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.

Vintage MCM night stands

I love mid-century furniture.  So clean and chic looking!  I found this lovely pair of nightstands as part of a set (as mentioned in my previous post).  One nightstand was in great shape, the other, not so much.

At first I was just going to refinish in stain and keep them natural, but I love a good two-toned look, so I mixed things up by painting the body in bone-white, and restaining the drawer facings in dark walnut.  The legs were surprisingly in great shape, so I left them alone apart from spot dabbing small blemishes with gel stain.

I think the contrast looks great!  They look like funky little tv screens!

I also have the matching tallboy, and a beautiful matching full length mirror.  They are both in great shape, so for now, they are escaping the paint brush.  But you never know what the future holds!

And below is the original.  The top had the worst of the wear, definitely could not be left as is.

Turquoise End Tables

Ah Turquoise.  My favorite colour.  Sigh.  I was lucky enough to find these guys a couple of days after I found their big sister (see my earlier post).  I finished them in my favorite colour :) and distressed and let some of the wood poke through.

I made a custom chalk paint for these, and finished with clear wax.  It buffed to such a lovely sheen.

Mint bedside tables with Peacock paper

I tried a little something different on these cute nightstands by using modpodge to attach some decorative paper to the front.   The paint is a minty custom mixed using Annie Sloan, and I accented with shades of green and turquoise. 

 I clear waxed everything, but left it low lustre by not overbuffing.  The paper matches the mint, and features little peacock feathers (an idea inspired from Dionne over at THETURQUOISEIRIS).

  I think they turned out pretty neat, and they certainly look great on the dark wood floor.