for posting this! You are quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs!
WOW! Just what I'm looking for...but I will use it as a bath vanity (inspiration from your FB Page). But, I am horrible with math and not sure how I need to calculate to make it smaller than 62". I need it closer to 50". Also, we just have one sink...so I would gut the middle drawer, correct?
Thanks,
Lora
these look awesome, i really hope to build this one!
This is great! I think I'm going to have my father-in-law make this for our babies room. It's deep enough to put a changing pad on top and when baby is old enough it's just a nice dresser w/out being solely meant for a baby room. I like that we can put bins underneath for easy access to toys!
My dad and I are almost finsihed building this peice!! After it is painted, I am going to make a cushion for the top and use it as a window bench in my daughter's room! Thanks Ana!
On this piece... can the bottom become drawers instead of storage? If so, can you give me some direction on how to do this? Thanks so much.
YES, this is lovely! I could see a vanity in this style, too. Too bad PB's cost over 1000 bucks! I saw your farmhouse vanity - and while it's adorable, we are packrats that need storage! LOL Ana, any way you could modify this to accommodate the plumbing under the sink? I'm sure we could eventually figure it out...but since we're newbies I'm sure you'd do it faster and obviously better! Thanks for everything!
I love this and hope to make it... but I need something a bit more narrow. If I send an email with our measurements could you tailor the measurements a bit?
Are there instructions for how to do the drawer glides? Or am I just not seeing it? I am a way newbie on drawers, if there are instructions here that would be great, or direct me to another post. Thanks!
this dresser is a good one but it cost me $450 so far and i used nice pine wood so if ur doing this and want it to be nice keep that in mind and dont cut ur drawer wood until u get the frame built a couple of the measurements where off on the trim at the top too!
I have a bunch of 1/2 inch mdf scraps. Do you think the dresser would still be sturdy enough if I used those?
I have a bunch of 1/2 inch mdf scraps. Do you think the dresser would still be sturdy enough if I used those instead of the 3/4 inch?
I am going to try and use this as a basic outline to make a bathroom vanity, I hope it works out, there are vanities like this at pottery barn that go for like 2000 buckeroos!
This is gorgeous! I think I'm going to try it as a tv stand :) thanks!
I can't wait to build this along with the hutch. I'm going to use it in my dining room along with my farmhouse table that we are building right now. I love this website......
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