Building a Mid-Century Modern Walnut Nightstand

There’s something deeply satisfying about crafting a piece of furniture that’s both functional and beautiful. Today, I’m walking through my process of building a Mid-Century Modern Nightstand out of walnut, with a focus on how I cut perfect mitered corners so the grain flows seamlessly around the edges.  This project was designed and built for a Denver, Colorado Client.

Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Milling & Preparing the Wood

Like any woodworking project, this one starts with cutting, milling, and jointing the lumber. However, there’s one key difference: I kept the boards for the sides and top as one continuous length before glue-up. This ensures that the grain will match perfectly once the miters are cut.

After milling everything to thickness, I used floating tenons to keep the panels aligned during glue-up. Once the glue dried, I cut the sides and top to length, carefully labeling each piece to maintain the grain match.

Pro Tip:

When cutting with a track saw, take your time to ensure the cut is perfectly square. If you have to make a second cut to correct an angle, the grain match will be thrown off, sometimes to the point where the two ends no longer align at all.

Step 2: Cutting the Miters

To achieve seamless mitered corners, I prepped the pieces with a straight pine guide attached with CA glue. This ensured a perfect reference edge for the table saw cuts.

Miter Setup:

1. Installed a sacrificial fence on the table saw.

2. A scrap piece (same thickness as the nightstand sides) was used to set the height of an auxiliary fence.

3. Glued a runner to the workpiece to ride along the fence.

4. Adjusted the blade to a perfect 45° and raised it so the tooth just kissed the auxiliary fence.

After test cuts confirmed accuracy, I ran all the pieces through. A few taps with a mallet removed the pine guides, leaving perfectly mitered edges.

Reinforcing the Joints

Since miter joints aren’t as strong with glue alone, I reinforced them with floating tenons. (If you don’t have a Festool Domino, a router jig works just as well!)

Step 3: Veneering the Back Panel

Walnut plywood is expensive, so I opted for a walnut-veneered birch plywood back panel:

1. Used ¼” birch ply as a core.

2. Resawed walnut into thin veneers.

3. Glued them in a vacuum bag, ensuring alignment.

Step 4: Final Assembly

Before glue-up, I:

• Pre-finished the interior faces.

• Taped off edges to prevent squeeze-out.

• Used slow-set epoxy for extra working time (