Here are a set of dining room buffet plans for a piece we are preparing to build for one of our clients as part of a custom request. There are many ways you can customize this buffet to make it match your own existing furniture, so we do not go into too much detail about the moulding work or the door and drawer construction. Should you have any questions about any of these options, feel free to drop us a note in the comments section and we’ll happily do our best to ensure your project is a success!

Also, please read through all of the steps prior to starting the project.

Tools required

• Saws – table, circular, and miter
  • a dado blade for the table saw comes in handy
• Router
  • straight bits if you don’t have a dado blade for your table saw
  • Panel bit set (I just picked up the Rockler horizontal panel bit set)
• Nail gun
• Drill / driver combo
• Kreg Jig or biscuit joiner
• Tape measure
• Square
• Wood glue
• Wood filler
• Sander and Sand paper
• nails and screws

Materials required

• 2 – 2x4s @ 8′
• 2 – 4×8 sheets of 3/4″ plywood
• 1 – 4×8 sheet of 1/4″ plywood (doors and drawer bottoms)
• 2 – 1×6 @ 8′
• 4 – 1x4s @ 6′
• 2 – 1x2s @ 6′
• 2 – 1x3s @ 6′
• 2 – 3/4″ trim moldings @ 6′ (side detail)
• 1 – 1 1/2″ high moulding @ 6′ (top edges)
• 8 – z-clips
• 4 – door knobs
• 4 – full inset, full wrap hinges
• 2 – magnetic door catches

Step 1: Build the base

The first step in these dining room buffet plans is to build the base. I like to start off with two 2x4s, and rip both edges off so they wind up 2 3/4″ tall instead of the approximate 3 1/2″. This also provides straighter pieces than what you’ll typically find at the big box store.

Once you have your pieces ripped to size, cut them to the dimensions shown in the diagram below and assemble using wood glue and 2 1/2″ wood screws. Remember to pre-drill so as not to split the wood. Take your time in assembling this base, ensuring all of your corners are square as the rest of the buffet will be dependent upon the accuracy of this piece.

Step 2: Cut and add the sides

The sides are simple straight cuts from one of your 4×8 sheets of plywood. Actually, now is a good time to layout all of your plywood cuts and handle them all at once in order to save time and ensure you are allocating your plywood appropriately.

Once you have your sides cut, use wood glue and 2″ wood screws going through the inside of the base and into the plywood. You can also use finish nails through the face of the plywood to help tack it in place temporarily, just remember to keep them below where your molding will be placed later so you don’t have to fill the holes.

Step 3: Build and attach the face frame

The face frame in these dining room buffet plans are made from two 1x4s at 6′, and two 1x2s at 6′. For the 19 1/2″ and 6 1/2″ center posts, you’ll also need to rip the 1×2 stock down to 1″ x 3/4″.

Use wood glue and either biscuits or pocket screws at each joint, ensuring all connections are square. Once you have the face frame assembled, use wood glue and finish nails to connect it to the base and side panels.

Step 4: Cut and insert the floor

The floor for this piece is a simple 43″ x 13 3/4″ piece of the 3/4″ plywood. Use wood glue on the tops of all of the boards of the base, and simply lay the floor down, pressing to ensure it is firmly seated. You can add a few finish nails in the corners to tack it into place while the glue dries. Once the wood glue dries, it should be more than strong enough to hold the floor in place.

Step 5: Add drawer supports, drawer guides, and back

Since the drawers in these dining room buffet plans are relatively small, and since they were see relatively infrequent usage, we’re not adding metal drawer slides. We’re using simple wooden drawer supports and guides to prevent the drawers from binding as they are pooled in and out. Add a little wax to the supports and the drawers shouldn’t have any problem sliding in and out even when loaded down.

Each drawer support is cut from a 1×4 at 13 3/4″ in length. Use wood glue and pocket hole screws or biscuits to attach to the face frame and back panel (which we’ll also install in this step).

