A bedside table in a bedroom or any other room is a necessary attribute of furniture. You can purchase a ready-made cabinet along with a set of other furniture, but, as a rule, its cost is unreasonably high. To create an original, individual piece of furniture at minimal cost, you can try your hand at making a cabinet yourself. To have an idea of how to make a bedside table with your own hands, you need to have information about necessary materials and tools, as well step by step execution works
When making a bedside table for the first time, you need to start with the simplest option. This is a universal wooden cabinet that is suitable for placement in a bedroom, office or living room. Other options, for example, a cabinet for a television system, will require more time and effort to manufacture.
Solid wood bedside tables can come in different sizes
Tools
To make a bedside table with your own hands you will need the following tools:
- jigsaw;
- miter saw;
- Sander;
- roulette;
- sandpaper;
- pencil;
- drill or screwdriver;
- Screwdriver Set.
Tools
In addition, you will need a cutter for hinges with a diameter of 35 mm, a set of bits with a hexagon for confirmations, the diameter of the holes for which must be at least 8 mm, if located at the end - 5 mm. You will need an iron to glue the edges on the end parts of the wooden parts. The edge can be purchased at any hardware store, matching the color of the lumber from which the cabinet is made. It has an adhesive side, which is applied to the end, and the top is ironed with a hot iron through a dry rag or any rag. Excess edges are removed with a knife.
In addition to the above tools, you will need a carpenter's “right angle” with a measuring ruler. To connect the shelves and side walls, you can use a special tool for installing dowel joints. This tool helps you drill holes in the side shelves using a drill using installed dowels. To do this, pre-drill holes in the ends and install dowels. On back side The shelves are marked so as not to confuse them during assembly. Then the shelves are applied to the fastening points, after which holes are made.
Materials
To understand how to make standard size bedside tables with your own hands, you need to know what you will need:
- 4 panels of chipboard or other material measuring 45x70 cm for the manufacture of top, bottom and side parts;
- 8 boards for making a frame measuring 7x40 cm;
- 4 panels of laminated chipboard or other material for making boxes measuring 17x43.5 cm.
- dowels 2x1.8 cm and screws 4x1.6 cm;
- if confirmats measuring 5x70 mm are used, they must be purchased in quantities of 22 pieces;
- wood glue;
- acrylic sealant;
- wood stain.
It’s worth preparing all the elements in advance
The choice of material for making a cabinet varies depending on the budget. Chipboard is considered the most cost-effective material.
At choosing chipboard As a material for making a bedside table, you need to pay attention to the degree of humidity, which can lead to warping finished product. The cabinet can also be made from natural wood, MDF, plywood or laminate. For the manufacture of dowels, skull bars, wooden guides, frame drawers, tabletops, it is recommended to use hard wood - oak, beech or birch. The thickness of the boards for making the frame ranges from 12 to 40 mm, depending on the functionality of the bedside table and its load. The back side of the structure is usually made of laminated chipboard with a thickness of 4-6 mm; if serious load is not expected on the bottom of the boxes, they can also be made of this material. To finish the material, you can use self-adhesive film in a color and texture that matches the rest of the furniture in the room, coated with acrylic varnish. For natural wood, stain or colorless impregnation is used.
If you make your own cabinet with drawers, you will need to purchase special fittings for them - guide mechanisms. As an alternative to guides, as they are more affordable, L-shaped wooden slats can be used, which are attached to the side walls of the bedside table from the inside in the places where the drawers will be.
If the cabinet is equipped with a door, it is necessary to prepare hinges for their fastening. To ensure that the door opens by pressing, elevator mechanisms are used. To prevent the door from opening spontaneously, you can equip the bedside table with a magnetic latch.
As supporting accessories, you can use stationary or height-adjustable legs, as well as wheels. Convenient are the wheels with a bearing mechanism that can rotate in different sides. Such fittings are useful for a bedside table in the living room. For doors and drawers, you also need to purchase opening handles. The number of handles, hinges, and guides depends on the number of drawers and doors.
Metal accessories necessary for making a bedside table with your own hands
Manufacturing stages
Before you make a cabinet, you need to decide on its shape and size. It can be a cabinet with a door, several drawers, an open shelf, or a combination type. Then you need to draw up drawings that will help you make accurate blanks.
Preparing parts
When the diagrams with exact dimensions are ready, you can begin producing blanks for the cabinet. First, a sketch of the cardboard blanks is applied to the wood, then the outline is cut out exactly with the marked dimensions. Inaccuracy in the dimensions of the cut elements can ruin the whole job. A jigsaw will ensure high-quality cutting of wooden parts. Then all the details are processed grinder to ensure smooth edges. If the structure is not planned to be decorated self-adhesive film, at this stage it is worth treating all the details of the bedside table with stain.
