DIY Floating Nightstands

How nice would it be to have the light and fan switches only an arms reach away from the bed? Since we were in the process of covering the bedroom walls with wainscoting, I had the opportunity to run new wiring to bring switch boxes to both sides of the bed. This was also the time to build a pair of custom diy floating nightstands, so why not combine the two and put the switch boxes in the nightstands.

Step 1

I started with a sheet of 3/4″ oak veneer plywood, and broke it down into all the pieces I would need.

Step 2

I didn’t have a dado stack for the table saw at the time, so I cut rabbets and dados with the very tedious, multiple pass method. I’ve since acquired a dado stack and I highly recommend it.

Step 3

This plywood had a decently sanded finish, but I gave it a once over with 220 sandpaper to get it really smooth. Plywood veneer is often very thin, so care must be taken not to sand through it.

Step 4

I marked the locations and cut out holes for the switch boxes.

Step 5

Before assmbly, I applied a finish of teak oil to all of the inside surfaces of the pieces. It’s far easier to apply finish to inside faces before it’s put together, rather than trying reach into corners. I didn’t finish the outside at this point because I still had to apply edge banding.

Step 6

Next came glue and clamps. All the clamps.

One nightstand is larger and has a drawer, the other just has a shelf and is shorter to accomodate the dog bed directly adjecent to the human bed.

Step 7

After the glue set up, I applied matching oak iron on edge banding. Then trimmed the excess with a plane and chisel.

Step 8

I finished up with a coat of teak oil on the outsides.