How to Make a Banquette With Drawers

Upholster the Banquette Top

• 1

  Lay the 31-by-67-inch piece of vinyl upholstery fabric smooth side down on a flat work surface with one long side facing you. Measure along both long sides and mark those points on the vinyl fabric. Snap a chalk line across the vinyl through those two points.

• 2

  Measure along both short sides and mark those points on the vinyl fabric. Snap a chalk line across the vinyl through those two points.

• 3

  Face one of the long sides again and snap diagonal chalk lines from the right corner closest to you to the left corner farthest from you. Repeat for the left corner closest to you and the right corner farthest from you.

• 4

  Center the 4-by-24-by-60-inch piece of memory foam on the vinyl. Lay one of the 24-by-72-inch sheets of 1/2-inch-thick plywood on top of the memory foam, with all corners and sides flush.

• 5

  Load the electric upholstery stapler with 3/8-inch crown, 22/12 staples. Face one of the long sides of the wood and foam on the vinyl.

• 6

  Grasp the vinyl along the long side at the straight chalk line across the center. Pull it up tight against the wood and foam and fold it over the plywood, away from you.

• 7

  Drive a staple across that center line through the vinyl and into the plywood. Use a tack hammer to pound it flat if necessary. Turn the vinyl, plywood and foam around so that you are facing the other long side and repeat steps 4 through 6.

• 8

  Pull the vinyl up and over the foam and plywood, beginning at the center on the long side facing you and working your way to the right end and drive a staple through every 2 inches. Repeat to work your way from the center to the left end.

• 9

  Face the other long side and repeat, working from the center to the right end, then from the center to the left end, driving staples every 2 inches.

• 10

  Face one short end, pull the vinyl up over the foam and plywood and drive a staple at the center line. Face the other short side and repeat.

• 11

  Drive staples every 2 inches from the center to the right and then from the center to the left at each end of the banquette top.

• 12

  Pull the fabric out from each corner on the diagonal chalk lines. Fold in each side and pull the corner up and over the foam and plywood.

• 13

  Staple once as close to the corner as possible and then twice more 1/2 inch apart, going along the diagonal chalk lines toward the center of the bench top. Set the banquette top aside.

Build the Banquette Base

• 14

  Face two of the 23-by-23-inch sheets of 1/2-inch plywood. Position L-shaped shelf supports with one leg pointing toward you and one leg pointing toward the ceiling, flush with the 1/2-inch edge of the plywood, at each of the two corners farthest from you.

• 15

  Secure the supports to the plywood using 1/8-inch thread diameter, 1/2-inch-long wood screws. Attach two additional shelf supports, 6 inches apart, between the first two.

• 16

  Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the 23-by-23-inch sheets of 1-inch plywood.

• 17

  Lay the banquette top vinyl-side down. Position the 1/2-inch plywood sheets on their 1/2-inch edges, with the horizontal legs of the shelf supports facing the banquette top.

• 18

  Adjust the positions of the plywood sheets until the smooth, 23-by-23-inch sides are flush with the short ends of the banquette top. Secure the side pieces to the banquette top using 1/8-inch thread diameter, 1/2-inch-long wood screws.

• 19

  Lay the remaining two 24-by-72-inch sheets of 1/2-inch plywood with one of their long sides facing you. Snap a chalk line across the short sides, 1/2 inch from each end of each board. Snap two additional chalk lines 23 1/2 inches from each end.

• 20

  Lay the banquette top vinyl-side down, with the 23-inch sides pieces pointing toward the ceiling. Position one of the remaining two sheets of 24-by-72-inch sheets plywood chalk-side-down on top of the 23-inch sides, with all edges and corners flush.

• 21

  Using a 1/16-inch diameter bit, drill pilot holes every 2 inches along the 23-inch sides of the banquette frame, 1/4 inch from each end. Countersink the holes, which means drill at a 90-degree angle, with the point of the countersink bit in the pilot hole, to make a cavity that will fit the heads of the screws. Secure the banquette bottom to the banquette sides.

• 22

  Center the 23-by-23-inch pieces of 1-inch-think plywood on the remaining chalk lines on the banquette bottom to create your banquette center supports. Make sure the horizontal legs of the L-shaped shelf supports rest on the banquette top and point toward the shelf supports on the right and left ends of the banquette frame.

• 23

  Secure the banquette center supports to the upholstered banquette top using 1/8-inch thread diameter, 1/2-inch-long wood screws.