After processing the cut parts, you can begin drilling holes for fasteners and accessories. When making a selection for hinges, it must be taken into account that the distance from the edge of the facade to the central part of the hole should be 22 mm. For loops with landing size 35 mm markings are made on the top and bottom of the door. To attach the shelf, you need to drive 4 dowels onto the sides of the cabinet (two on each side). Holes for dowels are made on the top, bottom of the wall and on the top end. If you are making a cabinet for a sink with your own hands, a hole of a suitable diameter is cut on the countertop where the sink will be fixed.
All necessary holes are prepared in the parts
Assembly
Before you make a cabinet with your own hands, you need to assemble it wooden frame: 7 cm wide slats are fastened together with screws or screws, forming a rectangular frame. The corners of the frame must be straight, this is checked using an appropriate measuring tool. Then it is attached to the rectangular frame top part bedside tables - table top. For reliability, the attachment points are additionally coated with wood glue. After assembling the upper part, the sidewalls are assembled, in last resort– back and front wall.
The guide strips are attached to the inside of the frame. The box assembly itself is carried out as follows:
- the completed blank for the box is placed on flat surface, using a confirmation drill, holes are made for confirmations;
- The body is twisted from blanks for the box. At this stage, it is important to check with a square that the angles of the structure are correct;
- the bottom of the box is assembled from fiberboard - placed on a frame made of planks, nailed with small 25 mm nails;
- on the lower corner connections guides are attached.
The end of the main process of how to make a bedside table with your own hands is the attachment of handles, legs or wheels, as well as decorative design finished product.
On sidebar fasten the bar
All planks are attached at the same distance
A second side panel is installed on top
Ready frame
Top panel attachment
Preparing the peg
To install the pegs you will need wood glue
Installation of peg
Frame with top panel
Marking for guides
Fastening the guides
Adjusting the guides
Installation result
Drawer side panel
Drawer frame
Attach the bottom of the box
Nightstand without front panels
Machined bezels
Applying glue under the front panels
Decoration
A DIY bedside table can become an original decoration for a room. To do this, it can be issued in different styles. For example, you can create a classic-style bedside table if you use paint pastel shades(yellow, sand, soft pink, light green). In this case, the ends of the cabinet are painted white, and individual elements, including the top and door, are colored. You need to attach wooden or plastic moldings to the door, and a piece of glass or transparent plastic cut to its size to the tabletop. Moldings should be painted in a color that is different in tone from the color of the facade.
When decorating a bedside table, it is necessary to take into account the style and decoration of the entire room so that the product does not stand out from the overall design.
Instead of decorating the finished product, you can use original ideas making a bedside table from scrap materials:
- a bedside table made from old suitcases: for this you will need an old suitcase that is attached to a frame with legs. The outer casing can be painted or decorated using the decoupage technique.
- console from an old table - you will need an old one for this coffee table, from which half is sawn off. The second half is attached to the wall, painted in a bright color. In addition, you can use old box from a desk, simply attaching it to the wall - you get an unusual hanging cabinet.
- small wooden staircase, a barrel, a chair, a stack of books tied with a belt - all of this can be used as bedside tables.
Cabinet, i.e. tough robust design, capable of bearing loads as a single unit, is the main unit of cabinet furniture. Sometimes it transforms and hides, but it is always there. Incl. and in the form of an independent product - a bedside table - suitable for various applications in the house. In this form, it does not stand out in the interior, and in utility rooms its appearance can be whatever it came from, as long as it is durable. Therefore, it is from the bedside table that a novice amateur furniture maker needs to approach cabinets, beds, chests of drawers, furniture sets and walls.
The bedside table, with all the variety of design and construction, takes place, in general, in the following forms, see figure:
Bedside cabinet, pos. 1. Without painstaking finishing, it is unsightly, but durable, because... assembled on a frame. It allows, on the one hand, to do without cladding, which is important for balcony bedside tables, or to make it easily removable, which is no less important for a bathroom bedside table. On the other hand, you can put a durable tabletop on the frame, which will come in handy in a garage, shed or workshop.
Chest of drawers, pos. 2, lives mainly in kitchens, children's rooms and dressing rooms: you can put a lot of all sorts of things in it, and, after removing the drawers, it 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. Regular sizes chest of drawers, see fig. on right.
Volumetric cabinets-racks, pos. 3, and cabinets, pos. 4, more suitable for the living room, bedroom, hallway, study or shared children's room. The design is also panel board.
Extremely simplified bedside table, pos. 5, It can be a bedside table, but most often it complements a coffee table in a soft corner of the living room.
Combination nightstands are more common for bedsides. For example, a product at pos. 6 below there is a cabinet, above it there is a chest of drawers with 1 drawer, and above there is a rack with 1 semi-closed and 1 open shelf. Due to their versatility, combined cabinets are the most commonly used.
How are cabinets made?
