Building a Toy Box

Kids hate to pick up their toys. But if you give them this good-looking box to put their playthings in, the battle is half won. Held together by corner braces and strap hinges, it's a simple project that involves no joinery or complex woodworking. You can make it nearly any size you like, using only basic tools.

Step by Step
You'll make most of the box from 1-by-8 and 1-by-10 boards of pine, fir or other dressed softwood, and its bottom from 3/4-inch plywood or particleboard. Check that the boards you buy are reasonably flat and free of large, loose knots. Construction is extra-simple: you just cut the boards to length and assemble them with brackets and hinges. Click on the drawing below, then print it out to serve as a reference.

1. Cut out all pieces. With tape measure, square and a handsaw or circular saw, cut one side and one end from each of two 4-foot 1-by-10s. Cut the lids from a single, six-foot 1-by-8. Cut the bottom out yourself, or have the lumberyard cut it for you.

2. Assemble the pieces. Note the overlaps shown in the drawing: the sides and lids (marked A and C in the enlarged illustration) overlap the ends (B), and the bottom fits inside. Working on a flat surface, screw six corner braces in place on the box bottom, flush with the edges as shown. Next, screw the ends to their braces, then the sides to theirs. Now add the four upper corner braces that attach the sides and ends to each other. Finally, lay the lids in place flush with the ends and sides, and screw the strap hinges in place, orienting them as shown in the drawing. The lids must swing through a three-quarter circle, so they come down flat against the sides, to give your child full access to the box.

4. Final assembly and finishing touches. When the finish is dry, reassemble the box. For extra strength, add wood glue to the joints. To make moving the box easier when it's full of toys, add swivel casters at the corners. Solid-wood runners glued and screwed to the bottom will also work—but you'll want to add furniture glides if your kids will drag the box over a hardwood floor. A pair of rope handles is a great convenience for picking up or moving the box: just drill two 1/2- or 5/8-inch diameter holes in each end, and thread heavy, soft rope through from the outside, tying overhand knots on the inside. You can use a similar detail to make rope handles for the lids. Or make the "handles" as cutouts in the lids, as shown in the illustration. (If you take this route, make the cutouts when you first cut out the lids. Make the straight cutouts with a handsaw and the circular cuts with a jigsaw.)

Simon Watts has been designing and building contemporary furniture since 1962. He has written extensively on woodworking and tools, and his book, Building a Houseful of Furniture, was published by Taunton Press in 1984.