This is a blanket chest that I built as combined Christmas gift for my friends Allison Mortimer & Tina Silvestri. This is built out of Ash and Red Oak on the outside with Aromatic Cedar lining. I used a box finger joint for the corners with hand mitered corners for the edge top (a pain in the neck to get right as I remember).

The Design: This came about from something I saw in a magazine and in Pottery Barn merging together while I was trying to figure out what to get the girls for Christmas. As usual, I missed the deadline but it eventually got there (mid '90s sometime). The interesting things about this piece I think is that I did not glue the piece up in anyway. Instead I used mechanical fastening in the joints as well as internal bracing. I wanted to let the interior breathe to some extent if clothes or bedding was put inside - hopefully so things wouldn't get musty. Additionally, I used invisible European hinges designed for kitchen cabinets in the top. The top hinges about 3 inches from the edge which allows the top to be raised even if the piece is pushed directly up against a wall or bed (something that has always annoyed me about traditional designs).

I cannot remember much about building this as far as the tools go. I think I used a saber saw, power drill (both Bosch) and my Record Jack Plane. One thing to note - this is an extremely heavy piece of furniture - about 50 LBS empty (Allison now is the owner and she tends to keep magazines inside, which raises the density/weight up into the class of a small moon :)