Factory-made bedside tables are assembled, as a rule, using furniture self-tapping screws and/or eccentric connectors. They are collected either in trade organizations before sale, or by home buyers themselves. Otherwise 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 wood-to-wood connections; at least for the load-bearing parts.
To make a cabinet with your own hands, you need, firstly, to master 2 types of furniture joints: tongue-and-groove (mortise-tongue, tongue-and-groove joint) and dowel joints. For example, the frame of a cabinet, see fig. on the right, it is assembled from 4 lower drawers, 4 combat (vertical) drawers and also 4 upper drawers. The upper and lower tsars can be front/back and side, i.e. different.
The drawers forming the frame are connected by tongue-and-groove joints; the shelves are laid on support bars, also embedded in the combat drawers on tenons in the grooves. Properly made with wedging, tongue-and-groove joints in such a small object as a bedside table will not require the cost of glue.
The cabinets of the panel structure (all except item 1) are assembled on dowels with gluing. The supports for the shelves are also made with dowels. Only drawer guides are secured with metal hardware.
To make a drawer for a bedside table or cabinet, you will have to master a type of tongue-and-groove joint - a box joint. The general sequence of its working operations is shown in the figure:
Well, a more complete picture will be given by a selection of videos:
Video: box joint entirely by hand using a regular jigsaw
Video: Box connection using an electrified tool
Video: dovetail connection on a regular circular saw
The last video may be useful to those who, over time, having improved their carpentry skills, decide to work to order. Furniture assembled using dovetails is highly valued by connoisseurs, but on condition: 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 appearance. In addition, if you know how to connect parts using a dovetail, you can try yourself in an equally profitable field - restoring old furniture.
Straight tongue-and-groove joints are usually assembled using glue, but you can do it differently. To do this, vertical blind holes are drilled in the corners of the drawer box (4 at the top and 4 at the bottom, 8 in total) with a depth of 2-4 tenons and a diameter of 2.5-3 mm. Pins made of bamboo or beech are driven tightly into the holes. The box is nailed down after fitting the parts and finishing the assembly.
Bedside drawer
The structure 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 drawer front is not included in its power circuit, it is an overhead part. If you do it differently, pushing/pulling the drawer in will eventually warp or even fall apart. The drawers are made from boards with a thickness of 12 mm or plywood from 6 mm. The box is assembled using a box connection.
On cranial bars It is advisable to take a hard and durable tree: oak, birch. However, if you have a wood router, you can install the bottom easier and stronger: select a groove in the drawers below 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 frame is from 3 mm for hard, fine-grained industrial wood and not less than the thickness of the drawer for solid softwood; groove depth - from 4 mm, but not more than 1/2 the thickness of the drawer.
The drawer fronts are internal, pos. And next. Fig., or external, pos. B. Internal facades are more elegant, but require more precise fitting of parts. Mechanically, there is no significant difference between them.
Facades and homemade guides for furniture drawers
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. Installing drawers on the bottom rail is technologically simple and provides an acceptable width of the drawer, but “eats up” a lot of space in height; The drawer on the bottom slats can jam when it is brand new and neatly made. In general, the worst way.
Fitting on the middle rail requires milling grooves in the side frames, but it provides the greatest width and depth of the drawers, because 3-4 mm of gaps both below and on the sides will be sufficient. If the slats are oak and the drawers are pine or plywood, then the drawers on the middle slats almost never jam when extended 2/3-3/4.
The quarter rail can be planed by hand with special planes: a zenzubel and a rebate, see figure, therefore, in the old days, placing handicraft furniture drawers in the quarter rebate was widespread. When pulled out no more than 2/3, the drawer slides in a quarter of the way 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-extension slides for the drawers of your cabinet, then consider the following:
- Look first not at the brand, but at the complete fasteners. Responsible and conscientious manufacturers provide hardware with shaped heads, and a key to them, so that no one breaks in with a “homemade” one.
- The assembly instructions must contain the exact dimensions for the fasteners, Full description technical operations with drilling depth and requirements for the base (wood - what kind?, laminate, MDF).
- It is better to take inexpensive guides with propylene rollers. They run smoothly and are quiet, but are not as strong or durable as ballpoint ones. However, this is not important for a nightstand, unless you are storing gold bars in it.
- Full extension guides can be bottom or side. For a bedside table, the lower ones are better; the drawers can be made wider. Side guides require technical clearances on the sides of 30 mm, which, with an overall width of the cabinet of 400 mm, reduces the internal width of the drawer to 250-280 mm. And the bottom guides have enough side clearances of 6-16 mm.
What are the cabinets made of?
A wooden bedside table 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, skull blocks, wooden guides and drawers of the cabinet frame, it is still better to take solid, dense wood - oak, beech, birch; in the latter case also on the tabletop, because They work on such bedside tables and load them with weights.
The back side of panel cabinets is most often sheathed with thin, 4-6 mm, laminated chipboard, pinned furniture stapler. In cheap furniture, drawer bottoms are also made from laminated chipboard, but this is not necessary for yourself: it sags, crawls out of the grooves, or breaks off from the “shards.”
