Master Bedroom Nightstand Redo

Good things come to those who wait. And I've been waiting for a long time for a matching set of nightstands for our bedroom. In all the years we've been married, we've never had a matching set, actually. The past few months I've been searching craigslist and thrift stores for the perfect pair. Well, it's surprisingly difficult to find a matching set. There are tons of single nightstands out there, but matching ones? Not so much.

Well, my luck turned around when I found these glorious, hunter green, log cabin-style nightstands. Beautiful, right? They were solid wood and had minor dents and scratches. Did I mention they were solid wood? The drawers were also in good shape (nothing wonky or wobbly). And the best part? They were only $20 each. Yup. They just needed to be made pretty.

I don't have any pictures of the process, but it's pretty easy (you just need to be patient and wait the recommended time between coats of paint, stain and finish). I used wood putty on any dents and then sanded the whole piece. I completely removed the finish and stain on the top portion and just roughed up the rest. I added some trim to the drawers that was left behind by the previous owners of our house (thank you previous owners!).  I filled in any cracks or nail holes with painter's caulk. I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White on the body, and Dark Walnut stain on the top. After a few coats of Polyurethane, they're good to go. I also lightly sanded inbetween coats of paint, stain, and Poly to get a nice smooth finish. I bought simple oil rubbed bronze pulls to replace the old wooden ones. Now I just need to move them into their new home: my bedroom!

Happy thrifting and DIYing!

Shabby Chic Baby Bench

Lately I have been fascinated with do-it-yourself photo props and backdrops.  Since I dabble a bit in photography and have a couple of upcoming sessions, I thought I'd try my hand at a few of my own photo props.

Flickr is full of gorgeous photos of babies asleep in doll-sized beds, and they are darling!  I wondered how hard it would be to make my own.  But I thought, for practicality's sake, it should probably be something that I'll use for purposes other than photography.  So I built a bench that is Olivia-sized! 

If I had found this awesome plan before beginning my bench I may have considered it...  but then it would probably just sit in the garage between photo shoots.  As it turns out, my little bench cost me about $11 to make so I guess I can't complain.  Maybe someday I'll still build that little bed.  It's super cute.

I started with a section of border fencing I found at Big Lots for $6.  I liked the cute detail on it and thought it would work well for the back of my bench. 

I used some scraps I had laying around for the basic structure (thank goodness for the chop saw and the nail gun!) and built the frame.  I had to buy the wood for the slats which cost me another $5.  A few cuts, screws, nails and wood glue later and I had this.

After filling in the holes and sanding everything down, I painted it white.  I thought about using the paint I had leftover from the play kitchen.  But I decided the bench would be more versatile if I left it white.

I sewed together a little seat cushion from some fabric I already had.  And for a final touch of cuteness, I made a super fun and frilly accent pillow out of old t-shirts (I love re-using stuff!!).

And voila!  Super cute, shabby chic baby bench for photo sessions...

...or whatever!

Happy crafting!