Pallet Nightstand

After last year's Christmas present to my sister, this year (which ended six months ago - that tells you how far behind I am on blogging!) needed another pallet project to complement the first. A piece to help round out the bedroom set was in order, and a nightstand was the best choice overall. 

Ana White has a nice, simple little plan for a bedside nightstand.  It was fairly easy to adapt to use pallets instead of the covering pieces she used. 

Kreg Jig produced pocket holes to fit everything together.  Not too hard - just do a Google search for it and you'll find plenty of examples and tutorials. The frame pieces were all 2x4 stock that was ripped down to 1.5" on each side.  

The frame went together pretty simple, piece by piece: I attached the front and back bottom supports first, linking the left and right halves together. 

With them in place, I then connected the fronts to the backs.  

Thin (1x2) pieces were used as trim on the sides. A second lower support was added to the back here.  Note the plywood: that was originally supposed to be the backer behind the drawer, but I took it off because you could see the edge from the side, and it looked terrible. 

With the frame complete, you can then nail in the tops.  Pallet wood was prepared beforehand, and I used a brad nailer to connect them up. 

Keep them square and even, and clamp each piece in place and triple-check before you nail it down. 

Making a drawer for the nightstand was pretty basic.  Use a Kreg Jig to attach some 1x pine boards together, and you're all set.  

The drawer is just a box with a bottom - no big deal.  Add a false front of pallet wood to it later on, and drill for a drawer pull. 

I didn't take shots of the sides going in, but they were pretty simple too.  Nail in some more 1x stock to the inside to support the drawer, using a torpedo level to ensure that the front-to-back and side-to-side balance is level.  Be finicky about this - it'll dictate how well the drawer slides.

Add the false front to the drawer, squaring, clamping, and then nailing it into place. 

That's it!  A simple little build - follow the Ana White instructions, adjusting for your sizes as needed, and use pallet wood to trim out the top, sides, back, drawer front, and bottom shelf. This piece was meant to be pretty rustic, so I used wood from different pallets and didn't sand out the original marks and scuffs on the top.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it all turned out!