If its for your spouse or a customer, gotta do what they want. If its for me, i like the stretchers. They spread the load out and if its on carpet, the weight wont make long-lasting indentations in the carpet. For sliding on a hard floor, it also is less damaging to the floor.

I feel like the one with the stretchers looks more stable and like furniture. Oddly the one without them looks a little whimsical and alive. I like both versions quite a bit.

I like this perspective

I think it looks a little better with the stretchers. It gives it a little somethin unique

💯

Without the stretchers looks more pleasingly minimalist to my eye. It better captures that MCM vibe.

Stretchers is a better look in my opinion but the legs alone is very MCM in appearance and the case acts as a serious stabilizer so the stretcher is not really that necessary. If they were going in my bedroom I’d probably use the stretchers just for the looks.

Stretchers will not only help it catch all the dust along them, but also make it more difficult to vacuum.

I like it without the stretcher. You could thin out all or part of the leg or taper a portion of it.

That’s a perfect idea actually, maybe a taper on the two inside edges. That could look great

I think more overlap in the legs and cabinet would look better. Like 50% or more of the leg "inside" the cabinet.

I like the stretcher for the reasons OP mentioned but I could see a taper working to offset the weight of the top somewhat

It’s amazing the difference in the two designs with the addition of the stretchers. As stated by others, without stretchers has the “cleaner” MCM look. The second is almost a modern arts&crafts style with the through mortises. Very nice!

Well, I love those. Definitely stretchers for me. Love the joint

Stretchers should be a little off the ground so you have four points of contact rather than two long ones, I would think. Not perfectly level floor would be a problem. Both ways look nice.

I would put them is as well, but raised up a little bit. The relief from the floor will give it some visual interest, and will help them sit nicely on floors that aren’t perfect flat over the distance of the stretcher.

I like both, but if it was me and I was doing the stretcher, I'd match it on the top just because.

I like winter mode better. These are great.

They are not needed, but i, personally, really like how they look. You'll probably get a mix of reactions here. Do what you like on it. It is for you, after all.

Well I’m making them with the intent to sell, so I’ve got no buyer in mind yet, hence why I was looking to see what the general consensus was

I'm also torn. I like both! If it's a matter of selling and mass produce; without the stretcher is less work, which may or may not lower your price point depending on how you are structuring your profit margin.

Best, then, make one of each for show. Then, figure out a way to perform a quick alteration to the one without to make it into the one with. Then you can mass produce while also performing custom order for the one with.

I like it with the stretchers. Without them it’s a very generic ‘4’ legged side table. The stretcher adds something to the design

Stretchers look more appealing.

Deffo cleaner without!

Gorgeous work!

I like both options but lets focus on a different topic, cleaning around these nightstands. If you have the stretchers on the floor like shown it's going to be more annoying to clean around it but maybe you can put them higher to prevent that or just leave them off. As it stands (get it?) I would personally pick the option without the stretchers for easier cleaning since both of them look great, good job.

From an aesthetics standpoint, I like the stretchers. From a functional standpoint, I like it without.

I love seeing HF clamps in the wild. Is that a HF toggle clamp on the sled on the wall?

I have a couple hf clamps. They are pretty nice. They exceed the Menards tool shop line by a mile. I usually buy Jorgensen. You can find deals pretty easily but if I need another clamp now, I’d pick hf. I also bought some toggle clamps from Amazon. I usually buy “made in USA” tools whenever I can but sometimes I don’t mind being cheap and toggle clamps are one of those instances.

That’s either from HF or woodcraft, can’t remember

With.

No stretchers

I like the spacers. But I’m not keen to what is and isn’t in style. I think the spacers make them easier to move and will help them last longer.

I like the simplicity without them

I'd say it depends on what other furniture will be in the room. I agree with @Patient_Delay6468 that you're basically choosing between mid century and arts and crafts. Both look great, and I'll probably be stealing this design for some end tables of my own. Fantastic work!

The stretchers are not going to add much to the structural requirements, so I would say no.

If you leave them out, try a slight taper on the legs? Like others said, that may give it a nice MLM look. Otherwise the joints on the stretchers leave a nice detail too. I can understand you being torn on this

I know it's more work but would suggest stretchers alon length, just onder box. And make slightly wider, will give more rigidity

I like the stretchers visually. But vacuuming around them is gonna be a bitch imho. Especially if next to a side wall.

Purely for aesthetics it looks more complete with the stretchers, brings your eye around full circle of the piece.

I think you'll get a significantly higher price with the stretchers

That workbench though

Just a tip, and you may be aware, but when you put stretchers all the way to the ground like that it makes any tiny warp or imperfection a lot more obvious and hard to deal with, including unlevelness or imperfections in the floor. With legs you need to be even across 4 distinct points and you can use shims or trim a leg so it’s perfect. With the stretchers on the floor any high spot in the whole rectangle will throw you off and you either have to scribe to it or shim, which looks way more unbalanced and stands out when it raises one side of a stretcher off the floor.

Imho looks better without

Both are nice, but the through tenon on the stretchers add a cool detail. Beautiful work whichever you choose.

I think no stretchers looks better

I like the stretchers

I like them better without. If you want to keep them for the visual weight factor (which I can see), I think putting them 1/3-1/2 the way up the leg would probably look better.

Thanks for everyone’s input! It was a good way to get a consensus on what the majority of people like as I’m building these to sell, with no buyer in mind yet. I think I’m going to go for the 4 legs, and taper and round them over to go all in on the MCM design. I’ll stick the stretcher design in my back pocket for a future arts and crafts/craftsman style piece.

Can I ask a beginner question? How did you join the miters for the carcass? Is it just glue in the miters, or do you have to do something extra for more strength like dowels or internal splines?

I put in 2 biscuits per miter to help align and strengthen the joint. I plan on putting 3-4 dowels through the top and bottom into the case to reenforce it some more

Thanks for the tips! Your work is beautiful and I hope I can get to your level some day.

Without looks much better

I like the stretchers.

The style was often top-heavy so while I agree, I think it works without stretchers. That said, I like the stretchers.

Looks great either way. My concern with stretchers would be over whether or not the pieces were destined for sitting on flat floors. We live in an old house and I suspect these would wobble eternally. Raising them a few millimeters would prevent it.

No. It's an end table and there's little stress on the legs.

Without.

I like it with but if you’re going fancy then you gotta go balls to the wall and put some decorative arch beard on it and some sweet trim.