A Quick Before & After

Here is a quick and easy nightstand re-do I accomplished over the weekend!  My husband has been in need of a proper nightstand for some time.  For awhile an Ikea step stool was filling in, then a little set of plastic drawers that held socks and such.  Neither one looked good or functioned well.  This week one of our neighbors put this little nightstand out on the curb, so I snatched it up!  It had a lot of problems - stickers stuck to the top, weird wood boards nailed to the bottom for some reason I do not understand, and two of the four drawer pulls were missing or broken.  But it was very solid and sturdy, so it came home with me : )

Ultimately I'd like to paint it white and add some pretty new knobs, but that is a project I'm saving for when I have more time and attention to devote to doing it properly.  This weekend I wanted to get the nightstand cleaned up and looking cute.  Step one was a thorough cleaning and sticker removal (my secret for removing stickers is to soak them with olive oil for several minutes before scraping them off).  Step two, I knocked the random wood boards off the legs of the nightstand.  That part was really random - one board was a piece of old trim and one was just a rough piece of wood.  Step three, removal of old hardware.  The old knobs left worn areas on the wood because they had been loose for some time, so I had to cover that up with step four.

Step four included digging up a map of the Grand Canyon (our favorite vacation spot and also the place we spent our honeymooooon) and cutting it into squares to fit each drawer.  I used a little glue on the back of each map section to adhere it to the wood.  This covers up the holes and wear from the old drawer pulls and adds a personal touch to our space.

I love the way it turned out and it was free.  Freeeee!