From one nightstand! (chill, it's seriously just a piece of furniture)

We’ve all spent hours scrolling through Pinterest, pinning a million things to deliberately named boards for easy access once the stars align. As most mothers/wives/adults can attest, the stars rarely align and if they do we’d rather sit on the couch and drink a cup of coffee (to tide you over until bedtime) or a glass of wine (don’t kid yourself, we deserve it) in silence than tackle that “trash to class” refab (Refab? Refab?? That's not a word is it? Well it should be, it's like rehab but fabulous) that we’ve been planning in our head since last November. I personally have had a nightstand sitting in the corner of my garage (I’m lying it was on my back porch because I’m that classy) for the past year and a half just waiting for the stars to align so I could become the Super mom/Martha Stewart that I know I am deep inside. And I do mean deep inside, deep, deep, deep, deep beneath all of the unfunny Tina Fey and somewhat accurate Honey Boo Boo.

 

My husband refused to allow regular, metal dog crates in our living room because that offended his delicate sensibilities or perhaps along with the piles of laundry on the loveseat, toys from the kids strewn about next to whatever else the toddlers were able to rip down and destroy, crates were the line in the sand.

So I bought an overpriced, wooden dog crate/end table for the living room like the obliging domestic goddess that I am.

While it looked nice it was not built very sturdily which meant it never stood a chance in my home. Within a week my oldest daughter tried to ride the door as if it were a cattle gate, snapping the dainty hinges clean off. I dutifully slid the door between the couch and crate so I could fix it later and obviously “later” never came.  My toddler, who is part spider monkey used it as a jungle gym and it actually held up much longer than expected but when it finally gave out, it did so with flare! Instead of the roof just flopping down on one side or a wall splitting, it happened just like in the cartoons. The entire roof went slamming down to the floor, both sides collapsed in on top of my horrified toddler (that’s what she gets) and the lamp came crashing down as a plum of dog hair and dander poofed up into the air. Much to my dismay said toddler did not stay horrified but leaped up, covered in dog hair and dirt and said “Mommy, see dat? See dat, mommy? See dat!?” then belly laughed like she had just lasted 8 seconds on some prize bull. **sigh** After a hard fought battle, having fought the good fight, my posh dog box finally met its demise at the hands of Poppy the Destroyer, a worthy adversary. So to Pinterest I went and finally found a use for the nightstand I’d been saving for just such occasion! Ha, husband who thinks I’m a hoarder! I knew that perfectly good nightstand would come in handy one day!

 

There were a multitude of helpful articles but since I can’t be bothered to read long explanations/directions because they’re too boring and I generally operate on the principle of “I’ve got it”. Were that not true and had I throughly read first, thing may have been easier but we’ll never know because I’m still not going to go read it and I think it turned out pretty great! I had a older, scratched up solid wood night stand that I turned into a dog bed/end table then used the drawers to make hanging shelves.

 

The picture to the left isn't the exact nightstand but it's very similar. I forgot to take before pictures. The picture below is the finished product.

First, I removed the drawers from the nightstand and set them to the side. I then sawed the middle beam that provided support for the rail for the top shelf in half and removed it along with the rail that was screwed into the back of the nightstand. It’s important to not just beat it with a hammer (like I may or may not have initially tried to do) because since it’s a nice solid wood piece of furniture that middle beam isn’t just stapled in there but is held in place with a thick dowel  on either side so it remains sturdy. Sawing it in half first makes it much easier to access the situation and remove it cleanly, as my husband made clear when he removed the hammer from my hand. Once I had it gutted I sanded the outside down just enough to rough it up so the paint will stick. If you’re a part time crafter like me you already have a bunch of these supplies around such as sandpaper, paint, brushes etc. I then wiped it clean with a damp cloth to remove any dirt and wood shavings. I used a light purple satin paint that I already had as a base coat. Once it dried I applied a very light teal/blue color over the top. Both dried nicely so I didn’t need a third coat. Lastly I took my sandpaper and hit up the edges and a few spots that might be worn if it was used daily. It sanded in places just enough for the purple to show through and in others all the way to the wood which also looked nice. I am a layman so there may be a better way but I recommend sanding by hand because my sander leaves swirl patterns all over the paint and even with light grade sand paper cuts through the paint and down to the wood too quickly. You only need a light sanding to get though the paint. After I was finished I decided I wanted the inside to look nicer so I taped off the edges around the opening and spray painted it a matching light purple color. Boom. Done and done. If I wouldn’t have had to wait for the paint to dry it would have taken me less than an hour start to finish. Easy day. Soooo back to Pinterest I went because I now had some nice drawers that my inner hoarder wouldn’t let me just toss.

 

I landed on turning them into hanging shelves. First I went to Home Depot and bought a pack of D-ring for like $2 then hit up Joann’s and bought a cute piece of burlap but any material or even scrapbook paper would have worked. I used burlap because the print was super cute and it was on sale 50% off $9.99 a yard and I only needed half a yard. (When you go to a store like Joann's always, always, always go to their website on your phone and look for their coupons, there are usually great ones!) Once back home I used a screwdriver to put the D-rings on, they went in with a little pressure, I didn’t even need to use a drill. Then I removed the hardware with a screwdriver, lightly sanded the outside, painted them with the two colors in the same manner as before, sanded the points and put the hardware back on. I took 4 sheets of paper, laid them in the bottom of the drawer, making sure the entire bottom was covered to make a template for my burlap. I took that, laid it on the burlap and cut it out making sure to add about a quarter inch to account for any errors. I tested it in the bottom of the drawer and found that it would be nearly perfect (thanks to that quarter inch margin of error). From another project I had some spray adhesive that I found at the Dollar Tree for a buck so I generously sprayed it on the bottom of the drawer, making sure to get a good amount in and around the edges. I then laid the burlap in and used some small paint cans and a flower pot to hold it in place as it dried. Boom. Done. It was absolutely easy and incredibly cute!!!