How A Little DIY Turned My So-So Nightstands Into So Spectacular

I present to you Extreme Makeover, The Hand-Me-Down-Furniture Edition. Back in the day, I once wished for a brand new, modern bedroom furniture set...like the ones you see in the Sunday paper ads. Our bedroom set consists of a set of nightstands and a dresser that was given to us by two different relatives but from the same era, the 1950's. I'm so glad I came to my senses and realized what a little gem I had. Little did I know that I would fall in love with all things vintage.

Source

Our bedroom set was once a mismatched set. The nightstands were yellow, trimmed with gold detail and the dresser was avocado green. I don't have any pictures of the set when we first inherited it. That was before I knew what a blog was.

This is the dresser from my master bedroom in progress post.

Back in 2006, I painstakingly painted the set black and added new hardware. I made the mistake of not protecting my paint with a coat of polyurethane, so after years of setting glasses of water on the nightstands, the veneer underneath had gotten warped. Instead of trying to repair the damaged veneer, I decided to cover it with mirror.

The supplies I used were:

1. 1/2" trim molding

2. Liquid Nails

3. Wood Filler

4. 5/8" Wire Brad Nails 

6. 1/8" mirror (you won't know these dimensions until the trim is added) 

 7. Other: sandpaper, hammer, miter saw box, primer, paint, nail countersinker

In retrospect, I wish I had used flat trim instead of the fluted trim. It would have been easier to fill the nail holes and it would have collected less dust. Live and learn (from my mistakes).

Steps to trim out the top of your furniture:

Cut the trim at 45 degree angles to frame out the top your nightstand with the miter box or chop saw. I pre-primed the underside of the trim before nailing it down just in case any water spills happen later on. Adhere the trim with a small amount of Liquid Nails (or wood glue) and the brad nails. Countersink the nails and fill with wood filler. Once the filler dries, sand, prime and paint the trim. Now that the trim is adhered, you have the dimensions for your mirror to be cut at either a local glass shop or home improvement store. You can also find mirror at places like Habitat for Humanity or Craigslist that can be cut down for you. Make sure the glass cutter sands down the sharp edges and supplies you with clear plastic furniture protectors to keep the mirror from sticking to your furniture. 

I've also painted the nightstands white, changed out the knobs to bin pulls and added caster wheels. The caster wheels were $3.25 each, but added a much needed two inches in height so they are more in proportion to the height of the bed.

The bin pulls were once on our kitchen drawers but I stripped the white paint off and repainted them with hammered dark bronze spray paint to match the dresser's knobs. The left over (unpainted) bin pulls found a home at the bottom of my jewelry holder.

Burlap and Crystal Framed Jewelry Holder Tutorial



Thank goodness for generous relatives and for wishes that don't come true!

I'm linking this up to some of my favorite blogs, such as:

Funky Junk Interiors
Tater Tots and Jello
Home Stories A to Z
Common Ground
Simply Designing