The pair I have are cast-off bathroom cabinets from some dude's house in Germany. I really developed my inner sense of cheapskate when I lived over there....and not the cool, thrifty, country-chic cheapskate, more like "OMG TEN DOLLARS!? THEY ARE TEN DOLLARS. We're leaving this house immediately. Let's go. We're driving over there right now. Come on. Before they're gone. Let's go. TEN DOLLARS FOR TWO THINGS, THINGS THAT HOLD OTHER THINGS!"
When I got them they had a few of those wet bumps on the tops - you know, the ones that pop up when you set a perspiring glass down on particle board or other expandable material. I like to think of the various rings and bumps as super-fly texture. Nailed it.
After three years of looking at my nightstands and realizing they were becoming more like little catch-alls than actual functioning pieces of furniture, I decided to change things up. Nothing major - ain't nobody got time for that. Just a bit of sprucing.
So here's how the neglected nightstands looked before:
Notice the huge cord coming down the middle of the wall. Sweet headboard, huh? More about that in a few sentences.
This is my side of the bed. Stacks of magazines, books, kleenex, some fake flowers, a Maya Angelou box. I'm basically 85 years old.
Here's Aaron's side of the bed. Cologne, a dusty candle, lotion, a tie, a ship piggy bank.....he's basically a teen man.
Now you can't see it from these pictures, but I had this gorgeous piece of art hanging in a part of my room I could only really see if I was laying in bed. What if I got rid of the electric cord headboard and put the art over the bed? Then I could see her when I walked in the room! Intriguing...
...but what about my favorite lazy person light source? That cord connected to a light that could be switched off by just reaching over my head while in bed. It almost doesn't get any better than that. Unless.....
*pause here for theatrical suspense and brief side story*
Now I mentioned I was cheap, but you may not realize yet how lazy I am. I don't like to thrift for hours with a toddler, especially on my rare time off from work and writing. I also don't like spray painting in the middle of winter. And for some reason, watching Shark Tank seems way more appealing to me than crafting and Mod-Podging all over my living room after the kids are in bed.
So how in the world was I going to find an affordable new lazy light source to replace Cordy McHeadboard?
Well, like most things in life, all my problems were solved by walking the clearance isle at Target. I found these two incredible lamps on sale, with shades, for $9 each. A neglected nightstand makeover never felt so good.
So here it is. The after pic.
I knew I needed something linear and unbulky - is that even a word, unbulky? The nightstands are small and a huge lamp base would've taken over any space we needed for charging cell phones and/or dusty candles.
When I spotted these bad boys I knew they'd be visually lightweight and physically small enough to give me some room for all my stuff.
I chose an aqua-colored lamp.
Aaron wanted something a bit more masculine, so he went with gray. The shade was also his idea - it lets off a muted yellow light. He said it reminded him of an old study. Kinda almost fell over when he made that statement. Love me some men thoughts.
And the side-by-side comparison...
I gotta say, I feel like this was a huge achievement for me. I was able to use stuff I already had and spend minimal money to achieve a new look. Yes, I sometimes still find myself reaching for good 'ol Cordy McHeadboard, but it's ok. He's found a new home in my soon-to-be basement office.
So there you have it! My nightstands are neglected no more. We cleaned 'em out, gave them some fresh n' poppin' lamps to light up all their awesome bumpy texture, and moved my art queen to a more respectful place.
What do you think? Hate it? Love it? What would you have done different? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thank you so much for reading!!! :)
Jen