The doors of bedside tables are most often hung on hidden adjustable furniture hinges, but under them you need to select holes in boards from 20 mm thick with a milling cutter. If you put hidden hinges If there is no possibility or desire, then the doors are hung on piano hinges. Cabinet doors with card hinges soon warp due to the small size of the hinges and the shallow drilling depth for fasteners.
About finishing
A bedside table is not a significant piece of furniture, so there is no point in spending money on expensive decoration. When finished, planed and sanded to a smooth finish, the cabinet for the living room is best covered with self-adhesive wood-like material 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 the acrylic in direct light will last at least 10 years.
Where's the nightstand?
Hallway
This is the first room where a homemade cabinet, as they say, is just asking for it. They don’t pay much attention to the furniture in the hallway, but a shoe cabinet is very necessary here: an average family of 4 people 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-standards, and looking at the design of the hinges, it seems that they were copied from the rotation units of solar panels of spacecraft. Meanwhile, a shoe cabinet can be made much simpler and no worse: on the left in Fig. Below see the drawing, and on the right there is the design of the bedside table-pouf for 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 appearance of the bedside table in the hallway general purpose see fig. on the right, but it’s better to make it not on legs, but on a skirt made of 20-30 mm boards, so that debris does not accumulate under it.
Bedroom
Choosing a bedside table bedroom set determined by the habits and character of the owner. Regular bedside table, pos. 1 and 2 on the next. rice. combined: upper open shelf for alarm clock, phone, glasses; the middle one is for reading at night, and in closed compartments anything is stored: from books “for later” and the next change of bed linen to intimate accessories for lovers of “strawberries and cream”.
Lovers of long and meaningful reading before bed prefer cabinets, racks, pos. 3. This habit, by the way, greatly develops mental abilities and helps maintain clarity of thought until old age: what you read before bedtime, unless it is meaningless reading, is absorbed by the brain especially deeply and clearly during sleep.
Shelves and racks appeal to fans of sophisticated design, pos. 4, but the sophistication of a bedside table can also be functional. How do you like the bedside table, pos. 5? Half a table transformation mechanism and a little imagination.
In general, the bedside table is a grateful object for creative ingenuity. To begin with, we give diagrams of two, see Fig. In the bedside table on the left, additional linings are used on the facades, which allows you to get elegant design. And the bedside table on the right consists of only 4 simple-shaped parts.
Balcony
The glazed balcony is a utility room, narrow, with an unstable microclimate. Therefore, the bedside table for the balcony is made on a frame, see fig. This allows, firstly, to do without covering the cabinet and install it without gaps in which condensation will accumulate. Secondly, the increased strength of the cabinet will allow you to work on it or, say, move a refrigerator to the balcony, which will provide great energy savings. And so that small objects do not get lost, the tabletop is upholstered along the contour with a furniture fillet or plinth.
Living room
Side table in the living room, except for the coffee table, pos. 1 in Fig., according to modern and well-founded trends in interior design, is made long and low. The design is chosen based on the design style of the room, pos. 2-4. But the TV stand with the same general design must meet specific requirements.
Side tables for the living room
Efficiency speaker systems(AS) is related to the wavelength of sound, which in the bass (LF, low frequencies) is meters and tens of meters. Speaker designers are trying in every possible way to circumvent these restrictions, and they are not short of 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 the “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 measuring about 800x400x200 mm is just right. Secondly, you can also add “juice” to the sound if the TV is powered by small-sized external speakers, placing them in niches with a volume of 20 liters or more with a gap of 4-8 cm on the sides and top; effect of “saturation” of sound from speakers closed type in niches is well known to music lovers. The “ideal” design of a TV stand 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 bedside table box, its back wall and the bottoms of the resonating cavities must be made of boards from 30 mm, and intermediate parts from boards from 20 mm. 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; just tap the workpieces with your knuckles: the sound should be clear, but short and dry, without ringing. A “cotton” board will absorb any vibrations, and a ringing board will “catch” unnecessary ones, which will give unpleasant overtones. And that’s all for sure, the glue on which the cabinet is assembled should produce a seam that retains its plasticity for years; PVA is best.
Bathroom
Some general sizes Bathroom cabinets cannot be provided, because... it will contain a sink with a siphon, of which there are countless different ones on the market, and the discharge into the sewer bed can be arranged in any way. But the general principles for designing bedside tables for wet rooms are quite clear:
- The bathroom cabinet 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.
- Fastenings to provide access to plumbing fixtures must be detachable: stainless steel (worse - bronze or galvanized) self-tapping screws in propylene dowels. Metal in metal, e.g. Stainless steel bolts and the same collets will become so stuck that the cabinet will have to be broken.
- The vanity cabinet is made from rot-resistant wood: oak, resinous pine, larch.
