Mid-Century Modern Dresser

While my wife and I happen to be currently using this piece as a changing table for our son, it’s functionally a dresser and would look awesome in any Mid-Century Modern themed room while providing lots of great storage.

I made the panels for the top, bottom and sides out of solid walnut, mostly for a change of pace, since I’d recently been working with a lot of plywood. If you wanted to simplify the process, you could use plywood for your panels, or buy pre-milled lumber, but the process of milling rough lumber is one of the most satisfying parts of a project to me. You never know what is going to be hiding under the rough surface, and it’s always really satisfying seeing the boards come through the planer for the first time.

My milling process started at the miter saw, where I broke down the boards into their rough lengths. Next, I moved to the jointer, flattening one face and one edge of each board. With one face flattened, I moved to the planer and brought the other face into parallel with that flattened face. See the photo caption at the top of the next page for my process. Finally, I headed to the table saw and ripped each board to