I got this nice little piece when a friend of mine’s mother-in-law passed away. They held an estate sale, and this nightstand was one of the pieces that didn’t sell. My friend graciously donated it to me, and it’s been sitting in my project pile for the last few years—and I do mean years.
The other day, I was going through some old supplies on my shelf and came across a gorgeous piece of decoupage paper. I didn’t want to let it go to waste, especially since I’ve been on a mission to use up what I already have instead of constantly buying new. I immediately thought of this nightstand and knew it would be the perfect fit for the paper. So, I opened the garage, dug through my project pile, and found the little guy tucked under a few boxes. Aside from a few spiderwebs (nothing I can’t handle), it was still in excellent condition.
The first thing you’ll notice about this nightstand is that it had these odd handles on the side. I don’t know if that’s a “rich person” thing or just weird furniture design, but they definitely weren’t staying. I took them off and filled the holes because that’s not the look I was going for.
I also knew the original drawer pulls had to go. They were traditional and just didn’t match the vision I had in mind. I ordered simple and elegant gold bar pulls from Amazon, which I knew would complement the decoupage paper beautifully.
Then it was time to get to painting. As always, I started by sanding the entire piece—not down to bare wood, just enough to give the surface a little grit so the paint could stick. Think of it like when you get your nails buffed at the salon—it’s all about giving the polish something to grip onto.
The exception was the top of the nightstand. I could see from the very beginning that the wood underneath was beautiful oak, and I didn’t want to cover it up. I used 80-grit sandpaper to remove the paint, then smoothed it out with 220-grit. While I was at it, I decided the top drawer should match, so I sanded that one back as well.
For the paint, I chose a gorgeous shade of blue (the same blue I used on the pedestal table project) it’s almost a true blue. It’s one of my favorite colors to work with—it goes with everything and seems to be universally loved. It took three coats to get the coverage I wanted, waiting about 20 minutes between each layer before moving on.
Then came the part I was actually dreading: the decoupage. Now, I’ve done a lot of decoupage projects, but never across drawer fronts with a repeating pattern. I’ve done fabric and burlap—materials that didn’t have to line up perfectly. But this design continued from the top drawer, across the support bar, and onto the bottom drawer. I’m not ashamed to admit I was nervous, and yes, I dragged my feet a bit.
Eventually, my daughter called me out and said, “You just need to do it.” She was right. Sometimes you’ve just got to push past the nerves and tackle it head-on. Because the only way to learn is to do. I was so worried about messing up. I started with the top drawer, applying a thick coat of decoupage glue before applying the paper and trimming it so the pattern would match up.
But when I moved on to the support bar, my nerves got the best of me. I accidentally applied the paper to the bar above the top drawer instead of the one between the two bottom drawers.
I was heartbroken. So disappointed in myself. But the good news is, once you’ve made a mistake, the anxiety goes away. You can’t mess it up any worse, so you might as well keep going. I pressed on and applied the next section of paper to the correct spot, then trimmed it and added it to the bottom drawer.
Once all the paper was secured, I sealed the surface with a coat of decoupage medium. For the record, I’ve never managed to do a wrinkle-free decoupage job—unless I’m using the fiber paper from Redesign with Prima. That stuff goes on like a dream. This paper, however, did wrinkle, so the surface is very textured.
For the parts that I left natural I decided to protect it with a teak oil. I like the finish of drying oils like teak or tung oils better than a clear coat. I added an even coat and allowed it to penetrate the surface for half an hour then I wiped away the excess.
When everything dried, I added the new gold bar handles, and you know what? I think the finished piece is cute. Of course, I know exactly where the mistake is, so I keep fixating on it, but my family swears no one else will notice. So, I’ve decided not to redo the whole thing. I’m leaving it as-is and putting it in the shop to see if it sells.
Even after all these years, I still make mistakes—just like when I was a beginner. And I still feel that same sting of disappointment. But that shouldn’t stop us from trying. Nothing is ever completely ruined. I could’ve stopped, removed the decoupage paper with water, and painted the drawer fronts instead. But I chose to keep going. I had my heart set on this design, and I wanted to see it through.
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