DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

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Build these super easy and affordable DIY planked wood nightstands for any bedroom. Customize them to fit your space and design.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

One of the main reasons I love doing DIY projects is because you get to create something that is exactly the way you want it. And usually for a fraction of the cost. The measurements, the design and color of it, is all based on what you need for a particular space.

Enter, DIY planked wood nightstands.

These days it’s hard to find something affordable and brand new in a store that I seem to love. And since our house and rooms are smaller, I need smaller furniture.

Our guest bedroom has been in need of some new nightstands to replace the industrial stool nightstands. Those were kind of a happy accident that were temporary.

I needed a smaller, skinny nightstand that would fit perfectly on the sides of the bed. So I decided to just build my own.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

Supplies Needed for DIY Wood Planked Nightstands

Note: The wood listed below is for two nightstands. We based our measurements on what would fit for our small space. This is completely customizable to fit the space you need.

  • 11 – 8ft 1×4’s (For the planked sides and the top)
  • 3 – 8ft 2×2’s (For the structure)
  • Saw
  • Nailgun (or nails and hammer)
  • 1.5 inch nails
  • Sander
  • Small Paint Brush
  • Wood Stain (I used Minwax Provincial)

Instructions for DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

  1. I started by making all of my wood cuts with our miter saw (use any saw that works for you).
  • For the 1×4’s, I cut 13.5 inch pieces. So each 8ft board will give you 7 – 13.5 inch pieces. Each side of the nightstands have 8 planks, and the tops have 4, so all together you will need 72 – 13.5 inch pieces. (Trust me, I know this sounds like A LOT, but since you are making the same size cuts it goes pretty fast.)
  • For the 2×2’s, I cut 29 inch pieces. So each 8ft board will give you 3 -29 inch pieces. Each nightstand will need 4 of these pieces for its structure, so all together you will need 8 – 29 inch pieces.
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

Building the Base of the Nightstands

2. Once all your wood is cut, you can start assembling the nightstands. Using my nail gun with 1.5 inch nails on the entire project, I started by taking 2 of the 29 inch – 2×2’s, and attached 8 of the 13.5 inch planks, leaving a small gap in between each board.

I found it was easiest to attach the top board and then the bottom board first, then fill in the middle.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

3. After all 8 of the planks were attached, I repeated the exact process again. This gave me two sides assembled. Then I laid out the two sides next to each other, as shown below.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

I started to attach the third and forth sides. With these sides that I nailed into the 2×2, and not the very edge where the 1×4 was.

And again, started with the top and bottom planks, and filled in the middle.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

Adding the Top

4. Once all four sides of the nightstands were complete, I attached four of the planks to the top. I spaced them out evenly as well.  

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

5. After each nightstand was complete, I used my sander to smooth out any rough edges.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

6. Lastly, I stained both nightstands using Minwax Provincial. Since there are a lot of gaps, I used a small paintbrush to stain in between each plank, and an old rag to stain the rest.

I let them sit out all night to dry before bringing them into their new space.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

These DIY wood planked nightstands fit our guest bedroom space perfectly. They were super affordable and I love that I was able to customize them to the exact measurements I needed.

You can make them whatever size you need, and you can even use smaller or bigger planks. These ones measure 29.5 in tall x 13.5 in wide x 15 in deep. Which are perfect for a small space like in this room.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

I just love that they bring in a warm wood tone to the room and go well with my design. They can even be painted later if my design changes.

DIY Planked Wood Nightstands
DIY Planked Wood Nightstands

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