Easy Narrow Nightstand (for that small nook)

This room just makes me happy.

There is color EVERYWHERE!

I’ve never been afraid of color, but lately I am having more and more fun going bold and mixing prints and styles to create something of my own. In this room, we have handmade and store-bought. There is new and rustic. There is color and then neutrals (or a color that acts as a neutral), and somehow it all works together to create a beauty that I love.

This room’s finishing touch was actually started years ago. Let me explain.

Shortly, before we moved to Indiana, I repainted an old dresser to give my J a new dresser. As I was getting ready to throw his old busted dresser out, I just couldn’t part with the drawers. It was an old really heavy, painted too many times dresser that needed to go, but the drawers seemed like good boxes. I knew I could use them for something someday. So, as we moved to Indiana, we loaded up these empty, someday project drawers to come with us. Can we say hoarder!?

It was worth it.

Shortly after we moved into our new house, and started settling in, I remembered my drawers. I dug them out of the garage and gave them a fresh coat of paint. I thought if I added a few little wheels they would make awesome under the bed storage for my boys’ bedroom. This was about 18 months ago…about the time we got our pup. Who is now a full-grown German Shepard mix.

I ended up paper mache-ing some wrapping paper to the bottom of the drawer and adding new handles, but that’s where the project came to a stall.

My drawers did go under the bed, but they weren’t being used. It was more of just a new, clean place to store my someday project (rather than the garage). They sat here until a few weeks ago when a new inspiration struck. I needed a small, narrow nightstand to go between the twin beds. I wondered, “could I use one of these old drawers as a nightstand?!” I hurriedly pulled one out and placed it between the beds. The size was perfect. But since there is a vent in the same spot, the nightstand couldn’t get pushed up against the wall and be a snug fit. It fell and the lamp broke (nothing a little super glue couldn’t fix). This is where I roped in my talented husband. He added shelves to the drawer and hung it up on the wall for me.

He’s a genius. He placed the shelves right above the screws from the handles so no one would get scraped reaching for something off the shelf. This was a quick project but needed some thought and calculation. He used my Ryobi Nail Brad and whipped this up much quicker than I expected.

He cut two 14 inch long 1×2’s and attached them to the wall. These provided a sturdy hanging option for the drawer while providing a little bit of space off of the wall. He was able to sink one screw from each of the support boards into a stud in the wall. Since the drawer wasn’t wide enough to span across to studs, he used drywall anchors to attached the other screws.

Once the supports were in place, I helped him hold the drawer up to the wall. He used the brad nailer to quickly attach the drawer to the supports. Then, he went back and added a few screws for more support.

Once my drawer was hung, I painted the shelves the same teal as the flowers on the wall for an extra punch of color. I then styled the shelves, replaced my lamp on its new sturdy base, and my nightstand was complete!

I love how this nightstand is narrow. It doesn’t take up a lot of space between the two beds, which allows for maximum floor space. Yet, it allows for a little lamp to be placed. This is our foster bedroom/guest room, so it is not currently in use. But now we are ready. Guests can place their phone to be charged or a bottle of water right beside their bed at night. I love it.

This room has so many surprising fun elements from the wood chairs hanging on the wall all the way to the huge painted flower mural. Having a drawer converted to a nightstand just completes the look. Yes, it might have been cheaper to just find another drawer in Indiana rather than fill up more space in our moving truck from Georgia, but then I wouldn’t have as good of a story.

Have you repurposed anything recently!? I love to repurpose items. Turning our kitchen chairs into a bench is one of my favorite projects to date. I really loved this little dresser that had broken shelves that I turned into a fun piece too.

There are so many possibilities, if we use our imaginations! I’d love to chat with you about your projects! Find me on Instagram, @ericadeuel, and say hi!

Thank you so much for checking in! I will be back with a room round-up post full of links to the various projects soon!