How to Make Over Ugly Free Nightstands With Paint!

I got these two nightstands from my neighbor for free. He posted them in our neighborhood Facebook group. What was I supposed to do, not take free nightstands? Besides, I was craving a new painting project…

One has the drawer on the top and one on the bottom. They are also slightly different sizes. So I decided not to paint them to match. Instead, I’m taking this opportunity to work with a little color, which is something I don’t usually do with paint projects for my house.

So for one I decided to do a slick black with a bright teal on the inset area. The other is an off-white with a bright purple in the inset area. I’m working with DecoArt paints today, as always, and although I regularly work for them, this project is not sponsored. 🙂

Supplies

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DecoArt Americana Decor Satin Enamels Classic Black
DecoArt Americana Decor Satin Enamels True Teal
DecoArt Americana Decor Satin Enamels Soft Linen
DecoArt Americana Decor Indoor/Outdoor in Pansy
Wooster angled brush and small paint roller
FrogTape

First, as with every painted furniture project, I removed the drawers and hardware. Then I wiped down everything with a wet rag and let it dry.

For the first nightstand, I put two coats of Classic Black on everything but the inset area. I always use a mixture of a brush and small roller for different parts of the process. Also, sometimes a roller is just faster and easier on bigger spaces like table tops and the sides of nightstands or shelving units.

Once the black was completely dry, I taped off the areas that bumped up against the unpainted parts and put two coats of True Teal on the inset. I added a simple new drawer pull to give the piece a more updated look, and that’s it!

painted nightstand using black and teal paint

For the other one…

I did three coats of Soft Linen on the outside and then two coats of Pansy on the interior. I decided to keep the hardware on this one because it wasn’t in bad shape.

painting a wooden nightstand light gray and purple

painted wooden nightstand light gray and purple

As always, it’s amazing how much of a difference a few coats of paint can make! Now to find homes for these bad boys.