bedroom DIY projects

I am not a generally crafty person (in either sense of the word), but I am usually furnishing and designing on a budget, so have developed very necessary DIY skills.  I try to adapt and re-use as much as possible, making things work for the space.  One bedside table in our room was very functional and one was not.  The functional one was a cool mish mash of drawers that someone had cobbled together into a frame.  Unfortunately, the frame was a bit rough, and I am really getting over the chippy paint thing.  To spruce it up, I simply removed the drawers, painted the frame a rich brown and the inside a crisp white.  The drawers were already a lovely shade of cream, and just the right amount of worn, so those went back in as is.  Just for fun, I tacked some cool metal furniture castors onto the top front frame, then topped it all off with a framed wall mirror as a tabletop "tray".  Much improved.

My painted plant stand was the right size for the space, but not the right size for my stuff.  I simply swapped it out with a table from our guest room.  With a fresh coat of creamy white paint and a re-purposed knob (a shift knob from an old Mercury), it was ready to go. 

We had a really great 60's long dresser with lots of drawers, but it just didn't fit into the new bedroom arrangment, so a DIY project from a past job had been making do as our dresser.  I haven't located the perfect new piece yet, so I decided to make this one over yet again to fit our needs and space for the time being.  The main part consists of three 2 drawer storage units from Target stacked on top of each other.  I gave the drawer fronts a fresh coat of paint to match the new palette, then ditched the IKEA legs. 

Inspiration struck as I was walking through the backyard and spied this metal table in my garden.  I cleaned it up, moved it into the bedroom, and stacked the drawers on top of it.   Three years in the garden had left it with the perfect patina, and the shelf below adds more storage.

With some clever thinking, a little paint and a few hours of labor, you can transform a piece of furniture to suit your needs and your room.