- After the initial dry assembly and fitting of the parts, they are individually treated with an antiseptic for wood, and after 3-7 days with a water repellent, i.e. water repellent. If an inexpensive (but very good) water-polymer emulsion is used, then the treatment is carried out twice with a break of 1-3 days.
Under the aquarium
Aquarium keeping is a very useful activity in all respects. But the aquarium is subject to the square-cube law almost in its pure form: as the size of the aquarium tank increases, its volume and weight grow faster than the size of the supporting area, i.e. the load from the aquarium per unit area of the load-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 of the volume of water in it in liters. It follows that the cabinet for the aquarium must satisfy the following conditions:
- An aquarium up to approximately 100 liters can be placed on any cabinet of suitable size, because... ordinary furniture calculated for a load of 150 kgf.
- For a tank up to about 150 liters you need a reinforced cabinet; preferably frame. The combat drawers are made from timber from 60x60 mm; horizontal – from 100x50 mm. The installation step of the combat side frames is no more than 400 mm; their height is up to 650 mm. The tabletop is solid laminate from 32 mm.
- At the aquariums larger capacity the pressure on the support exceeds building code at 250 kg/sq. m, so stands for them are calculated individually based on the size of the tank and the design parameters of the building; The aquarium stand is usually mechanically connected to the building structure. IN apartment building project large aquarium must be tested/developed in a specialized organization and approved by the building operator.
About corner cabinets
The bedside table is essentially a subordinate element of the interior, so the corner tables in living rooms not in use: what’s on the corner is always in plain sight. There is simply no room for one in a regular bathroom or kitchen, but corner cabinet It might come in handy in the narrow space behind the door for all sorts of little things, which are equally inconvenient to hide far away and keep in sight. Let's say, for not the most favorite toys, knitting/weaving, which is taken up as free time is available, 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 to suit your apartment.
Just in case
All this is good, the reader may say, but what if the bedside table is needed “for the day before yesterday”? Not chic, but waste material so that it could be done in half a day and would be enough for 5-7 years? Let's say, to the country house, to the garage, to the barn?
Please. In Fig. shows how to make a durable and comfortable bedside table from a pallet left over from a construction site or other unnecessary boards. It's so easy to do that no explanation is required. But making one will give you a sense of the material and design, which will then allow you to start working on products that are quite aesthetic and even exclusive.
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 book, a pen, glasses, etc. A bedside table is intended for such things, in which dozens of useful little things are stored. How to make a bedside table with your own hands will be discussed in today’s article.
If you choose the right bedside table, it will fit perfectly with the bed and look like a single ensemble with it. Although we note that the color of the cabinet may contrast. In this case, the dimensions need to be selected according to special attention– it is important that the bedside table does not become “sandwiched” between the bed and the wall, since you should always leave enough free space. But If free space in short supply, it is better to give preference to a hanging cabinet– in this case it will suit better.
On a note! A cabinet with closed and open shelves is perfect for the bedroom, which will allow you to hide your personal belongings from others, while a vase with flowers or various kinds 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 large quantity 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 lightweight non-standard design, abandoning the massive traditional “cube”.
Optimal place The 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 or, say, a glass of water on top. In addition, in the nightstand there may be a place for linen - both underwear and bed linen - or a first aid kit, cosmetics and other indispensable Everyday life of things. And for the most convenient and ergonomic arrangement of all this “good”, the selection of a bedside table must be taken with full responsibility.
Obviously, the floor design is the most common. In addition, such a cabinet can be of two types:
- without legs;
- with legs.
Original version- open bedside table without legs A slightly less common option is hanging. She, by virtue of her design features, looks weightless, as if floating in the air.
In any case, you will have to decide for yourself which cabinet to buy/make yourself - it all depends on the interior features of the bedroom and your personal preferences. But we note that a hanging cabinet still has a significant advantage over a floor-standing one - it allows you to install some objects underneath it (say, a basket for various small items or a box).
Also, bedside tables are classified depending on their shape. Let's take a look at the most common options.
Rectangular/square. Such designs are universal, and therefore will easily fit into any design. In addition, they can be located anywhere in the room.
Corner. The best option for small spaces.
Oval/round. They look, of course, elegant, but are not universal, so they will not be appropriate in every interior.
Important! There are also more exotic cabinets - such as a design in the form of a pyramid or 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. Medical care, which should be in every home, deserves special attention.
Features of choosing a bedside table depending on style
Yes, for every style interior will suit its own kind of bedside table. And it’s not surprising, because we're talking about not only about a useful thing, but also about an interior element that can emphasize the stylistic direction of the room or, alternatively, negate all efforts. How to organically fit a bedside table 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 perfect option– a bedside table with small legs made of rattan. Frequent weaving, natural colors, and a traditional rectangular silhouette will look great.
