What's inside
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A small cabriole-leg side table is a good first furniture project if you can cut accurately and work patiently. The drawer and curved legs add detail, but neither requires a lathe or specialized machinery. This plan makes a table about 18 inches wide, 14 inches deep, and 24 inches tall, with one shallow drawer. Adjust the dimensions to suit your sofa or reading chair.
Contents
Skill, time, and tools
Allow a weekend for cutting and assembly, plus additional time for glue and finish to dry. You’ll need a saw, drill, clamps, square, tape measure, and a way to sand. A jigsaw is enough to rough out the legs; a bandsaw makes the cuts easier to control. A woodworking bandsaw is useful if you expect to make more curved furniture parts, but it is not worth buying for this table alone. A jigsaw and careful rasp work are a perfectly reasonable lower-cost option.
Use a sharp pencil and make a full-size leg pattern on paper or thin hardboard before cutting. The most common beginner mistake is making four legs that look similar but don’t match. A reusable template helps keep the curves consistent.
Materials and dimensions
Use straight, dry hardwood for the legs and frame: cherry, maple, ash, or oak all work. Avoid boards with knots in the leg area, since the narrow curved sections are vulnerable to splitting. For a painted table, poplar is a sensible lower-cost choice. For the top and drawer, solid wood is traditional; ¾-inch plywood with a solid-wood edge is also stable and easier to keep flat.
| Part | Suggested size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 18 × 14 × ¾ inches | Solid panel or plywood with edging |
| Legs | 4 × 4 × 24 inches, blank | Cut and shape from straight stock |
| Aprons | Front/back: 2½ × 12 inches; sides: 2½ × 8 inches | Final lengths depend on leg layout |
| Drawer box | About 10 × 8 × 2 inches | Fit to the opening after the frame is assembled |
| Drawer front | About 11½ × 2¾ × ¾ inches | Leave room for an even reveal |
These are starting dimensions, not a substitute for measuring your actual frame. Aim for a finished drawer opening around 11½ inches wide and 2¾ inches high. A small 12-inch drawer-slide set can simplify fitting, but plain wood runners suit a traditional table and avoid metal hardware. Slides need precise, parallel mounting; wooden runners tolerate small adjustments but can bind if the frame twists.
Lay out and cut the cabriole legs
Draw one leg full-size, including the outside profile and a simple knee and ankle. Keep at least ⅝ inch of wood through the narrowest part of the leg. A dramatic curve may look appealing on paper, but an overly thin ankle is weak and difficult to sand cleanly.
Mark the pattern on two adjacent faces of each blank. Cut the side profile first, staying just outside the pencil line. Rotate the blank and cut the second profile. Don’t try to remove the entire waste section in one pass if it makes the saw hard to steer. Refine the curves with a rasp and files, then sand with a firm-backed sanding block so you don’t create hollows. Clamp each leg to the same template or compare the four legs in pairs as you work.
Check that the legs sit flat on a level surface before moving on. If one rocks, mark the long foot and trim or sand it after the frame is assembled rather than shortening a leg by guesswork now.
Build the apron frame
Cut the apron pieces to fit between the legs. The front apron surrounds the drawer opening, so it should be taller than the side aprons if you want the drawer to sit centrally. Join the aprons to the legs with mortise-and-tenon joints for strength. If that is beyond your current skill, use dowels or pocket screws on the inside faces; pocket screws are quicker, but they offer less traditional joinery and must be kept clear of the drawer opening.
Dry-fit the frame before applying glue. Check that it is square by measuring diagonally from corner to corner; the two measurements should match within about ⅛ inch. Clamp the frame without bowing the aprons, then recheck the diagonals. A frame glued out of square usually produces a drawer that sticks, even if the drawer itself is well made.
Make and fit the drawer
Build a plain four-sided drawer box from ½-inch stock, with a ¼-inch plywood bottom set in a groove or attached beneath the sides. The box should be about ⅛ inch narrower than the opening overall, leaving roughly 1⁄16 inch clearance per side. Make it ⅛ to ¼ inch shorter in height than the opening. These small gaps allow for finish and minor seasonal movement.
For wooden runners, attach narrow strips to the inside of the side aprons and wax the contact surfaces after finishing. Fit the drawer box before attaching the decorative front. Plane or sand the runners a little at a time; taking off too much creates a loose drawer that rattles. Center the front in the opening using thin spacers, aiming for a gap of about 1⁄16 inch on each side and along the top and bottom. Screw it to the box from inside.
Attach the top and finish
Fasten the top from underneath with figure-eight fasteners or tabletop buttons. These let a solid-wood top move across its width as humidity changes. Screwing it rigidly through the apron can cause a crack or split. Plywood is more stable, but flexible fasteners are still a good habit.
Sand through 120 and 180 grit, removing glue squeeze-out before it hardens. Ease sharp edges slightly; a tiny round-over feels better in use and reduces finish chipping. Apply a stain or clear finish according to its label, testing it on an offcut first. Cherry darkens naturally, while maple can show blotchy stain; a clear finish is often the simpler choice. Use a water-based polyurethane finish for a clear, low-odor coating, or a penetrating oil if you prefer an easier-to-repair surface. Follow the product’s drying times and keep the drawer out until the finish has cured enough not to stick.