Dresser-top Valet/Watch Case/Charging Station #1: Planning the Valet Design

That will help you with the dovetails.

As for the rest, it looks fine to me. If the piece is for personal use, I’d say to just don’t worry too much about standard dimensions, just do it the size that works for you.

Regarding the cables I’d put the flocking on a removable back (1/8 ply or, even better, something flexible?) sitting on top of the shelf and cut an opening on the back of the shelf itself that allowed to run the cables and would stay covered when in use.

Burl it sure looks great but it will be very hard to work, maybe try some “easier” wood first.

Looks good to me. The only constructive critizism I have for the design is to consider putting the bigger drawer on the bottom and the smaller one on top. With the bigger drawer on top it tends to look top-heavy.

Feel free to steal some ideas from mine:

-- Happy woodworking! http://www.blakeweber.us

Thanks guys. I forgot about Design. Click. Build. Thanks for the link, Jojo!

Blake, very nice looking valet! The flip up lid is a cool idea and I like how you did the cable running under everything. I may have to do one like that for my wife. Unlike Blake’s design, the electronics will be upright in the area behind the flocked shelf (sort of like Blake’s mail slot). I’m thinking about simply cutting a slot in the back and letting the multiple cables go out behind and down to the wall vs. putting in a power strip which might make the whole thing too deep.

The wood will probably be cherry or walnut. I just used the burl pattern because I had it. I would like to try veneering, but might do that on a smaller project first.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

One thought: on the watch draw, maybe make the dividers shorter so reaching in to get your watch out is easier. To me, it looks like you’re reaching down into a small square opening.

Inside the watch spaces will be a “pillow” (like an oval shaped pad for the watch to go around) that would take up most of the space and cause the dial of the watch to be closer to the top.

I do agree that the spaces may be too large, but would need to do some measuring of the watches to figure out exactly how much room is needed. The overall height of the unit may be adjusted up or down a bit from the sketch. Blake is also correct that the watch drawer needs to go under the smaller drawer. In my original sketch I had both drawers out, but put them into the case to make the image smaller. If you play with the sketchup file you can pull them out entirely (though the knobs might not be grouped with the drawers).

Greg