Classic style. Here preference should be given to furniture made of natural wood. You can, for example, use a large 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 fundamentality of the classics.
Palazzo. The main thing in Italian style– this is attention to detail (aged or varnished shelves, forged iron elements, etc.).
Scandinavian. For him the best option will be a white cabinet made of natural wood and without 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.
Interior in Scandinavian style- rational, but very attractive Provence. Wooden cabinets are suitable for this style, preferably with graceful outlines and narrow curly legs.
Minimalism, hi-tech. Obviously, for these styles designs with metal frames. Glass doors would be a great addition. It is important that a minimum of unnecessary parts be used.
What material should I use for the bedside table?
Most often, the difficulty in this matter is the choice of material from which the bedside table is made. Let's take a look at the most popular options.
Is it possible to save money somehow?
Any renovation work– this 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 - by the way, even a non-professional can easily cope with this, having detailed step-by-step instructions. Undoubtedly, this applies mainly to simple subjects. A bedside table, for example, can be made quickly and inexpensively with your own hands.
On a note! On materials for self-made You can't save money. After all, everyone knows that the stingy has to pay more than once. If you use low-quality consumables, the work may have to be redone.
Making a bedside table - 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 from the nearest carpentry workshop. Here, of course, it is better to trust the specialists, but you can still save money. So, you can glue the edge to the end of the boards with your own hands using a regular iron. To do this, you need to purchase tape and, using an iron, fix it on the ends of the workpieces. You can go even further - make your own blanks using chipboards. But in this case, the workpieces will have to be processed additionally. grinder to make their surface smoother. Also, all elements should be treated with stain to protect them from harmful environmental influences.
Now all that remains is to assemble all the elements into one structure using glue and screws. The blanks ordered in the carpentry workshop must be connected with hexagon bolts - for such fastening it is necessary to first make holes of the required size.
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 need to be glued.
On a note! Now let’s take a closer look at the process of making a bedside table with your own hands. Below are step by step instructions for making several simple options that may be of interest to you.
Video – Bedside table
Option No1. Simple DIY bedside table
This example will look at the assembly process from blanks ordered from a carpentry workshop. So, for work we will use:
- 6 furniture corners (plastic double);
- 1 tabletop;
- 2 drawer bottoms;
- 2 sidewalls;
- 1 back wall of the bedside table;
- 1 internal lower shelf;
- 4 guides;
- 4 front/back walls for drawers;
- 2 handles;
- 2 drawer fronts;
- 2 facades of the lower part.
Note also that for the manufacture of the lower shelf and drawers we used chipboard sheets, for the fronts and sides of the drawers, the countertops are made of wood (pine), and for the back wall of the structure – 5 mm fiberboard.
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 it is not very attractive, no one will see them anyway.
To begin with, furniture corners are screwed to the inside of the sidewall - 2 at the bottom (100 mm from the edge), 2 at the top flush, as in the photo.
An internal shelf made of chipboard is attached to the lower corners, and a table top is attached to the upper corners. When the 4 elements of the frame are assembled, the structure may be slightly skewed - do not be alarmed, everything will be aligned using the back wall.
Important! By the way, about the countertop. 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 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 little incorrect. It is preferable to attach 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, by about 5-10 cm. They must be mounted flush on the front side.
Below you can see the handles that were chosen for the drawers.
After painting the facades in one layer, the locations of future holes for handles are marked.
This is what facades with handles painted in one layer look like.
And this is how they should look after applying the third layer of paint (the handles, of course, need to be removed before each painting).
The next stage is assembling the boxes.
The drawer parts are fastened with self-tapping screws, for which holes were previously made with a thin drill.
The assembled boxes should look something like this.
The bottom of each box is secured using a stapler. On one side the bottom is fixed flush, while on the rest it is leveled so as to avoid distortions.
After this, the boxes are attached to the guides.
The fronts are attached to the drawers. After this, a fixed facade is attached, for which a couple of furniture corners are used.
Option No2. 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 bedside table from pine.
| Steps, photo | Description of actions |
|---|---|
 | To begin, prepare all the necessary tools shown in the image. |
| | The material will be natural wood (pine), which can be purchased at a hardware store. |
| | Work starts with inside future design. |
 | The boards are connected to each other as shown in the image. |
| | They are installed vertically. |
 | After this, the lower and upper parts of the bedside table are nailed. |
 | The result should look something like this. |
 | Here are the materials you will need to make the box. |
 | First, the bottom of the box is created. |
 | Photo of the work done. |
 | After this, the guides are nailed. |
 | The second guide is nailed on the opposite side of the box. |
 | The finished box will look something like this. |
 | All that remains is to insert the finished box into place. That's it, the simple wooden cabinet is ready! |
 | At the end, you can paint it (preferably with white paint) or cover it with stain. |
Option No3. Bedside table made of pallets
To minimize costs when making a bedside table, you can take pallets from under building materials. They (pallets) can be not only wooden, but also metal and plastic.
