This was my bedroom in December
I absolutely LOVE our bed frame that we bought a few years ago...but otherwise, our room has needed some major TLC. That poor nightstand was mine when I was single.. purchased about 9 years ago from Walmart. Its been painted twice and has water damage all over the top.
Since our budget for home decorating is slim to none, our master bedroom has gone on the back burner... since nobody ever sees it. But i have wanted a nice bedding set for a really long time.
When Christmas started drawing near I started making my usual list of super expensive items since im high maintenance like that... On the top of the list was this 60% off bedding set from Martha Stewart:
Don't you LOVE LOVE LOVE??
Christmas morning came and there it was!! My husband is the BEST!!
Next I wanted a set of nightstands that looked nice in our room, but came to realize that nightstands under $100/each were difficult to find. OUCH! Looks like I am going to have to learn how to paint furniture. I found some very helpful information from here, here, and here.
Since Christmas, I have been stalking Craigslist looking for a set of nightstands that I could re-finish. Solid wood. Matching. Decent size. Cheap or free. In perfect working order.
Last week I found 2 of these. $15 bucks. Ugliest color ever, but they were perfect.
Within a few hours I had this:
Lowes or Home Depot will have everything you need to do this project!
Total cost (including a sanding block and paint that I will use again!) was $46 for 2 nightstands.. Score!!
Dent and scratch repair: If your old furniture has obvious dings or deep scratches, use 3M brand paintable/stainable wood filler. This will make your surface look next to new when its done!
Sanding: If your furniture has been painted previously you will need to sand it. Use 220 grit sandpaper and lightly scuff the whole surface. I bought a sanding sponge. It was $3, and it washable/reusable. Wipe the sanded surface clean with a soft cloth.
Primer: Priming (I have read) is a very necessary step if you have pre-painted/stained/sealed furniture. I talked with the paint specialist at Home Depot and they recommended a Paint+Primer option. No priming is required because there is primer in the paint. After sanding, just paint your surface. This cuts your work in half!
Paint: I went to Home Depot with one of my throw pillows and found a dead match! Guava Jam from Behr in semi gloss. A quart of Paint+Primer cost me $15, and I only used 1/4 of it total for both nightstands. You will have plenty left over for another proejct.. woot woot! (Make sure you get a semi-gloss or gloss if you are painting furniture. It helps with durability and protects against dings and water damage). If they dont have your exact color, did you know that they will make it? Just take a sample with you and they do the rest.
Brush: Make sure you use a soft-bristled brush that does not shed (quite a few of them do). Its worth a dollar or two extra to get a nice brush that you will use again and again. Mine was $5.
Hardware: If you need new hardware for your furniture, you can get them at Home Depot, Lowes, or even Walmart, Target, and many department stores have a wide selection. You can find some really beautiful options ranging from $1-8/ea. There were some that I liked that were in the 2 dollar range, but I absolutely fell in love with these. $4/ea was well worth it!
I also found some matching mirrors on Craigslist in terriffic shape for $15 for the set. The wood frame matches my bedframe perfectly:
This project was really simple, so dont be intimidated. If you have questions and feel like a dummy, ask a store associate... theyre used to dummies like me :).
If you have questions, leave it in the comments section and I will do my best to respond quickly. You can do it!
