Two-toned Nightstands

I actually painted these cute little nightstands before the Emerald/Green 9-Drawer, but I was so excited to post about that one (I love the way it looks!) I posted that one first.  These little guys are solid wood and were in great shape when I picked them up.

I went back and forth about what I wanted to do with them.  I knew I wanted a two-toned, but I couldn't figure out what to leave wood and what to paint (off)white.  In the end I kept it simple. I refinished the tops and painted the rest of the piece in white.

First I stripped back the tops and sanded the body and smoothed everything out. I then taped off the underside of the top piece and stained it using a dark walnut / light walnut combo.  After the stain had a chance to dry I primed everything using Zinsser BIN as I was worried about bleedthrough.  I used three coats of my Dulux in an off-white, and finished with a few protective coats of polyacrylic.

Easy peasy, this was a really great small project which I did straight after the China Cabinet that almost did me in (read about it here). Sometimes after you finish a mammoth piece you really need to cool your heels and do something small and textbook.

I filled the holes from the old hardware, and opted to use these contemporary looking gold pulls instead which I have used before (here) and (here). I think they give the piece a nice and chic feel.  I also love the way the wood grain looks with the new finish.