Easy DIY Nightstands

*Note: somehow the photos for this post were deleted from both my computer and blog – bear with me, I’m searching for them!! :( 

When we moved to Las Vegas, we had a surprising amount of stuff. I emphasize the word “stuff” because it was just that – stuff B and I both had from our individual previous homes, but most of it wasn’t really OUR stuff. Since then, we have been having fun shopping for our home and picking out things that we both love. I am a firm believer that the items you fill your home with should be the things that you love or things that have meaning to you.

Needless to say, we lived without nightstands in our bedroom for about four months because we couldn’t find exactly what we wanted. I started looking around on Pinterest and discovered the Ikea Rast 3 drawer chest – it’s just $35 and comes unfinished! Perfect for customizing it to your own home.

I ordered two, and while I not-so-patiently awaited their arrival, I thought about the various ways we could paint/stain/wallpaper them. But, in the end, we decided to go with a simple dark brown stain and antique brass drawer pulls. It’s not an excellent quality piece (what do you expect for $35?) but I love the way they turned out and they look perfect in our room.

This is the stain we chose:

We ended up not using the wood conditioner – I didn’t think we needed it since the nightstands arrived ready to go.

 

When we first brushed it on, I was a little worried – it looked exactly like paint, not like a stain. 
BUT, after we wiped the stain with a clean cloth (make sure to use one you can throw away – the word “stain” is no joke!), it came out like this!

We let the stain dry according to the directions on the can, and then did a second coat and let it dry once more. Then, we used a spray-on polyurethane to help seal the stain (one similar to this).

I could barely stand to wait any longer, but made sure to let them dry for about two days just to make sure that the stain was 100% dry.

 

I love how they turned out! I think they add the perfect touch to our room. I’m thinking about putting a custom piece of glass on top of each one, to protect them just a little more from water glass-rings, etc.

Let me know if you try this out – I love to see all of the creative ways people finish these. : )

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