DIY #2: Night Stands

My second project tackled were these old night stands that we inherited from Greg parent's- who bought them at a yard sale. They snatched them up for us and we have used them ever since we got married however with their older looking stain and style I wasn't sure how long we would keep them around...

After pinteresting and looking at blogs I found a DIY blog and it showed how this couple totally refinished their dining room table & chairs. I loved it and followed (most) of the steps they did and although I don't know if our results are THAT comparable.. I really like the way the night stands turned out. I wish I could find the blog I got the idea from but I can't seem to find it anywhere- if I find it- I'll post it!

Long story short, your supposed to sand down the wood- which I kind of did, but in hind sight I wish I would have done a better job with an actual sander to get the full effect I was wanted.

Then I painted it with an off-white paint color and let dry.  I then sanded the edges to resemble normal wear and tear. I then put a couple coats wood stain over it to get the brown coloring. This was the trick part and had to be careful. I just put a tiny bit of stain on an old towel and went over the table in long strokes. It was hard because the grain of the wood took the stain in different directions, but also where i had sanded down the paint for wear and tear affect took on the stain like normal wood and accentuated the desired look. Again, it could have turned out a lot better- if I had used the proper sanding method.

Before: Unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of the "before". I took some at the time with my phone, but have since got a new phone and well- not everything transferred. You know how it goes.

Early in-between stages

FINISHED PRODUCT

These night stands have made such a difference in our bedroom. They look like the actually belong and now we might actually keep them and not get rid of them like I thought we probably would. A DIY success.