Take one board of quarter-sawn white oak. Mark a drawer layout, including drawer front widths and drawer dividers. Rip the edges. Crosscut the (wider) left-over board to get the drawer dividers and the drawer fronts. Leave the ends, to allow some type of joinery. Glue up the components of the front desk apron. What you now have is an apron that has perfect openings for the drawer fronts.
Presto! The front apron is now ready for the joinery. The drawer fronts will require a little planing, to obtain a nice reveal around the perimeter; and the grain will match the apron almost perfectly.
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