After Kurt and I surprised ourselves by successfully building our very own Pottery Barn Farmhouse Bed, matching bedside tables were subsequently added to our long list of home projects. This new to do task was pushed to the bottom of the list as we already had bedside tables but a girl can only look at laminate furniture for so long. So on Memorial Day Weekend, while everyone we know had plans of vacationing, we had plans for farmhouse bedside tables by ana-white.com. Here is a picture of our Pottery Barn Farmhouse Bed with mismatching laminate nightstands. These nightstands have been reunited with their matching headboard in our guest bedroom… I plan on painting the whole set eventually.

I started by finding a plan for Farmhouse Bedside Tables on ana-white.com. Here is what the example looks like:

What’s even BETTER about these bedside tables is the supplies cost around $90… for TWO real, beautiful, handmade (or DIYstinctly Made) tables.

Supplies Needed For Our DIY Farmhouse Bedside Tables

The list below are materials needed for 1 bedside table. We doubled to make 2 tables.

• 1 – 1×12 @ 6 feet long
• 2 – 1×6 @ 8 feet long
• 4 – 2×2 @ 8 feet long
• 2 – 1×2 @ 8 feet long
• 1/4″  plywood scrap, at least 24″ x 8″ (minimum, ideally 26″  x 8 1/2″)
• 2 1/2″  Screws or Pocket Hole Screws
• 1 1/4″  Finish nails or Screws
• Power drill
• Wood drill bit
• 1/4″ Spade wood drill bit
• Circular saw
• Chop saw
• Elmer’s Wood Glue
• Minwax stainable/sandable wood filler
• 1 orbit sander
• 120 grit sandpaper
• Rustoleum dark walnut wood stain
• Minwax Helmsman satin spar varnish
• 2 Cup pulls

The step-by-step directions to these bedside tables are very easy to follow. We started by cutting the sides and attaching with wood glue and finishing nails. Kurt’s clamps that he got for Christmas definitely came in handy.

Next, we cut two legs to the height recommended in the directions and attached to either end of the side panels with wood glue and screws. We drilled the holes with normal drill bits and then followed with the spade drill bit to make an area below the surface of the wood that the screw head would lie.

After both sides were completed, we joined them together with trim.

Remember those warped panels that I removed from the doors of our Nursery Bookshelf? Those turned out to be the PERFECT material for the back of bedside table. We cut those to size, glued with wood glue, and attached with finish nails.

Meanwhile, sleepy Baxter was basking in the glory of his yard.

Back to the tables… next, we added 3 supports to help support the top of the bedside table.

Once the base was built and the top supports were attached, we cut three 1 x 6 boards and glued, clamped, and attached with finish nails from below.

Now THAT looks like a table! At this point we were pretty excited… and it didn’t take long to get to here which was even more exciting! Onto the drawer! Kurt cut the pieces to size following the instructions. The bottom is inset with all sides screwed into the bottom. He cut two 1/8″ false cuts into the front of the drawer using a circular saw (before attaching). I love the extra touch these false cuts add – AND it allowed me to put two cup pulls instead of one on the front!

We held the finished drawer in place inside of the table and traced lines along the bottom of the drawer, on the inside of the table, to mark where the top of the slides needed to go. Once the lines were marked, Kurt screwed the slides in place. Be sure to give yourself enough room with the drawer when adjusting inside the table… you want them to slide easily after being coated with polyurethane. It took us a couple of tries to get the slides in just the right spot.  

While the drawer was in place, we attached the trim below the bottom of the drawer matching the gap  between the top of the drawer and the table.

Ain’t it a beauty?! I used Minwax stainable/sandable wood filler to make it even more beautiful by filling in the screw holes. Once everything was filled and dried I sanded the whole piece using my handy dandy, and most favorite, orbit sander. Kurt loves this part of the process… He’s especially keen on my ability to round the edges (between you and me – it’s not hard at all. I think he just tells me I’m so good at it so he won’t have to do it 😉

And finally, the best, and my favorite, part… the finish! We used the same Rustoleum Dark Walnut stain and Minwax helmsman satin spar varnish that we used on our bed. It’s not “advised” that you use two different brands of stain and top coat together…but… I haven’t had any issues. For our more “rustic” pieces, I love the satin finish of the spar urethane better than glossy urethane.

We found some brushed bronze cup pulls at Lowes for less than $4/piece… not the cheapest option but I knew they would make the bedside tables look complete. One Memorial Day weekend and less than $90 later, we have new DIYstinctly Made farmhouse bedside tables to match our DIYstinctly Made farmhouse bed. The best part? We made them all together 🙂 Here’s our finished bedside tables in their new home.