Pallets have many standard sizes, but often only 2 are used: Pallets are used to make cabinets
As for the tools, you will need:
- pencil, square and tape measure;
- mount;
- screwdriver;
- 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, provides a strong connection, and can be easily removed when squeezed out.
Stage No2. Removing the pallet
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 by disassembling the pallet.
To work you will need a hammer and a pry bar. To minimize damage to the wood, it is recommended to first loosen the boards using a chisel. By the way, an electric one is perfect for dismantling. reciprocating saw– its metal blade should be inserted along the joint of the boards to cut the nails connecting them. After this, the nails can be easily removed, while the wood will remain virtually undamaged.
Drawing of a wooden bedside table
Using a circular saw, 10 boards are cut, each 520 mm long (the length can be any). Planks for the rear wall and those of suitable quality for the side walls are selected. Each set of planks is chipped together to measure the overall width. The resulting figure will be needed when creating rectangular frames.
Each frame is made of 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 workpieces rather than an electric one - this way 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 band jigsaw, but, alas, not every home craftsman has one.
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 workpiece is 7 cm. If there are no screws of the required length, holes are made with a 12 cm drill to 1⁄2 the width of the block.
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 for countertops
Upon completion of the previous stage, blanks for the table top of the structure are cut. Pieces of the required length are cut with a circular saw with a slight allowance.
Stage No6. Workpiece grinding
Before assembling the frame, the boards are thoroughly cleaned with a grinding machine. 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 - to do this, the external surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned (almost to a mirror shine), and then treated with coarse coarse sandpaper to deliberately create defects and irregularities.
Stage No7. Frame
For final assembly Only nails are used in the body of the structure. Additionally, you can use glue, but this is not necessary - the frame will already be quite strong.
It is important that the wood is dry during work, otherwise it will dry out once it is in the house, and its attractiveness will noticeably decrease. Yes, this can later be attributed to country style, but it is still advisable to dry the wood first.
First of all, the top cover is assembled on a rectangular frame. The ends of the boards that extend beyond the structure are brought to the required dimensions using a grinding machine.
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 rectangularity will be disrupted when hammering in nails. After this, 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 - this way its rectangularity and strength will be preserved.
Stage No.10. Shelf
When the box is ready (its front wall will be finalized a little later), you can begin strengthening the shelf. A pair of slats are attached to the side walls using screws, after which all that remains is to make sure that the box moves freely inside the structure. If yes, then you can safely nail the shelf to the slats. 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. Sweetheart neckline
First, we note that the cutout on the front wall can have any shape - it all depends on your personal preferences. According to our project, it will be in the shape of a heart, although you can simply make simple pattern from several small holes (they can be drilled with a drill).
- So, first a piece of board of the required size is cut.
- Next, a heart is drawn on the board, it should have correct form. If a hole saw is used for cutting, for example, 3.2 cm, then it can serve as a template.
- A pair of holes is drilled using a hole saw.
- All the pieces that remain are finally cut out using a jigsaw.
- After this, the front wall of the drawer remains to be completely assembled, which will require the same nails and glue.
On a note! Cutouts and other shapes will look great - these could be, for example, images of card suits. However, for this, the bedside table must have the appropriate number of drawers.
Stage No.12. Finishing touches
Once assembly is complete, the cabinet can be coated with clear varnish to protect the wood and reveal the details of its texture. Moreover, the varnish can be slightly tinted with pigment (white or black) - this way you will get a slight gray haze.
So what you need to do:
- clean the tree;
- sand it with sandpaper No. 150;
- clean again;
- coat with a layer of varnish, then wait at least 4 hours;
- lightly sand with No. 200 sandpaper;
- clean again;
- apply a second coat of varnish.
Note! The finished bedside table will look great if you treat the surfaces with stain before applying varnish. By the way, instead of stain, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate or iodine, diluted tea, etc.
Video – Bedside table in Provence style
Small bonus
In the absence of experience or necessary tools a bedside table can be made using improvised means.
5 /5 (7 )Bedside tables in the interior are mainly used for convenience and practicality. But how can you make sure that this piece of furniture not only fits into general interior, and transformed?
If you are one of those who don’t particularly like to spend money on various creative furniture, we offer you 12 interesting ideas bedside tables that you can make yourself, at no extra cost!
Idea No. 1. Bedside table made from old suitcases
A couple of suitcases can be found in every house on the mezzanine or in the closet. From them you can make not only a spectacular, but also a spacious bedside table with your own hands.
Idea No. 2. Nightstand with a masculine character
A bedside table made of concrete will ideally fit into the interior of a loft-style bedroom. building block. If the porous surface does not seem attractive enough, then you can cover it with acrylic varnish with your own hands.
Idea No. 3. Interesting console table
Any old furniture on legs, from which half has been sawn off, can become an unusual bedside console. For a truly impressive effect, paint it a vibrant shade. Then the bedside table will surprise not only with its shape, but also with its color.
