Nightstand Wars

When you come and stay at my house, you get to stay in my guest bedroom. I happen to think it is a nice room (I know, I'm biased!). But, here is some proof.

Now, no one complains about these accommodations, EXCEPT my sister. Without fail, every time she stays here, she will comment about a lack of a nightstand on the one side of the bed. Now, to help you understand, I have stayed at her house 4 times in the past nine years. First time, I had to keep watching for the cat from hell to pee on my bed and belongings. Who am I kidding, that is every visit. I also believe I slept on an air mattress on the floor. Second time, the cat from hell peed on the papason chair cushion (Pier One chair). So, I slept on a foam mattress pad on the floor. Third time, I brought along an inflatable air mattress. Fourth time, bed, but no nightstand, or at least no room on it! And yes, she complains!!

I do have to give her credit, to remedy the situation, she had a nightstand/end table they no longer needed and thought I should take for my guest bedroom. After measuring the space to ensure it would fit, I brought it with me in December. It was an ugly brownish orange color and all the other furniture was white, so it wasn't going in the guest room without some rehabbing. 

I had started to sand it by hand and quickly learned what a horrific task that was going to be. I quickly added a sander to my Christmas list and waited/hoped to find one under my tree at Christmas. Sure enough, Santa left me one. Since there is a possible visit from my sister in a few weeks, I knew I had better get busy. Could you imagine if she had to stay here without a nightstand after giving me one? Yeah, wouldn't go so well for me!!

I sanded it down, wiped it down with mineral spirits, and primed it twice with some primer I had on hand. Rather than painting with a stark white, I used a creamy white paint that I had on hand too. Looking back, I probably should have used a paint with higher gloss, but I didn't have to pay for this, so it's good. Also, due to the two coats of primer, only one coat of white paint was needed.

The hardware was some weird gold color, so I used some liquid deglosser and spray painted the hardware a satin nickel. At the time, placing the hardware on styrofoam to spray paint so it wouldn't fall over was a good idea. Not so much when the paint mixed with the styrofoam. What a smell!!

Once it dried, I put it back on the night stand and was really happy with it. I had my Great Aunt Ruth's lamp in a closet waiting for a safe place to use and decided the guest room was perfect. And, I didn't have to spend any money! Overall, I think this looks good and now this room is complete!

I thought about decorating the nightstand more, but knowing a mom and infant will be staying there, I decided against it! Let's face it, every gidget, gadget, and gizmo known to man kind will be invading soon, so less is more!