Friends, I have definitely taken advantage of the extra week in this season’s One Room Challenge! Without the pressure of the reveal this week I was able to relax and take some extra time on my final DIY project for the challenge – our new bedside tables.
Let me give you some history – about seven years ago Chris and I were living in a very small apartment in downtown Toronto with a very small bedroom. I wanted our room to feel more “grown up” so I went to Ikea and bought us matching bedside tables – the Hemnes 2-drawer chest (to be exact). They were small, but functional and matched every piece of furniture we had in our bedroom aka Ikea black-brown.
Fast forward to today and our bedside tables are looking a little rough around the edges. Yes, my bedside table is one with no backing and missing a knob. Full disclosure: I never bothered to put the back on when I assembled it and that knob has been missing for like, five years. Honestly I can’t remember there ever being a knob on my bottom drawer, don’t judge me.
Anyways! With all the changes going on in our bedroom decor for this challenge I figured it was time to give these guys a makeover, not just because the black-brown colour no longer fits with the rest of our room but also because we have way more space now and having a larger bedside table would be really nice.
For this makeover I partnered with the folks at PureBond Plywood who I met at the Haven Conference this past July. Chris and I have used PureBond plywood in a few of our projects (like my recent bedroom storage unit) and love that their products are formaldehyde-free and made in Canada. To complete PureBond provided me with one sheet of 3/4″ red oak plywood and one sheet of 1/4″ aspen plywood which was enough to makeover our two bedside tables.
The first thing I did was completely take apart both bedside tables and cut all the legs off. I used my Kreg pocket hole jig to add three pocket holes to the top and bottom of each of the side panels. p.s. don’t be like me, take the drawer slides off, it will be easier that way.
I then reassembled the frames and, using the new pocket holes, attached them to new bases cut from the 3/4″ plywood. I then attached new side pieces to each unit’s open end.
I used a sander to remove the black finish on the drawer fronts and reveal the solid wood beneath. Honestly, when I was almost done I realized sanding these was probably not the way to go – maybe using a chemical stripper would have worked better and would not have taken as long, but I’d come that far I just kept going.
I measured the back of each unit and cut a pieces of the 1/4″ plywood to create backings. I then cut slightly longer and wider pieces of 3/4″ plywood to make new tops.
I used iron on edge binding (also red oak) on the front edges of the base units and the front and side edges of the tops. This gives it a really professional look and is totally worth it.
With the top off, the base units were primed and painted. While the paint dried, I stained the tops and drawer fronts with some golden pecan wood stain. Because the drawers are a different wood (pine maybe?) the pecan stain looked more yellow, I added some red chestnut to warm them up a bit and while it’s not a prefect match, they’re pretty close.
Once everything was dry, I attached the tops using the pocket holes in the tops of the side panels and added 8″ tapered wood legs (also stained).
I then used my shelf peg jig to add peg holes to the inside of the open half for a shelf. I cut a small shelf for each unit from the 3/4″ plywood and used more iron on edge binding and golden pecan stain to match the top.
The last step was to use some paste wax on all the stained areas for a nice finish and move them into place!
Our new bedside tables in action! The new paint and stain finish fits in perfectly with the rest of our room and the open shelving area is a nice bit of extra storage.
I also added new knobs to the drawers so ALL the drawers have knobs now (so fancy).
I am so excited to share the whole space with you in the final reveal next week. Everything in our room is really coming together – although there is still a pretty big pile of tools at the end of the bed where a loveseat is eventually going to go.. #priorities.
Thanks for following along with my progress! Don’t want to miss the final reveal? Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter to get all the details when it’s live!
Love the One Room Challenge? Check out all the other amazing makeovers being done by the other guest participants on the Calling it Home blog.
Wow those night stands turned out so great!!!! I love that you lined the drawers too, yes I noticed its kind of a lost art these days. Excite to see you reveal next week!!!
Wow those night stands turned out so great!!!! I love that you lined the drawers too, yes I noticed its kind of a lost art these days. Excite to see you reveal next week!!!
OMG! Those night stands are amazing!! I love how you used the IKEA base!
I love the way you transformed the IKEA night stands. They look so good!
Such a good furniture hack! Love how the piece turned out.
What a genius idea! I love the MCM vibe and you would never know those started out as basic side tables!!! I am pinning this for later!
oh wow! This is amazing. I can’t even believe that’s the same bedside table
That is an amazing transformation, they look completely different and fit your bigger space so well!! I can’t wait to see the final reveal next week!!
You are so innovative, Casey! Your great ideas look terrific!
What an excellent hack! So smart and they turned out great!
Well done Casey! So innovative. Look amazing in front of your new wall. Really looking forward to your ‘reveal’.
Such a great hack! They really turned out amazing. That PureBond looks fantastic – and made in Canada too! What a great partnership. ?
Holy cow! This is an incredible transformation! They’re brand new, super cool tables!! If your table makeover is this good, I cannot wait for the reveal ?
Oh my stars! Love the build out! But the show stopper is the way it is finished out. Love that black trim around the drawers. It’s a WOW. Looking forward to the reveal! ~~ Susie from The Chelsea Project
Thanks Susie!!
That’s incredible! Ikea transformations always blow me away. This one is SO creative! Love!
Thank you Lindi! We’re so happy with how they turned out 🙂
I am blown away by this diy. I too had the same cabinets in white and was trying to find a way to make them more midcentury modern and i gave up on them a month ago and gave them to a family member. I could kick myself, if i have seen this idea beforehand this, this would definitely have been my solution, love this, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ashley, I’m glad you like it! Maybe you can get yours back 😉