Changing Table

The inspiration for this project started last summer, when my wife and I found out we were expecting a baby. Fast forward almost nine months (10 days until his due date) and the changing table is finally complete and ready for use!

I designed this changing table to look similar to the many WOOD magazine cribs I’ve seen on this site. (Thank you to all who posted their crib, they were all a big help!) The crib will be my next project followed closely by an end table so I’ll end up with a complete matching set of baby furniture. The changing pad & accessory divider was designed to be removable, so when the kids are grown we can use this as a toy shelf or clothes dresser. When the top divider is removed the only visible holes will be on the bottom of the top surface, from the screws going through the L brackets seen from the back. Follow the intitial stages of the project here and here.

Overall dimensions are 46” wide, 20” deep, and 38” to the top of the flat surface. This piece was built with solid cherry, except for the drawer bottom which is 1/4” plywood. I experimented with using the Beadlock Pro loose tenon system by Rockler for most of the joints, and am now a huge fan of its simplicity and ability to create a sturdy joint. I used the Beadlock Pro to fasten the vertical slats to the horizontal braces, secure the butt joints on the pad & accessory divider, and edge joint the boards used on all three flat surfaces.

I tried to account for wood movement in the three horiziontal surfaces by using pocket screws with an oversize hole in the piece of wood in contact with the screw head. I also left a gap between the two bottom shelves and the front legs.

I finished this project using three coats of the semi-gloss General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, sanding with 220 grit after the first coat and 320 grit after the second coat. All this was after leaving glued-up portions outside in the sun to darken for two days.

Any comments and/or criticism is welcomed. Thanks for looking!

-- Brian