The drawer guides are pieces of 1×2 ripped down to 1″ in width and cut to the same 13 3/4″ length. Glue and nail these in place to align with the edges of the face frame openings for the drawers.

The back panel is also made from the 3/4″ plywood, cut to 44 1/2″ x 32 1/2″. Use wood glue and finish nails to attach this to the sides and base, again ensuring the entire piece remains square.

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Step 6: Add side moldings

To make our side moldings, we are starting with the 1×4 stock and ripping it into 1″ wide pieces and a 2″ wide piece as follows:

• 4 – 1″ @ 30 1/2″ (sides)
• 2 – 1″ @ 13 1/4″ (tops)
• 2 – 2″ @ 15 1/4″ (bottoms)

These pieces will be attached flushed to the sides, tops, and bottoms using wood glue and finish nails. These nail holes will need to be filled and sanded later.

Now use 3/4″ thick trim molding of your choice and miters to fill in around the inside. Two pieces will be cut with the long edges at 13 1/4″, and two pieces will be cut with the long edges at 27 1/2″. Use wood glue and finish nails to secure these pieces as well.

Step 7: Add front fascia and moulding

In these dining room buffet plans, we’ll show you how to create a decorate front fascia out of flat stock. However, you can also use actual cabinet pilasters or half round mouldings to give your piece a slightly fancier look.

Each fascia in our design consists of three components; a top, middle, and base. The top is a 5″ piece of 1×4, the middle is a 21 1/2″ piece of 1×3, and the base is a 6″ piece of 1×4. Simply wood glue and finish nail these pieces in place.

Fill the span between the left and right base with a piece of 3 1/2″ high moulding using wood glue and finish nails.

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Step 8: Build and attach the top

We’re going to build out table top out of two pieces of 3/4″ plywood, cut to 46″ x 16 1/4″ each, then glued together (ensuring all of the edges are square and aligned) to make a single piece 1 1/2″ thick. Once they are together we are adding decorative moulding that is 1 1/2″ high to hide all of the plywood edges. Use wood glue and finish nails to attach the moulding.

To attach the top to the base, you can use pocket screws from inside the cabinet up into the bottom of the top. However, we prefer to use a biscuit jointer to create a small slot near the top of each side wall and then use z-clips loosely screwed into the bottom of the top to allow for expansion and contraction of the wood.

Make certain to align the back edge of the top with the back of the buffet.

Step 9: Add the doors

These dining room buffet plans are drawn up to use full inset doors, each measuring 18 1/8″ wide x 19 3/8″ high. This will leave about a 1/16″ exposure all around the door when set in the face frame.

There are many ways to create doors, and for ours we’re creating a raised panel effect using Rockler’s horizontal panel bit set and a rail and stile construction. Both the rails and stiles should be cut from 1x3s, with the rails being cut to 14 1/2″ in length to allow for a 1/4″ tongue on each end.

The raised panel should be made up of 3 pieces of 1×6 edge glued together and then cut down to size.

Once your doors are built, add the door knob and attach them to the buffet using the full inset, full wrap hinges. Add in the magnetic door catches to ensure they stay closed.

Step 10: Build the drawers

The last pieces left to build are your drawers. There are many tutorials for building drawers out there on the internet, and we’ll be posted a detailed view of how to build this drawer soon. But for these plans, we’re just going to provide the necessary dimensions right now.

Your drawer front should measure 18 1/8″ wide x 6 5/16″ high. This will again allow for a standard 1/16″ exposure all the way around the drawer front. The drawer itself should measure 18″ wide x 13″ deep, with a total height of 6″.

Once you have your drawers built, they should just slide into place.

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And now onto finishing…

At this point your construction is complete, and you are ready to move onto finishing by sanding and either painting or staining. We hope you find these DIY dining room buffet plans useful. Leave us a note in the comments should you have any questions or if you build your own using these plans.

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