Before & After: Nightstand

I've been working on my girls' bedroom updates for quite some time now, hampered by cold and then rainy weather which prohibited me from getting outside to do some painting. But with blue skies and warm temps, I have run out of excuses!

My older daughter has chosen a navy, hot pink, white, and gold color scheme for her sophisticated pre-teen bedroom. So far, we've painted the walls, changed out the curtains, purchased a contemporary style desk and pull-out loveseat for sleepovers, added a few accessories, and moved all the "baby" stuff out. That alone was a great improvement, but there were still a few essentials missing. A nightstand, for one.

So I made this for her:

I have to admit, I'm kind of proud of this transformation. You see, this piece started out looking like this:

I originally purchased this secondhand for a couple of bucks, hoping that it would become a repository for the explosion of American Girl doll clothing and accessories that continually threaten to take over our home. Nope. So rather than haul it back to a thrift store, I decided to have a go at transforming it into a nightstand for my daughter.

I painted the body of the piece hot pink (it photographs a little "hotter" than it actually is--a camera upgrade is on the priority list as I have grown tired of constantly apologizing for my poor photos!) and the top is an antique gold.

I used some more of my favorite antique gold Rub n Buff on the new drawer pulls, which were leftover from another project. A little distressing makes them look well-loved.

And finally, to add a little more pizzazz, I "chevroned" (can that please be a word?) the drawers in matching hot pink.

Not bad for a $5 investment, huh? I'm going to share this at Finding Silver Pennies.