Minimalist Modern Dresser

Assemble the 1x3 face frame with glue and 1-1/4" brads, three per joint. Then measure BOTH diagonals. If they differ, push the two long-diagonal corners toward each other and re-measure until they match.

The drawer slides register off this frame. A frame that's 1/4" out of square isn't 1/4" of charm — it's six drawers that all rub. Add the 1x2 center divider dead-centered with its blocking pieces.

On each 16" plywood side, attach a 1x3 flush to the bottom and back edges (it will stand 3/4" proud at the top — that's planned). Then nail the sides to the face frame, front and bottom edges flush.

Set the dresser on a level surface and add the bottom trim across the front and back.

Add the 29" verticals: 1x3s on the BACK edges of the plywood, 1x2s on the FRONT. Glue and brads. These close the side silhouettes and give the top frame its landing.

Frame the top panel — 16" 1x2s on the ends first, then 52" 1x2s front and back — with glue and 1-1/4" brads. Set the completed top onto the dresser and nail in every direction you can reach.

The source is right to make this sound aggressive: the top is the squaring diaphragm for the whole carcass. Then center the 2x2 support vertically on the back and glue-and-nail it — it stops the long top from ever sagging.

Sides: 15-3/4", matching the slides. Fronts/backs: measure your actual opening (should be ~23"), confirm your slides want 1/2" per side, cut to opening minus 2-1/2" of total clearance and material (20-1/2" here). Bottoms: cut 1/4" ply to the assembled box.

Build ONE drawer — glue and 1-1/4" brads, bottom on with 5/8" brads — mount its hardware, and test it in the cabinet before building five more. Err small: the slides' oval adjustment holes forgive small, not large.

Slide members mount to the drawer bottoms — wheels to the back, flush to the front — screwed through the widthwise oval holes so side-to-side adjustment stays live. Cabinet members mount with their front edges matched to the face frame's 1x3 side returns and the 1x2 center blocking.

Test, adjust, then production-line the remaining five drawers.

Rip the 1x10s to 8-1/2" with the top edge beveled at 45° — the bevel IS the drawer pull; there's no hardware to buy or align. Cut faces to your openings allowing ~1/8" between.

Install the bottom row first: brads from the front to position, screws from inside the drawer to hold. Then rip a 1-1/8" spacer strip, rest each next face on it, and attach — the spacer makes every reveal identical, and identical reveals are the entire minimalist effect.

Fill, sand, stain, finish — and strap the dresser to a wall stud. Six drawers open is a staircase to anyone under four.