Well, I’m finally finished with the little nightstand makeover…for now. I feel this whole master bedroom has been a challenge that makes me want to stick out my lower lip and pout for awhile. Let me explain.

I want a new bed. Hubs is going to make that I think. He has other projects before that on the list so the wait time is…well, pretty long, I’d say. I want new dressers. We have money already set aside for that purpose (thanks MaMa and PaPa!) but we can’t find anything we like. Boo. I want curtains, but again, not sure what because I can’t seem to find something I like yet. Augh. I want better nightstands. And that one, I finally did something about, at least on my side of the bed.

Here’s how it started (for the stories, check out this post and then this one:

And here’s how it looks now:

Better right? But I’m not finished. I want to stain and seal the top to darken it up a bit and make the contrast of burnt spots to not burnt spots a little less drastic. Then I’d like to seal it to protect it from any middle-of-the-night water spills from when I accidentally knock the glass over as I reach for a quick drink.

(Yes, it’s happened. Yes, I fully believe it may happen again.)

I primed it all with Zinsser Bulls Eye, two coats. Then it got 2 coats of the white paint we used for the trim in the house, Lowe’s Valspar Ultra in Ultra White.

After 24 hours to dry, I sanded down the edges using fine-grit sandpaper to embrace its inner “rustic-ness.”

Because of the burn marks, stains, and dents/bubbles/etc., I knew I needed to go with something that showed, rather than tried to hide, those imperfections.

I even sanded extra on the bubbled up parts of the shelf to help them stand out more.

The reason I’m saying “done for now” though instead of just “in progress” is because I want the stain to match the bed/dresser/etc. and we don’t have those yet so the wait might be awhile.

We’re I’m really getting impatient for a new dresser or two in there. It’s not that I don’t like the one(s) we have (and yes, parents, we’re thankful for them!), it’s just that they aren’t really big enough and I’m anxious to get that room more finished. Right now it just feels “good enough to live in for while.” Which is fine, really. But I’m ready to see some progress. But I guess I already explained this a bit at the beginning of the post.

And it’s not that we’re not trying. We’ve been to several furniture stores in search of the perfect big dresser. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything I love yet. (We’re I’m a bit lot picky.)

So, until then, here’s the view of my side of the bed with the “finished” nightstand:

I love the way the white tones it down and blends better with the room. Plus, once we do have a wooden bed and dresser, it will be one less mis-matchy wood tone competing for attention.

I think I may paint the little drawer a slightly contrasting color, or even stencil it, and probably change the knob to something more spectacular  but again, I’m waiting until I have a better idea of what I want to avoid repainting it later on. Smart right?

You know what would be smarter? Making up my mind!

Until then, though, I’ll be standing strong in the battle of the bedroom design project. And the nightstand will be standing tall, ready and waiting for its final touches.

Also, until then, here’s the view of Hubs’ side of the bed with his cheapo-end-table-turned-nightstand. I’m ready to fix his up as well!

What about you? Feel like you are stuck in a rut with any projects around the house? Have any ideas for where we should find a dresser?