• 24

  Turn the banquette vinyl-side up. Place the remaining 24-by-72-inch sheet of plywood chalk-side-in to create the back of the banquette. Drill holes as in Step 8 and secure the back to the banquette.

Build the Drawers

• 25

  Lay all nine of the remaining 23-by-23-inch pieces of 1/2-inch plywood side by side, with the grain running left to right as you face each piece. Use a carpenter's square to verify that all corners make 90-degree angles. Cut new pieces if they do not.

• 26

  Use a router to cut a 1/4-inch-wide dado across each piece from left to right, 1/4 inch from the edge closest to you. A dado is a groove cut along one board so that it will hold another board, shelf-style.

• 27

  Set the marking gauge to a 1/2-inch depth. Set the gauge against the 1/2-inch edge of the right side of six of the pieces of 23-by-23-inch plywood. Scribe the shoulder depth for your dovetails along that side, across the 1/2-inch edges and back around the other side. Set those pieces aside.

• 28

  Scribe the remaining three 23-by-23-inch pieces at both the right and the left ends. Secure the first of those three boards in a bench vise with one of the shoulder lines scribed on the board even with the surface of the bench.

• 29

  Mark lines across the 1/2-inch edge of the wood, every 1 inch, at a 90-degree angle to the 23-inch face of the wood, using a carpenter's pencil. Position a dovetail saw on the first line.

• 30

  Angle the saw 60 degrees to the right and cut until your reach the shoulder line. Move the saw to the third line and repeat. Continue until you cut through every odd-numbered line.

• 31

  Position the dovetail saw on the second line. Angle the saw 60 degrees to the left and cut until your reach the shoulder line. Move the saw to the fourth line and repeat. Continue until you cut through every even-numbered line.

• 32

  Repeat for both ends of all three boards. Label one dovetailed end of each board A and the other end B. Place the flat edge of a 1-inch-wide, single-bevel wood chisel on one of the lines between each dovetail cut, with the beveled edge facing the end of the board.

• 33

  Strike the end of the chisel with a wooden mallet to cut into the board and remove the waste portion of each dovetail. Repeat for both ends of each of the three boards.

• 34

  Lay three of the remaining six boards with the scribed end facing away from you and the dado running along the right side of the board. Label those three boards A. Lay the remaining three boards with the dado running along the left side and label them B.

• 35

  Place one of the A boards in the bench vise, with the dado facing away from you on the right side of the board. Lay the A end of one of the dovetailed boards on the bench with the dovetailed end facing you and the dado facing the bench surface.

• 36

  Match the dado facing the bench with the dado on the board in the vise. Square the edge of the board facing the bench with the outer face of the board in the vise.

• 37

  Use a sharp art scalpel to scribe the lines of the dovetails onto the end of the board in the vise and set the dovetailed board aside. Hold the dovetail saw at a 90-degree angle to the board in the vise and cut the dovetail pins.

• 38

  Use a coping saw to cut along the lines for the dovetail pins. Position the flat side of your chisel at the base of each dovetail pin with the bevel facing the end of the board. Strike the chisel with a wooden mallet to square the base of each pin.

• 39

  Repeat cutting dovetail pins into all A boards. Repeat steps 11 through 14 with all the B boards.

• 40

  Fit A dovetail pins into A dovetails, and B dovetail pins into B dovetails, with the A and B dados running along the bottom of each board, facing each other and facing you. Tap the dovetails with a wooden mallet to ensure that they create 90-degree corners.

• 41

  Slide a 23-by-23-inch sheet of 1/4-inch plywood into the dados to create your three drawers, with the fronts missing. Push the open-fronted drawers into their correct spaces in the banquette.

• 42

  Place a 24-by-24-inch sheet of 1/2-inch plywood against the front of the first drawer, with the left edge flush along the left end of the banquette. Drill 1/16-inch diameter pilot holes through the drawer front every 2 inches, 1/4 inch from the left side of the drawer, which is also 3/4 inches from the left side of the banquette.

• 43

  Drill 1/16-inch diameter pilot holes through the drawer front every 2 inches, 1/4 inch from the right side of the drawer, which is also 3/4 inches from the left center support of the banquette.

• 44

  Countersink all holes and secure the first drawer front to the first drawer using 1/8-inch thread diameter, 1-inch-long wood screws. Repeat steps 18 through 20 for each drawer.

• 45

  Sand and finish the remaining wood portions of the banquette as desired.