Rast Hack Nightstands

     So...I quickly began to dislike the nightstands that I refinished for my bedroom last year.  I scanned Pinterest for ideas, trolled Craigslist for nightstands with potential, and checked around at local Salvation Army and Goodwill stores but nothing really stood out.  What I wanted was amazingly wonderful mid-century modern nightstands in mint condition for almost no money.  That didn't happen.  However, when I was looking around for inspiration, I stumbled across this picture and I knew what I wanted to do!

Miles Redd

   Do you see the amazing chest in the back corner of that fabulous room?  When I saw that chest I knew that a Rast hack was in my future.  Ikea makes a plain 3-drawer chest that has been hacked by so many people because its clean lines, unfinished surface and low price make it an easy choice for DIYers.  Memphis has no Ikea but, thankfully, the Rast is one of the pieces of furniture that Ikea ships.  Yaaaayyyyy!!!  So...


This plus a little elbow grease turns into...

 I am soooo very sorry for the poor picture quality but who has time to take a professional looking picture these days?  Oh that's right-everyone but me!  I actually do have the time, but not the patience!  I haven't put any little trinklets (that's for you, Kathryn) on these nightstands because Ransom routinely takes anything that is on the top of these tables and randomly disperses the items in the drawers.  I have found those books in the bottom drawer so many times now that I just decided to let them be!  At a later date I may or may not try to remember to post a tutorial on how I did these.  The only thing I would do differently if I had to replicate these would be to put a protective top coat over the immitation gold leaf.  The top drawers are definitely starting to look a bit rough these days!  I thought I would like the natural patina of everyday wear and tear, but nobody likes the trashy look!  When you look at this picture try not to be blinded by the pattern and color overload of my bedspread used in combination with the carpet.  I was going to go with solid white linens but I ended up liking all of the colors together for some strange reason.  I'm sure I will change my mind again soon!

 





Update (Over a year past due)

Hello there my bloggy friends.  Um...I haven't posted anything here in forever because I have a tendency to get waaaay too caught up in waaaay too many things!  When I post something it takes me FOREVER to get things even moderately respectable looking and I would rather just be doing something fun and creative rather than writing about it or stressing about my picture-taking ability.

I have been working on so many different projects lately!  I have been completely redecorating my parents' house, sewing, working on art projects for my mom, raising kids, running a household (poorly)....the list goes on and on!  I wish that I did not have so many interests and the overwhelming desire to do everything perfectly.  I don't think that I have ever done anything perfectly in my life, so why waste time trying to fix that one little imperfection on the bottom side of the table that nobody is really going to pay attention to in the long run?  I can say those things and they make sense but actually acting on what I say seems impossible sometimes!  OK! Enough words.  I am just going to post a couple of random pictures of my kids and some projects that I have worked on in the past year.  All very random I assure you!

1. silver leafed table for Jessica
2. my diy jewelry storage station
3. Oliver + S shorts that I sewed for Ransom
4. Ransom in his Oliver + S outfit that I made all by myself!!!
5. Three pictures of the cutest kiddos ever
6. Ruffled skirt for Isabelle from tutorial at danamadeit
7. Dress for Isabelle from Oliver + S
8. Shirt using same pattern as above
9. My sweet Isabelle

 

Hello there friends! Although I have not posted anything in a while I can assure you that I have not just been sitting around my house eating chocolates and drinking champagne. It is purely coincidence that I did have a glass of wine this evening and I am munching on chocolate chips while I write this post. I am actually glad that I just told y'all that because it made me get my rumpus off the couch to put up the chocolate chips. Anyway...where was I? Back to me not being a lazy slob.
I have actually been into refinishing furniture for the past couple of months. After refinishing my nightstands (nightstands I want to replace, by the way) I persuaded the lovely Jessica Ann to let me redo her room. She has very kindly given me free reign in her bedroom. So far I have painted her room, refinished her furniture, and purchased some great finds on Craigslist, Ebay, and Amazon. It's been so much fun! I can officially say that I have design fever! I'm going to stop talking now and show you tricks some pictures of some of my finds and some of Jessica's furniture that she already had.

