Building a Nightmare Before Christmas Litter Box Credenza

My Spookiest Woodworking Project Yet

When a client approached me about building furniture to hide their robot litter box, I figured it would be a straightforward project. Then they added one small detail: could I make it look like something straight out of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Challenge accepted.

Starting with the Right Vibe

I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be your typical credenza. To nail that dark, whimsical aesthetic, I started with rustic, knotty white oak. The natural character of the wood, along with the mission style, would give me a great foundation, but I’d need to take things further.

Here’s the thing—just because you’re building something rustic doesn’t mean you get to be sloppy with your joinery. I still wanted this piece to be structurally sound and built to last, even if it looked like it had been pulled from Halloween Town.

Creating That Distressed Look

After planing the top boards down to thickness, they were way too smooth for what I was going for. So I ran them through the bandsaw, randomly wiggling the boards back and forth while varying my feed rate. This created an uneven, distressed texture that started to capture that eerie feel.

For the glue-up, I did things a bit differently than usual. Normally, I reference my domino joiner off the top face to ensure everything lines up perfectly. But since I’d deliberately distressed that top surface, I referenced off the bottom instead. Any spots that looked too uneven, I’d sand or carve back after the glue dried.

Getting Technical (But Keeping It Fun)

The joinery for this piece was a mix of techniques. Since the panels would sit in grooves, I used tongue-and-groove joints for the mid-dividing rails. The main structure—top rails and side stiles—got the same tongue and groove treatment, which made batch cutting easier, plus I reinforced everything with dominoes for extra strength.

Before cutting any panels to size, I did a complete test fit of all four sides. This let me take hard measurements and calculate for wood movement, which is always crucial when working with solid wood.

Finding Inspiration in the Film

The client wanted a dark, spooky gray finish, so I actually went back and studied scenes from the movie. I found this incredible moonlit scene with a moody gray background and built a custom stain formula around those colors. It was important to capture that exact atmospheric quality.

For the panels, instead of running them through the thickness planer, I resawed them at the bandsaw while varying my speed. I’d speed up, slow down, push the board slightly away from the fence and back—all to create those erratic saw marks that would add to the distressed look.

But I thought it might be too much, too uniform. So I created a “skip-planed” effect by very carefully lowering my planer’s cutter head to just barely kiss the surface, cleaning off only the high spots. The result was perfect—aged and worn, but not overdone.

Adding Those Burton-esque Details

Before the final staining, the client asked for one more touch: curlicues. You know those spiral decorative elements you see throughout the movie on fence posts, walls, and the sleigh? I sketched them onto the wood and sent photos for approval before committing.

Once I got the green light, I carved them in using a handheld die grinder on a flexible shaft—just a cheap one from Amazon, honestly. I’ve been burned by expensive high-end tools that don’t last, so I figured I’d try this budget option. So far, it’s been working great.

The carving was subtle, just deep enough to create a reveal that would stand out once the finish went on.

For the final touch, I deliberately cut some notches into the wood to simulate tear-out and wear, like the piece had been loved and used for years in some spooky realm.

The Assembly Marathon

I approached the glue-up in subassemblies to keep things manageable. The corner posts, which I’d ripped at 45-degree angles, had to be perfectly square—if they were off, the entire case would be off.

With so many moving parts—panels, divider styles and rails, all the various components—I used epoxy for its longer working time. This gave me the breathing room to make adjustments without stress.

One practical choice I made was using plywood for the bottom panel, veneered with white oak. I’m lucky enough to have a veneer bag large enough for full sheets of plywood, which has been a total game-changer. It lets me work around wood movement issues while maintaining the aesthetic I want.

The Final Reveal

Before applying the final finish, I had to mask off all the pre-stained panels—about an hour of tedious work, but absolutely worth it to keep the stain application clean.

After the stain coat, I took everything into the spray booth and applied conversion varnish. Then came the moment of truth: photographing the finished piece and sending it off to the client.

The result? A functional litter box credenza that looks like it could house Jack Skellington’s pet (if he had one). It’s spooky, it’s whimsical, and it proves that even the most utilitarian furniture can become a conversation piece with the right creative vision.

Sometimes the best projects are the ones that push you outside your comfort zone. This one definitely did—and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

This project was built for a Client who needed custom furniture for their Colorado Springs home.

Credenza & Sideboards

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