I’ve been thinking about how I should fix up the nightstand and I as pretty sure it would look good in red. Then, yesterday I saw this adorable nightstand at Hobby Lobby that would go great as a nightstand partner in our blue and red bedroom.

However, it was $150 and I knew that was way too much for an impulse buy. After all, Hubs already has a nightstand cheap end table and doesn’t think we need a new one yet. And he’s right, we don’t need one for $150.

Of course, since then, I’ve decided to steer a little away from the red because it looks a little colonial with the color blue that’s on the walls. So, I decided on white instead of red.

In the meantime, my nightstand is in it’s initial transformation stage so it’s time for an update.

I started with a good wipe down to get off as much of the ash as I could. Yes, I already did this before moving it into our apartment last year, but I was pretty sure the black would show through the paint if I didn’t wipe it down as much as could.

I actually got a lot more black off than I figured. 

Then I gave the whole thing a coat of my favorite primer, Zinsser Bulls Eye.

Well, almost all of it. I decided to not prime the top  so I can leave it more rustic and even let the black burn marks show through, kind of like this one:

I’m not sure I’ll leave the drawer blue, but I guess I could. It’s still a work in progress. We’ll see how the mood strikes me when I get it all painted.

I’m not sure how this will look because the surface is a little damaged from the heat with some bubbles and stuff.

In the meantime, here’s what it looks like now:

Here’s to the first painting project of the new year!

What’s going to be your first project this year?