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Yesterday I left you with the top of the French Provincial nightstand stained and coated with polyurethane.   If you missed that post please read French Provincial Nightstand Refab post here.   But first let’s bring you back to the very beginning with my $10 find at a yard sale.

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And here it is with the top stained in Vermont Maple and sealed with Minwax’s polyurethane.

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I taped off the newly refinished top and then I sprayed the bottom of the nightstand with Antique White by Dutch Boy.   I truly love how Dutch Boy paint works in my air paint sprayer.   It is a thinner paint than the Behr I normally buy and it doesn’t need any thinning and sprays perfect every time.

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Next I spent probably 45 minutes hand sanding the edges to give it a distressed look.   I love Antique White paint with the wood tones coming through.

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Then I washed the handles really good and threw them back on…

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Then I stood back…disappointed.   I didn’t like it.   What was wrong with it?   Was the top too dark?   Did it need more distressing?   Should I put some glaze on it?   I read through Shaunna’s new Creating Your Masterpiece E-book for some answers.   I finally just called Shaunna and she said “it is the hardware, the gold peeking through is throwing it off.”   AHA!

So I took the hardware off and spray painted it Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze by Krylon and then added some Spanish Copper Rub n’ Buff in order to get a depth of color.

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That was the ticket!   Thanks Shaunna!

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I love it now.   I think the darker pulls stand out more and match the wood grain top.   It also looks great with the lamp base in my bedroom.

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Buy now the lamp isn’t working for me.   I like the shape of the base but I am not digging the shade.   I am going to find a new shade and possibly paint the lamp an aqua color to pick up on the bed.   We shall see.   My mind changes in a moment.

What do you think?   Do you like my two tone beauty?

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48 Comments

  1. Great job!! The whole thing looks very professional and just fab. I like that you changed the hardware too, I think it needed that to really pop. My MIL has your same bedding! 🙂

  2. I love how you can foresee what you want it to look like. Beautiful – amazing job!

  3. ooo… I am designing our master bedroom for when our addition is complete and I want to the do the french provincial style bedroom. I am going with the fluffy white duvet… ruffled lamp shade… mostly white, light colored wood (my bed is that now and cant get a new one), and the black wrought iron. I was wondering how we could get nightstands second hand and get them to match the bed a bit (which is that light colored wood with a bit of black iron detailing on the top). This will be PERFECT!!! I can do the top of a stand light colored wood.. then add in the white distressed on the rest… and may even do the black iron pulls. I am so excited!!! Thanks so much for sharing….. what a great find!

  4. Great transformation…the pulls made the project complete! Isn’t it funny how refinishing one thing makes you realize there are more things to work on!

  5. Nice job! That looks so much better! Did you have to strip the paint in order to stain the top? Which brand of spray gun do you have? Found you from Tip Junkie’s retweet!

  6. Totally agree with Shuanna. When I saw the first “after” picture, it didn’t seem quite right..it was just a little blah and didn’t have that polished look that your pieces usually do. Just changing out the pulls – awesome! So much more finished and “you”!

  7. Well, I admit it, I’ve been lurking. I have never actually commented on a blog before so this is the first! WOO! Anyway, I got sucked into your blog after clicking through a few others (one of which fortunately linked me to you) and I’ve spent the last week just making my way backwards through all your posts. Good heavens, woman. You’re ridiculously talented. I can say I’m inspired by so much of what you’ve posted thus far and this shall be the first blog I wind up following though I doubt the last.

    With all that out of the way, I didn’t just come here to drop my life story. I actually wanted to say that I love the re-do on this nightstand. It’s just so lovely and I think you did a great job bringing out the potential in this piece. I agree the darker handles look much better than the gold ones and they really make that top piece stand out. My only sorrow is that we sort of lose the little decoration at the very bottom. It’s hard to see it. 🙁 All in all though, this piece would make anyone proud to own it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

  8. Don’t know why, but I guess since it’s French Provincial I have to say, “Ooohh la la!”. Or maybe it’s all the Fancy Nancy I read to Katie…. whatever. : ) It’s beautiful and the change on the hardware definitely makes it sparkle! Love it!

  9. C’est magnifique!

    This is simply gorgeous. I have an apothecary chest that I’m itching to paint but have been undecided about whether to stain the top darker or paint it. This lovely night stand has convinced me.

    Merci beaucoup!

  10. It does look better than the original item…but I think that you still might need to add more contrast to the white…just my opinion…also I think that your problem with the lamp is more of what you have it sitting on…the lamp shade pulls your eyes downward to the box shape, which does not really go with the lampshade…maybe a solid box would go better, instead of changing the shade, unless you go to a solid lampshade…again in my opinion only…

  11. Thanks for your two cents. I always appreciate honest opinions. I am anxious to see what you think of the new shade.

  12. I just learned who Fancy Nancy was like a month ago. Am I out of the loop or what? I have no excuse because I have a girl. I need t go to the library and check some out.

  13. Well welcome River Citter! And thanks for the love and I SO APPRECIATE THE FOLLOW. And commenting on a blog isn’t too bad, is it? {Wink!} Yah the little decoration kinda does get lost a bit. But all in all it totally brightened up that space and I am so happy with it.

  14. I so wished I had this set as a little girl. It is so feminine and pretty. But, alas, I have it as an adult and that makes me happy too.

  15. Love that Tip Junkie! If you read my first post you can see the whole stripping process. I have a LVLP spray gun from Harbor Freight

  16. Thanks Heidi. Yah I love the coverlets from Target. I have horrific allergies so I have to use just a coverlet rather than a big puffy thing…which is sad to think about for the puffy quilt girl herself I am sure. {wink!}

  17. Looks great Beckie! I just bought a paint sprayer and am super excited to try it out. Would you mind telling me what you used to protect the drawers from overspray? It looks like some type of nifty shrink wrap. =) Thanks!

  18. I love what you did with it… I agree it looks much nicer than the previous nighstand and I love what you did with the hardware.

    I just redid a coffee table and side table with a similar finish (wood stained top, and creamy white bottom) I sprayed the hardware with ORB,and love it. I’m still trying to find some rub n buff locally, might just have to order it online I guess.

  19. This is really a great job! I am a huge fan of leaving tops unpainted and finishing them in a rich stain. I think the lamp in an aqua would look great and would actually be really excellent with the French feel you’re pulling into the room with the quilted bedclothes and Provincial nightstand. 🙂

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