Nugget's New (Old) Mid-Century Nightstands

We should have some big house updates soon, but in the meantime, I thought you might like to see my latest transformations.  When I started thinking about the nugget's first big boy bedroom close to a year ago, I tagged some inspiration photos on Houzz.  One of those photos showed a very Jetsons'-like nightstand, and I instantly became fixated on finding some mid-century furniture for his room.  The problem is anything labeled MCM, which is hot right now, is priced really high in consignment stores and on craigslist.  But I found a pair this weekend and instantly scheduled a time to pick them up - $75 for the pair!  The images below were the craigslist photos.

And when I brought them home, my mom groaned and suggested they weren't worth the gas spent to drive to pick them up let alone the $75.  Her words, not mine: "Sometimes I can see your vision, and other times I think you've finally taken on the one that's too far gone."  I could have let that get in my head when I was working on the gold armoire, but I had no doubts about these little beauties.

I can see her point - they were in really bad shape, one more so than the other.  The top was completely unattached, though it seems someone had tried to reattach it unsuccessfully by drilling big wood screws right down through the top.  What a pity.  The backer boards were all cracked, peeling and basically worthless as well, so that was the first order of business, tearing the backs off.

In doing so I also discovered that of the 12 drawer-stopping blocks that should be in the back of each drawer slot, there were only 2 or 3 left.  lol  No problemo!  I got the chance to use my nail gun for the first time!  $1.30 for the 3/4" square dowel and voila!

Then I sanded down to bare wood and used wood putty to fill all the holes, knicks, and splits.

And sadly that's where the photos ended.  I did all of the above outside on President's day.  The rest I squeezed in in the garage throughout the week after the kids go to bed.

The frames got spray painted with white lacquer, as I was hoping for a super high shine.  I didn't get it as glossy as I was hoping, but after 5 coats with 4 cans plus primer, I was ready to be done.

The drawers got sanded down to bare wood and stained.  I started with Minwax dark walnut, and the red of the wood was really strong, so then I did Minwax Espresso, which was now really dark and still red.  So while the Espresso was wet, I quickly wiped on some Minwax Classic Gray just to tone it down and wiped it off immediately and that did the trick.  You can see how warm the finish is still, even after a wipe down with gray.  I finished with regular Minwax Poly in satin.

Ready for the reveal?  I heart them.  :)

I promise we'll have more house stuff to report on soon!

I don't have pics, but our driveway and walkways are all formed and ready for concrete.  The tile work started today.  The mantel and fireplace stone surround should start tomorrow.  Our exterior trim is all painted, and tomorrow our decorative stuff should start going on the outside of the house - shutters, window headers etc.  Next Friday is a big day too - our lights start going in!  I'm approving our landscape plan today, so things are really  moving and shaking!!  Stay tuned.