DIY wooden floor chest

In Rus', chests have long been used as a place to store things, family heirlooms or jewelry. They did not have an original design, but the strength was reliable. The appearance of chests changed several times throughout its history. In the 17th century, carpenters attached legs to it and made compartments, so the familiar chest served as the prototype of a modern chest of drawers.

How to make a floor chest out of wood

Making a chest out of wood with your own hands is not very difficult. It's great for storing things, as a stand, or as an anniversary gift for friends. You can handle its production even without experience. It looks great in a modern apartment, for example, in a children's room, especially if the room is designed in a marine style.

Materials and tools

To make a chest with your own hands, you will have to stock up on the following tools and purchase the following materials:

• hacksaw and jigsaw (can be electric);
• self-tapping screws;
• screwdriver;
• paint brush;
• glue gun (construction for wood);
• sandpaper;
• varnish and paint.

Of course, you need to prepare the boards. The main thing is that this material is thoroughly dried. Only in this case will the finished chest be able to serve for a long time and not warp, and cracks will not appear on it.

How to take measurements and drawings

First, you need to think about the design features of the future product, as well as its decorative decoration. The cheapest option is to use pine in production. But at the same time, you need to take into account the fact that pine, even with the slightest fluctuations in air humidity, will lose its original appearance. An alder chest will also be inexpensive. In addition, its soft structure will allow you to imitate expensive types of wood from tropical forests.

You also need to choose the place where you plan to place the finished chest. Then draw its outlines on paper to calculate the dimensions taking into account the thickness of the wood.

Having made a drawing of the chest on paper, then draw out the individual details. It is necessary to calculate the dimensions of each element so that after sawing their sizes are identical. Without a drawing prepared in advance, you should not start cutting parts. Most likely, there will be wasted nerves and material due to mistakes made.

Note! You can cut out life-size parts from paper and lay them out on wood to make markings. Sawing can only begin after this process is completed.

DIY wooden floor chest: step by step

After carefully measuring the pattern and sawing the wooden parts of the chest, you can begin to assemble it. First, the side walls are assembled together, and then the bottom part is attached to them. At the end the cover is mounted. It should be slightly smaller in width than the main part of the box.

The lid is assembled as follows: the cut blanks are attached to the board with self-tapping screws, and the fastening points are covered with decorative corners, or putty is applied to match the wood.

Then decorative loops are attached.In this way, the upper and lower parts are attached and a fastening for the lock is made. To ensure that the lid is fixed in the open position and does not tilt back too much, clamps are secured on the inside.

Keep in mind! Forged metal elements are sold ready-made. Decorating with them will not take much time, but the result will be excellent.

After all the parts are connected and the hinges are attached, you can start decorating. It is recommended to sand the entire wooden surface to remove imperfections and round the edges. Then the wooden parts are varnished. It is recommended to use special products that create the effect of antiquity. A transparent finishing coat is applied over it. In addition, you can use decoration using carving techniques, inlay or forging.