My First Big Project

I kind of took this project to the next level.  I have never built anything like this before, some shelves and minor wood working projects but I wanted this piece to be really special for my wife who requested I make this for our family room.  I made it out of solid poplar and used birch plywood for the sides.  I decided to dovetail the drawers and recess the drawer bottoms.  The entire frame was assembled using biscuits, dowels and glue rather than screws or nails and it took me 6 weeks to complete but I didn't work on it daily.  The project cost me about $450 in materials but it was worth it.  

I wish I had used joined wood for the sides rather than plywood because it did not take stain well (blotchy).  I upgraded the drawer slides to side mounted ball bearing made by Amerock that I got on Amazon for a great price.  The stain was custom mixed from two standard Minwax stain colors I used oil based semi-gloss on the top and water-based semi-gloss on the remainder.  I had some experience with doweling and biscuits but had never dovetailed before.  I purchased the Porter-Cable 4212 kit and opted for the through dovetails for added strength.  The drawers barely needed glue, and it was very easy to use!   I mounted the top using figure 8 fasteners which was another first for me but I highly recommend them.  The hardware I found on Amazon at very reasonable prices compared to big box stores but couldn’t find a silver colored label holder so I purchased brass and used Rust-Oleum Flat Antique Nickle to get them to match the pulls. 

I am a beginner at this but feel that this was a great project there was only one error in the list of materials to cut but other users have already identified that.  I anyone has questions on this project I will be happy to help!