Thursday, April 14, 2011

Nightstand Makeover

This is a cute nightstand that I bought at the back door of the Salvation Army.  I know, it sounds like a drug deal but seriously, have you seen the stuff they have out there?  Holy cow, who needs to go in the front door when you can drive-thru the back.


No, this is not how it looked when I bought it; remember I'm still working on taking a before picture.  It's a solid wood nightstand made by Dixie, a furniture company in Charleston, North Carolina.  I'm sure you've seen their pieces; they're usually white with the groovy gold painted trim.  I used to have the whole set when I was little; complete with canopy bed. 

Anyway, I liked the lines of this nightstand and I new I could nix the gold trim and give it some character.  Stripping all the white and gold off of it was not very glamorous or exciting.  I won't bore you with those details; we've all been there.



First I painted this a light green but I found it a little on the pale side.  So I took a darker green, watered it down and wiped it on with a rag.  I was beginning to like what I saw.  This green is pretty vibrant and reminds me of the green on the Princess and the Frog poster.

I did think it was missing something though.  Those ovals at the top of the front legs were screaming, "Do something."  I shouted back, "But, what?"

Without seeing it, my friend Patti suggested I free hand something.  I thought maybe she bumped her head but I was getting desperate.  So I did.  I painted on some flowers, complete with stems and leaves.  Not bad, not bad I say.
A little is good so more must be better, right?  I added some flowers to the front too.



To soften the flowers, I gave it a light sanding with 120 grit sandpaper after it dried.



I even busted out the power tools to mount the pull handle.  Yes, I did.  Me, myself, and I had some bonding time with the old De Walt drill.  I even used a level so you can be sure that handle is straight.



I lined the inside of the drawer with some scrap booking paper.  Pink of course.  In case you couldn't tell, my daughter is really into the pink princess thing.  She's a girly girl and I love that.  Don't mind the pencil scribbles on the left of the drawer; that's abuse from its previous owner.  Nothing but love in my house people.




On the walls, I stenciled those vines and stamped the crown and castle as a border going around her room.  I made the stencil and bought the foam stamps.  I used four different colors and used canned paint (not the creamy stencil paint) because I like a challenge.  Not really but it sounds good.  I recommend doing none of this, but then I saw how excited she got about her girly girl room and I thought, that wasn't so bad.

Update:  I just walked into her room and there was this large, hideous sticker of Dora stuck on the front of the drawer.  I about died.  I couldn't peel that sucker off fast enough.  Dora did put up a bit of a fight though, but I won and into the trash she went.  Sigh.

Kaye

9 comments:

  1. That damn Dora!

    It turned out beautifully! I see big things in your future!

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  2. It looks great and I love the hand painting detail. As for Dora, been there done that one. Drove me crazy, but I don't say anything any more. My moto is keep it in your room, no stickers in the rest of the house. That works most of the time.

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  3. loves really cute! saw you on shabby chic cottage.

    kathryn
    www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com

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  4. Very Cute! Really nice job on the hand-painted flowers. Perfect for a little girls room (even if she would rather have Dora : )
    (stopping by from Miss MS)

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  5. Wow! You have serious skillz! I really love your blog and I'm so happy to have found it. I'm your newest follower!
    xoxo,
    Kim

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  6. Very nice. Oh and Rebecca is reading that book right now in her book club. Too funny.

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  7. Bad Dora! lol The night stand is beautiful and you are correct about where to find the treasures!
    Linda Marino

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  8. Told you I'd be baaaaaack! :-)

    Simply beautiful transformation!!! :-)

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  9. Did I ever tell you how much I love this table! You're so creative.

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