Scavenger Chic

DIY Nightstands from an old Desk

• By Joan
• March 1, 2023
• 5 Comments

DIY Nightstands from an old Desk

Welcome back friends.  What you see here is my latest Goodwill find.  A cute little desk that I totally passed up. I walked out to my car empty handed and was about to drive off.  While I knew this desk would be a great candidate for a makeover, I usually pass on the larger furniture items when I’m by myself.  But this time, sitting in the car, I’m second guessing my decision…how heavy could this desk really be?

Guess what? The desk wasn’t that heavy, and with a couple people offering to hold the door and lift it into my trunk I was able to get this baby home all in one piece.

Did I mention that this little desk was only $10.  Ten dollars for 2 DIY nightstands is a pretty good deal.

The desk was solid but there was nothing special about the wood, the drawers were not dovetailed and the desk top was definitely not in as good of shape as the front.

In other words, I didn’t feel bad at all taking a circular saw to this little guy and cutting him in half. 

When I first made the cut I left a lip on both sides of the top.  As I went on I ended up cutting the lip off entirely on all the sides.

From one piece of a 1/4″,  2′ x 4′ piece of mdf I was able to cut all my trim running the board thru the table saw at 2 1/2″ wide. Lightly sand the edges with fine sandpaper.

The trim will cover up where the 2 sides of the desk were attached to each other and give a little interest to  very plain side panels.

Use builders adhesive to attach the trim to the sides.  Let dry.

For the tops, I’m covering the existing painted and stained top with reclaimed flooring I found in a dump pile.

I cut off the edges from an old 2×4 for trim to use around the tops of the side tables.

Those 2×4 cutoffs are the perfect width to cover all the hardwood flooring edges.

After sanding the trim pieces, I gave each a black wash.  Similar to a whitewash, I heavily watered down black chalk paint, painted it on the trim and wiped off the excess.

After lightly sanding the top hardwood flooring boards, I did the same watered down black paint treatment to the top as well.

Nail on the top hardwood flooring and side trim with finish nails.  I used a pneumatic nailer…so fast and easy.

The tops were finished with 2 coats of polyurethane in a satin finish.  

Those little holes where you can see the finish nails were filled in with a dab of black paint.

I needed the drawer holes moved up an inch so I filled the existing holes with wood filler and sanded when dry.

Only thing left to do was the painting.  The drawers and the sides of the nightstands were painted with 2 coats of Waverly chalk paint in Elephant (also known as grey).

And finished with a coat of clear wax.

For the drawer handles, I cut 6,  6 inch lengths from 2 recycled black belts and rounded the ends.

Fold the belt in half, and drill two small holes near the ends of the belt thru which you can insert the drawer handle screw.

Attach your belt loops to your drawers using nuts and washers on the backside of the drawer fronts.

Here’s where the knobs get taken to the next level…cover all the screws with a 1 inch diameter antique brass upholstery nail.

BTW, these were the same upholstery nails I used for my salad bowl belted mirror from last year.

All finished with loads of bedside storage and a top that can withstand tons of abuse.  You would never know that these DIY nightstands were part of a desk in their past life.

Until next time, stay inspired.

Related posts:

Easy Makeovers, A Desk, A Nightstand and A Chest