A bedside table; from dirty and drab to shiny and fab
I have a boyfriend. Shhhh, don’t tell Ben. His name is Craig. And he has the coolest list.
Yes, my boy toy is Craigslist.
And several months ago I found a side table for my {other other} boy.
But you probably remember the side table from my Magnetic Chalkboard Message Station.
The chalkboard is still going strong in the ol’ laundry room/mud room, but the side table has finally made it’s way to my son’s room.
Before I moved the table upstairs to it’s new permanent home, I had to give it a makeover. What?!! Would you expect any less from me? 
I sanded down the top and gave it a coat of stain. And once the stain was dry, this is what it looked like.
Those little sanding blocks are great, but when you need an ultra smooth surface it’s really best to get higher than a 60 grit sandpaper. D’oh!
So I brought out my DeWalt baby. And I sanded. And sanded. And sanded. I had to sand off the stain, and then sand more to remove all the deep scratches I carved into the top.
Ewww… but it sure got the job done!
Here he is all sanded nice and smooth. This baby is purring it’s so pretty.
Aaaaand once again, I stained the top. This time, it came out beautifully. But of course I didn’t take any pics of just the top. Go figure.
Next was time to tackle the base of the table. I liked the blue, but I wanted it a bit brighter and lighter.
My new favorite painting toy are these little triangles to prop up items when you paint them. I found them on the paint isle at the home improvement store. Lurve them!
Once it was propped up I gave it a really good cleaning with a Swiffer and a Clorox wipe.
I ended up spraying it with about 3 coats, though I think it would have been fine with just one. I used a beautiful color by Krylon called Oxford Blue.
The last thing I did before I took it up to Travis’s room was to paint just the inside back of the cabinet with some very light gray sample paint I had on hand. I don’t know the color, I’m sorry. But it’s a very light gray.
And there she blows!
I don’t think I’ve ever shown you guys Travis’s room. It’s such a work-in-progress that I just haven’t felt like there was anything photo worthy to even show you. But I will show you his whole unfinished room soon during my House Tour I’ve been doing.
His bed frame I bought on Craigslist about 2 years ago. I just spray painted it with glossy black, but I didn’t do a very good job. I want to get him a new bed though. This one reminds me of Mary Poppins for some reason.
And of course no 9 year old boys room is complete without a few chapter books and some Lego sets!
I think one of my favorite things about the side table are the sides of it. They are beadboard and I just love the look.
He is so happy to have a table next to his bed {finally}. His little drawer is already full of Lego mini figures and trinkets that he likes to play with while he’s suppose to be sleeping.
This was such a simple makeover but makes such a huge impact on a room. And even better, I think I got it for about $10! Score.
Before & After:
Honestly, I don’t know what my favorite part about this table is. Because now that I’m looking at it again, I love that I painted the back a light gray. It makes the Lego set and the books just *pop*.
Have you painted anything lately?
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Welcome to House of Hepworths! HoH is primarily a Home Blog that specializes in DIY projects and renovations, crafts, and decorating. My name is Allison. My family and I live in Austin, Texas. I'm married to Ben and have two children, a 10 year old son and an almost-8 year old daughter. To find out more or to contact me click 
it looks AWESOME!! i have never seen those little triangle things before, how cool are they ~ i’m definitely picking up some of those soon!!!
my husband would be proud ~ i have heard many times how dewalt tools are the best….
oh, and a dewalt…you are hard core!!
Great makeover and $10 bucks….gotta love that. My husband just got me that same sander and I am in LOVE!
I LOVE the bright blue! And I think it was brilliant for you to paint the back of the shelf a lighter color! I hate it when things get lost in a dark cabinet. Now I know the solution
That turned out so cute! I agree the light background was a great idea!
You are incredible! You did all that sanding?! I’m so impressed, and it looks fan-tab-u-lous!
Pretty, pretty! Love the blue. But I do anything to avoid sanding. Ugh! Guess maybe I need a dewalt?!? but a Swiffer – great idea since I can’t find my tack cloth anywhere.
I’ll I’ve been doing lately is painting. Now, that’s not a big surprise to anyone that knows me – but this is stuff for my own house. I have about 6 projects in various stages. Sound familiar? Now with the weather finally, FINALLY, warming up, I think I’ll go start a couple more!
Hi Allison, Love your blog!! I love how the table turned out. I have to ask you a question……when you redo a piece of furniture, do you sand the entire piece down? I see that you only sanded the top of this table. If you were doing a dresser would you sand it all before rapainting? TFS. Bug Hugs!
Love it! I need some of those painting pyramid thing-a-ma-bobs. How clever!
It looks great! We just moved to town and I can’t wait to start painting something… I just need to find something to paint. Off I go to Craigslist.
This turned out great. I love the new colour!
Those triangle paint thingies? Want them. That’s what I love about visiting your House, Allison; I ALWAYS learn something new! Great job refinishing the little side table too. Your boyfriend Craig is a way-better go-to guy than mine. So far, mine’s been a dud, but I keep visiting him anyway.
How do you spray paint and not get drips? Did you sand or prime where you spray painted? Where did you find those triangles? I have 2 bedside tables I was planning on painting in the next 2 weeks but I did not think about using spray paint.
Very awesome! I have painted lately and will probably post something soon on the ol’ blog. I painted my middle daughter’s dresser and will be painting her desk. I also painted two bedrooms and when we find out what baby’s gender is we’ll paint the nursery (read: *I* will paint the nursery, ha ha).
Hello. I found you through a link from another blog and just had to let you know that in reading through many of your entries, that in addition to being impressed with your skills, I was even more impressed with your follow-through. Starting and finishing many projects. Imagine my surprise to read deeper and find your comments about fighting depression. The level of work you put out, just does not seem like that from a depressed person. I’ll be coming back often, and will be trying some of your “decor on a budget” ideas.
RG
Love your chalkboard! I stumbled down this rabbit-hole recently: http://pinterest.com/polkadotshop/chalkboard-goodness/ All chalkboards, all the time. {heart!}
That lighter blue really brightened it up!! I lol’d at your pics of the sand paper, bc I just did that! All that used sand paper makes you feel so accomplished!
love the blue looks like it was made for the room love it
come visit me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Again…LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURVE!
xoxokara
Whoa! I love the new look of the side table! The dark stained top looks really nice!
thanks for sharing @ catch as catch can.
gail
“catching” you this week