Very Cheap, Very Easy Storage Chest (Ottoman)

I live in a small flat and I needed a place to store my girlfriends ever growing collection of clothes and fabric. The only space left in the flat was at the end of the bed and behind the front door. All the ready made storage chests were a bit to deep and not long enough for this space so I decided to build my own. I wanted to make it quickly, easily and cheaply so I decided to make it from the cheapest wood available. I've often seen gloss painted rough cut timber used in shop interiors and I think it looks great, gives everything a more rustic vibe. 

Step 1: Materials

I have chosen the materials almost entirely based on cost. All the wood for this build cost only £26.00. I designed the whole thing based on my chosen materials. 
I am using:
-10 pieces of Rough Sawn timber 2.4m x 100mm x 19mm 
-4 flush hinges
-32mm screws
-15mm screws
-Chest handles and a locking hasp from eBay
-Some coasters left over from an Ikea thing

In total the materials cost less than £35

p.s. be a bit careful when picking your timber because sometimes the treated stuff can still be a bit damp. 

Step 2: Planning

My Chest has to fit in a relatively small space at the bottom of my bed. Because I'm having to compromise on depth I've decided to make it as long as possible and as tall as the space will allow. 
The dimensions are also based on the length of the wood. I made it the length of half a piece of timber. 
The chest will be 1200mm x 400mm x 300mm 

Step 3: Measure and Cutting

lengths of wood required 
X14 1200mm strips 
X6 400mm strips
X6 300mm strips
X8 262mm strips

This uses almost ALL of the 10 lengths of timber. All that is left over is a couple of small blocks (these are useful whilst painting) and a strips about 600mm long. 

Don't forget to give the wood a quick rub down and perhaps round of the edges of each strip a little. 

Step 4: Screws Each Side Together

I started by screwing together the sides, the base and the lid. One thing worth noting is that Rough Sawn wood isn't always totally uniform which means you may have to space out the cross timbers slightly. Each side is the same simple construction:
3 or 4 long cross timbers and 3 upright supports.

I used the 32mm screws to put the sides together and the smaller screws to attach the casters. 

Step 5:

I attached the base to the front and back sides before squaring the whole thing off and adding the short side strips. 

I used for 4 hinges as the lid is quite long and I wanted to spread it's weight. 

Step 6: Priming and Glossing and Fittings

I decided to use spray primer to fill the little gaps between each pannel. The rough sawn wood really sucks up paint so give it a good few coats of primer. I  didn't use enough primer and ended up having to do LOADS of gloss coats which was stupid. When you get a few good coats of gloss down the rough sawn starts to look brilliant. 

I got the locking hasp and the chest handles from ebay. You don't need these but I think they complete the rustic sort of look. 

I've breezed over quite a few of the details of the design but if you have any questions feel free to ask. 

The last picture shows what I did with the left over bit of wood.