Idea No. 4. Laconic nightstand made from a drawer
An ordinary drawer from an old table, painted with your own hands in a color that matches the interior, can become an original bedside table. You just need to cover it with a board of a suitable size.
Idea No. 5. Stairs instead of a bedside table
An ordinary staircase can serve as a place to place various necessary little things - from books and clothes to a lamp with a clamp. If desired, paint the stairs yourself in an unusual color.
Idea No. 6. Barrel bedside table
Inverted metal barrel will become an extravagant bedside table. To ensure that the barrel-bedside table lasts a long time, treat it with an anti-corrosion compound yourself.
Idea No. 7. For the smartest
We are all accustomed to having books or magazines on the bedside table. So why not make a bedside table out of books? To make it stable, their covers can be glued together or tied with a belt.
Idea No. 8. Chairs instead of a bedside table
An ordinary chair will replace the bedside table. We recommend choosing wooden models unusual design or use several chairs of different sizes.
Idea No. 9. Wooden collection
A bunch of wooden log houses, fastened together with your own hands, create a spectacular bedside table. To ensure the furniture lasts a long time, do not forget about special wood impregnations.
Idea No. 10. Simple but effective bedside table made from a drawer
The easiest way to make a nightstand out of drawers with your own hands is to hang it on the wall. For those who like more sophisticated solutions, we recommend screwing the legs to the drawer.
Idea No. 11. old cage
A large pet cage can also replace a bedside table. All that remains is to make wooden table top suitable size.
Idea No. 12. Musical bedside table
A gramophone record serves as a tabletop for the bedside table. The legs are made of thick wire or ready-made ones are used, which can be purchased at a furniture store.
Detailed instructions on how to make a bedside table with your own hands in this video:
Bedside table in the bedroom or a cabinet next to the chair in the living room - 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 various items and materials.
1. DIY nightstand made from drawers
Place a wooden box for vegetables, fruits or postal parcels on legs or wheels. Attach a shelf inside the box. The box can be placed both horizontally and vertically, and you can also make a tall cabinet from two or more drawers.
The box can be decorated, for example, with branches. Read how to make such a bedside table with your own hands.
2. DIY nightstand with rope shelves
From an ordinary wooden box or box, as well as ropes, you can make a bedside table with a flexible design. You can customize your own shelves and different rope holders 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 strong natural or synthetic rope through the holes and make different shelves and compartments for things.
3. DIY bedside table made from books
Unusual and original project bedside tables for the bedroom or living room. Secure stacks of books with straps, ties, or tie them with thick ribbons. In this case, place wooden modules, square or rectangular boxes between the stacks. It could even be thick cardboard boxes from shoes or small items. household appliances. Old books, vintage leather belts and wooden elements will give the bedside table a unique charm and style.
4. Nightstand from a chest
The chest has long been the main piece of furniture in huts and huts. Nowadays, antique or modern chests are a rare phenomenon in the interior. However, if you are the owner of your grandmother's old chest, then you can make a vintage nightstand out of it with your own hands. The spacious space under the lid of the chest will allow you to store many things, including bedding or toys in the children's room. In addition, designers offer exclusive versions of cabinets in the form of expensive leather chests. These ideas can be used as a basis and inspiration. Turning a chest into a nightstand lies only in the decor of the chest itself. It can be either updated or aged, left in natural form or color it.
5. Nightstands made from suitcases
Unlike antique chests, old suitcases are much easier to find. A DIY bedside table made from a vintage suitcase will decorate the interior of the room and also provide additional closed place for storing things. You can even hang a small combination lock on a suitcase bedside table and store intimate items 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. DIY cabinet made from a barrel
A DIY bedside table made from a barrel will look very unusual in a bedroom or living room. Round wooden barrel- 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 into a barrel, put it on hinges, and attach a shelf inside. Another option is to make two bedside tables with your own hands from one barrel, simply by sawing the barrel into two even parts.
A metal barrel can also be useful as a cabinet, especially if it is antique.
7. DIY bedside table made from a chair
Very often a chair serves as a bedside table. We propose to improve it by turning it into a real bedside table with a drawer. For this it is advisable to choose wooden chair without soft upholstery. Purchase special fittings for drawers and the drawer itself in the store according to the size of the chair. Attach the entire system under the seat. You can also nail another shelf under the box from a square sheet of chipboard.
8. Bedside table 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 drawer or a shelf between the legs of a stool, and a framed mirror can be used as a tabletop.
9. Stepladder bedside table
A small ladder - a stepladder or ladder for cabinets - perfect solution for the bedside table. There is no need to do anything additional; if desired, paint or age the staircase.
10. DIY hanging bedside table
The nightstand, or rather, bedside table, can float in the air! How to make one like this unusual project for the bedroom - read.