1. The chair was one of three that I rescued from the garbage ($0)

2. Jessica's hand-me-down bookcase ($0)

3. Full size bed from Craigslist ($30)

4. Desk from a junk sale in a random warehouse in a sketchy part of Memphis($10)

5. and lastly, Jessica's hand-me-down nightstand ($0).

I will post some "during" pictures later this week. Bet y'all can't wait to see what I've done with
this jizunk (I mean hand-me-downs if you're reading this Jessica Ann!).

A Lovely Pair

These are a pair but I realized that 1.) I forgot to take before pictures, and 2.) I only took pictures of one at a time so, as far as you know, I only refinished one nightstand. I assure you that I really did refinish two nightstands that were once ugly dark brown, fake wood tables with hideous brass knobs. I just wasn't sure what to do with these tables so I let them sit next to my bed for months in their terrible overly-glossy state. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I decided on white and blue to go with my gold/yellow bedroom. I think these turned out pretty well considering they only cost $11 for the pair! I guess that doesn't include the cost of the paint (Lowes gift card) or the knobs (Anthropologie gift card) or my time, but we won't mention any of those!

I can't really get these pictures posted the way that I want but I'm just gonna let it go. I HATE it when I can't figure out how to do something the way that I want it to be done! Oh well, you get the point. I was simply trying to show that I painted the inside of the little cubby hole a light blue that I mixed myself using two colors that I got at Lowes. I was also trying to show off these cute little Anthropologie ceramic knobs. They are so cute! The pictures don't do them justice.

Now for the next project! I have this dresser that I got at the Les Passes Stock Exchange last year and I couldn't help but paint it. I liked the color. I liked the slight distressed look that I had going. I did NOT like the fact that the paint just scraped off whith little or no effort. I read on a blog that you didn't really have to sand a piece of furniture before you paint it---you just have to prime it. Not so! In my case, at least, the paint just wouldn't stick. Soooo, I stripped the dresser down to his bare bones and now I don't know what to do with him. He is a him because he is tall and the matching piece is a girl because she is shorter and she comes with a lovely curvy mirror. One is a chest of drawers and the other is a dresser but I can never remember which is which. Anyway...I don't know whether to stain him or paint him. Did I mention that there is a her too?

I can't tell you how long it just took me to post these last two pictures.

Just a Little Something

I keep meaning to take pictures of some of my newest projects but that is impossible due to the lack of room on my memory card. I am just too lazy to go and get one...or too busy...or I keep forgetting. Maybe it's all of the above. Anyway...I am busy refinishing a dresser, a chest of drawers and two nightstands. I am also repurposing/building a vanity for my bedroom using an antique sewing table and a headboard. I really need to take a picture of the vanity project while it is still under construction so everyone can see how very awesome I am to even try to do something like this with 1) no tools, 2) no real woodworking capabilities, 3) two children, and 4) about 500 other projects floating around in my head or sitting around in my house. I think I may just be really, really stupid. I just can't help it though. Did I also mention that I am finishing up a knitted hood, and that I am in the process of knitting my first sweater? Oh yeah, I am also technically in the middle of decoupaging a serving tray. I have way too many things going on! Hoods are cool no matter what you're thinking right now. You just wait until you see a picture of me in it. Or a picture of Isabelle in it if it looks stupid on me. Since I don't have pictures of any of the above mentioned projects to post I will post a picture or two of my memory card hogs!

Just Call Us the Incredibles

This is my son Clark Kent. He is an unassuming baby dork by day and Super Ransom by night.

Super Momma

Ummm...what more can I say! I was supposed to be cleaning but instead I let "the beautiful madam" dress me up as a super hero. Ransom, otherwise known today as the Valentine elf, was asleep in his beautiful bower while we were up to our hijinx.