Mid-Century Nightstand Pair
Solid maple with CNC-milled fluted drawer face and turned legs
"Clients Joey and Becca needed a matching nightstand pair with a specific mid-century profile — fluted drawer faces and turned legs — built in solid maple to coordinate with existing bedroom furniture, on a defined timeline."
Joey and Becca came in with a clear brief and reference photos from mid-century furniture they already owned. They wanted a matching pair — same wood species, same proportions — built to live alongside pieces they’d had for years. Solid maple. Turned legs. Fluted drawer fronts.
The fluted drawer face was what made this piece. You can carve flutes by hand, but getting six of them consistent across two drawer fronts — same depth, same spacing, same entry and exit — is the kind of thing that separates CNC work from handwork.
The Design
I modeled the full piece in SketchUp before touching any material. Mid-century proportions have specific ratios — the relationship between leg taper, apron height, and overall case height is what makes the style read correctly. Get it even slightly off and it looks like a copy instead of the real thing.
The model also caught a clearance issue between the drawer box and the lower apron rail that would have surfaced during assembly. Fixed in the model in five minutes. Would have cost an hour and a new rail in the shop.
The CNC Work
The fluted drawer face is the centerpiece of this build. Six flutes, consistent depth, radiused ends — programmed in Fusion 360 with a roughing pass followed by a finish pass to eliminate tool marks. Maple has tight, consistent grain which means it machines cleanly, but it also means there’s nowhere to hide.
Both drawer fronts were cut from the same board so grain pattern flows continuously across the pair.
The Legs
The turned legs were done on the lathe — four per nightstand, eight total. The challenge with turned legs on a matched pair is consistency. I set up a story stick before touching the lathe and checked each leg against it at every step. Finished within 1/32” tolerance across all eight.
Delivery
Four weeks from brief to delivery. No revisions. The pieces went into their bedroom and the clients sent a photo the same day.
- Modeled the full piece in Fusion 360 before cutting — caught a leg-to-apron interference that would have shown in the finished piece
- CNC fluting on the drawer face achieved consistent depth and spacing not possible by hand
- Turned legs matched to within 1/32" across all four pairs
- Solid maple construction — no veneers, no particleboard, built to last
- Delivered on schedule with zero revision requests