I made a thing.

If I DIY something and don’t blog about it, did it really happen?

Related: I turned to the power of chalk paint once again, and now the beat up old rocking chair on the porch looks brand-spankin’ new.

I’m not here today to talk about chalk paint again though, oh no. This time it’s all about the humble nightstand. Now that both sides of our bed are accessible, we wanted to have a pair of nightstands instead of just the one I use. I couldn’t just go out and but one to match mine, because it came from the seasonal clearance section at Target several years ago. Trying to find another one, or even something that coordinated well, came up with nothing. Shopping for a pair that I liked, could afford, and worked with the lower height of our bed also didn’t work out well. Solution: make ’em myself.

A couple weeks ago I grabbed one of the Home Depot gift cards we received for Christmas and bought a pair of crates, two sets of casters, and a quart of Minwax PolyShades in Honey Satin. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. I gave the crates a quick sanding, two coats of stain (left to dry overnight between coats), and attached the casters to the side-turned-bottom.

Boom.

finished table is finished

This weekend I finally wrapped up Project Dining Table. Well, the top could use a little touching up, but in the meantime it’s done.

I’ve already posted about using chalk paint on the chairs and table base. I stained the seats a lovely chocolately brown several weeks ago, and finally finished the top on Sunday. All the stained bits received a coat or two of polyurethane as well. Unfortunately I did all the work on the table top in the basement, and thanks to the poor lighting down there I failed to notice a few uneven spots. So there may be some light sanding and re-staining in the future. Not the end of the world.

The whole living/dining space feels a lot cozier now that this table is there. The two other chairs are functioning elsewhere in the house, and the leaf will live in the basement until it’s needed.

photo taken in early morning light

photo taken on a cell phone at night with as many lights on as possible. ha

chalk paint is magical

We have a table! The dining set that formerly lived in Kyle and Jenna’s house now lives in ours. There was just one catch: Jenna had begin the process of re-painting it, and I would have to finish the job. Thankfully she still had all her supplies, and I was pleased to discover that my very first furniture DIY would be made much easier with chalk paint.

Jenna’s plan: the table top and chair seats would be stained dark, the chair legs/backs and table base would be painted with yellow chalk paint. Distressing optional. She had stripped and sanded the seats of 4 of the 6 chairs, and two chairs were at various stages of being painted. Upon take-over, I immediately painted the table’s base and followed up with clear wax. Eventually I moved on to the chairs.

The magic of chalk paint is not having to sand off all the old finish, you can just paint right over it. Such a time saver. I’ll have four of the six chairs fully painted and waxed before the party tomorrow night, probably. Progress! Although I doubt I’ll have time to get the seats stained. Meanwhile, I haven’t even started on the table top, and two chairs plus the table’s leaf are sitting in the basement with Citristrip residue that still needs to be removed. Oh well! It’ll all get finished eventually, but at least we’ll have somewhere for people to sit tomorrow.

I already have chalk-painting plans for our dinged up old rocking chair, as well as the $13 TV stand I found at Goodwill last weekend. All in due time.