Nightstand glue up

Hi all,

I hope everyone is safe and healthy in these scary times.

I’m building a couple night stands here modeled after this one from Design Within Reach. I’ve built the carcass and the drawer box. Holding up on glue for the whole thing because of all the slats that make the “lines.”

Any thoughts on assembly for those? I thought about dados in the receiving pieces, but DWR didn’t use them and I don’t feel confident that the walnut plywood won’t tear out in the process.

Now, I plan to cut to rough length, then sneak up on a perfect fit with one, cut them all to that length, and glue them directly to the side of the cabinet using spacers between each slat to keep spacing consistent. Planning to use cauls for clamping pressure across the length of the slats. I know I’ll need to be really careful with squeeze out. Anything I’m not thinking of? Better ideas for finishing this up?

Thanks everyone!!

https://s3.amazonaws.com/vs-lumberjocks.com/q76s8at.jpg!