So when I was living at my old place, my bedside tables were actually a pair of living room side tables that I had purchased at Ikea a number of years ago. Once I moved into my new place, the side tables went back to where they belonged – the living room. This left an empty spot on each side of my bed. And my heart.

So I had to come up with something. I looked around to find something to purchase but you know what I discovered? Nightstands are bloody expensive! The cheapest ones start at $60. Yes, starting at $60. And they look cheap and ugly at that price and that is not what I’m going for.  And even if I could afford it, I don’t have a lot of extra room on either side of my bed for the standard nightstand. I had to come up with something.

So, I decided to do what I do best. I made them myself!

I went with the most simple of simple designs. Open ended box, mounted to the wall. Bingo! Inexpensive, takes up little room but gives me a little extra storage where I need it.

It took two attempts at making these. The first time, I just bought the wood from the hardware store and decided to cut it at home, not thinking that the closest thing to a saw that I have is a jigsaw. Jigsaws do not cut straight or even. I tried and it looked awful. I even tried sanding them with my palm sander to fix the problems but it was just so jacked that I decided to toss ’em.

I decided to try again. This time I brought the wood to my uncle’s place who has a bevy of power tools. He used his circular saw and BAM, straight cuts. Hoorah, problem solved! I ended up making the top pieces of the table 16″ across and the side pieces were 7″ high.

I still had to sand them at home though to clean up the edges. Problem – I live in an apartment. Dust and wood particles would fly everywhere. Solved – sanding them in the bathtub.


So once the wood was sanded and smooth, time for gluing! I used wood glue and let them dry overnight before I screwed them together.

Magents helped through most of this process. Telling me which screws to use and where. “Hey Mom, use these screws here. Don’t forget to sink them into the wood so there is room for the putty over top of them”. She’s such a helpful cat.

“Okay, now that the screw is ready, press that red button down at the bottom” says Magnets. “I’d do it myself but as you’ve noticed, I do not have thumbs. And I’m a cat.”

Once assembled, I used a little putty to cover over the screws and to fix up any dents and spaces that may have occurred.

Almost done! Now just to paint these bad boys and add the mounting hardware.


What’s up, Martha? I went with a colour called Weathervane. It’s not quite black, not quite dark purple with a greyish tone to it. Makes sense, yes?  I also added an iridescent medium to it to jazz it up a bit. Ooooooh, sparkles!

I did two coats of paint and then finished with a coat of polyurethane, which I didn’t even know I had. My craft supplies is better stocked than I had realised! Once dry, I added the mounting hardware which was just 1 1/2″ corner brackets, which I screwed into the inside top of the boxes. I then used some heavy duty wall anchors to make sure that he boxes weren’t going anywhere (ie. the floor).


Tada! Box #1 complete!

And the second!

One thing I will say is that I wish I had someone to help me hang them. Trying to get them level without someone was somewhat a task. I mounted the first one and then guessed where the second one would be even to it and marking the spot, and then going back to the other side with the laser level to see where it actually was. There was a lot of back and forth action going on.

Magnets also seems pleased with the outcome. I’ve already caught her sitting on them a few times.

Now this isn’t the only furniture-esque project I’ve completed recently. Right before I moved out of my old place, I refinished my dresser. It’s one of the few items that I have from grandfather. My Mum says that she remembers the dresser at their house when she was little, so it’s probably at least 50 years old. At one point it was in my two youngest uncles’ bedroom and was a hideous shade of blue that can still be found on the back of the dresser. I love the lines of the dresser but it was brown, which doesn’t go with the colour scheme in my bedroom and had some hideous hardware on it.

Look at those pulls! Ugh. So not my style.


So I stained it black and added some new, much more modern, drawer pulls.

I just have a few more things I want to do to my bedroom and I’ll be done. New lamps and some new artwork. Success!

Now I just need to think of my next big project. Anyone have any ideas? 🙂