diy | desk to nightstand

We are in the middle of re-decorating our master bedroom. After painting and wallpapering (post to come), now it's time to put all the furniture together. I didn't want to spend a small fortune on something from a big box store - it's not something I 'pictured' for this room. I needed to find the perfect nightstand. 

We got rid of our old night stands, which are less than a year old but they just weren't working for me. I wanted to find that perfect piece, the one that just completes the look, makes everything whole. So began my search for the perfect night tables. My search went on, and on, and on. 

Weeks later, and not to mention an annoyed husband that didn't have a nightstand, after I had searched every store, looked online, looked at garage sales - nothing. Couldn't find a nightstand. And then it hit me. I have to think outside of the box. While I was fully prepared to refinish something if I needed to I thought If I'm refinishing it anyway why does it have to be a nightstand already? Why can't I make something into a nightstand? Why can't it be a small dresser, or desk, or shelf?

Game changer, right there. I immediately went online and searched for a second hand item on a local buy/sell/trade website. Bang, I found a desk. Solid wood = sturdy and well made. Some dents and scrapes = putty&sand. Knotty pine = paint it. I was pumped. I immediatly thought, there is only a piece of wood on the top marrying the two sides together. Why not cut it to separate the sides. There - matching night stands. While my husband wasn't as excited as I was I knew he had faith in me as he offered to help. Well, more like I voluntold him. :D

We picked it up for cheap. Brought it home (in the rain! good thing it's made of real wood) measured and cut the sides equal. We took some orbital sanders to it to scuff the polish off. Used some putty to fill in the holes, and one more sanding session. 

Dusted them off and painted them with two coats of antique white malemine paint (Same as our kitchen). Once the paint was dry we installed new hardware. Voila! Now commence nightstand love.

So there you have it folks, sometimes the thing you are searching for may not be as obvious as it seems. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and think outside the box.

When our 3 year old son saw me painting he got so excited and asked if he could help too. I didn't really want him using the melamine paint as it doesn't easily come out off clothes and skin. And I wanted to make sure the finish was as good as it could be... so I had him paint the back. No one sees the back anyway and he had a BLAST helping me paint.