Making a Plywood Box to Store Guest Towels and Napkins (by Mariobrossh)

Looking to add a touch of warmth and craftsmanship to your bathroom or guest area? Building a plywood towel holder for guest hand towels is a simple yet elegant DIY project. This container is designed to neatly hold guest towels and can be customized to match your home’s style. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to make it—from selecting the plywood and cutting the panels, to assembly and finishing. A small project that blends functionality and design.

Introduction

My wife has been after me for a while to make a container for the bathroom to hold small guest towels. So, with some leftover plywood, I finally decided to make this very simple little box.

Sketching the Guest Towel Box Design

For this little project, I also made a small sketch to get the dimensions and proportions right. The design of the trim (the rounded edge at the back of the box) matches the other furniture in the bathroom.

Cutting the Pieces for the Box

I started by cutting all the pieces to the dimensions outlined in the design. I made 45° cuts between the two sides and the front panel. To achieve these cuts, I used the table saw, tilting the circular blade to 45°.

Finishing the Plywood Edges

As I mentioned, I used some pieces of plywood to build the box. Unlike solid wood, plywood has unfinished edges that need to be covered to make them look presentable.
In this case, I used a small strip of ayous wood, which is a fairly light and attractive type of wood. I glued it onto the edges of the two sides and the front panel.

Preparing the Back of the Box with the Rounded Trim

To prepare the back side of the box, the one with the rounded top edge (trim), I first roughly cut it out using a jigsaw. Then, I made a template out of a piece of plywood and used it to shape the edge on the router table with a bearing-guided bit.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of this step, but for anyone interested in understanding how shaping is done with a template and bearing bit, you can check out another article where I used this same method to build the legs of the semi-circular étagère table:
Building a Semi-Circular Etagere Table (or Half-Moon Console) in Chestnut Wood (by Mariobrossh)
I finished the trim edge by covering it with a standard pre-glued edging applied with heat.

Preparing the Grooves to Mount the Bottom of the Box

I made the grooves to insert the bottom of the box using the router table and a circular bit. 

Creating Biscuit Joints

For the joints, I used my trusty biscuit joiner, which quickly and accurately cuts the slots for the biscuits. These biscuits help make the joints between the pieces stronger and more precise..

Gluing and Finishing the Box 

After gluing everything together with vinyl glue and leaving it clamped overnight, I moved on to the finishing process. I applied a coat of walnut-colored stain, followed by a layer of wood filler primer, and finished with a coat of wax-effect finish.
This is the final look of the box.

Final Look of the Assembled and Finished Box

And here is the final result of the project. As you can see, plywood isn't the best material for this type of work, but by hiding the damaged sections and adding edging to cover the plywood edges, the end result is more than satisfactory.

I hope this article has caught your interest and sparked your creativity to make something you needed, just as it did for me.
With that, I'll say goodbye.

Thank you!

Mariobrossh

P.S. If you have any questions, need advice, or simply want to let us know that you enjoyed the article, you can visit the Forum where this article originates and leave a message by following this link:
Scatolina in multistrato
Thank you
Luciano (Capitan Farloc)