Cupcakes and Cashmere

Before and After: Nightstands

September 21st, 2009

When I moved into my boyfriend’s place, I happily set aside my girly taste so that our apartment wouldn’t look like a princess-inspired bachelor pad.  That compromise began to take its toll a year later when I realized my bedside table had become a graveyard for half-read books and my sad little Ikea lamp.  This past weekend we decided to make a few changes to our place, beginning with our nightstands.

{before}

before-1.jpg

{after}

 

after.jpg

{knobs}

 

knobs.jpg

After a couple coats of primer, white glossy spray paint, knobs from Anthropologie and a new lamp (here), our bedroom now has a clean look that’s incredibly relaxing.

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  • http://www.fallingunderthecloudss.blogspot.com fashionista

    love love the new look…i’m also in the transition of renovating my bedroom too…can’t wait till it’s all done!!!

  • http://www.trailercentersusa.com Elle

    I love the before and after shots! :) I too, understand trying to make an apartment “not too girly” ( I had to hide all of my pretty shoes!!) :( Your apartment looks cozy! :)

  • http://www.sendmehomat12.com Keely

    I love the change, it really brightens up the room!

  • http://superalzy.wordpress.com Alzy

    Amazing how a couple small changes can alter the whole feel of a room! I have that same lamp & I love what you did with the knobs. Very pretty.

  • http://cafefashionista.blogspot.com Cafe Fashionista

    Ooh, I want my nightstand to have crystallized snowflakes as well. How darling! :)

  • http://frillsoflovely.blogspot.com lauren

    wow you made that look amazing!
    it doesn’t even look like the same nightstand.
    very creative and pretty.

  • http://themaddychronicles.wordpress.com Maddy

    I love the transformation!

    It’s funny because I’ve been trying to revamp our EIK area. But when I stepped into the Michael’s Arts & Craft store yesterday, I panicked and walked right back out. I think I might need to start with a small DIY project instead :)

  • http://www.daisychainae.blogspot.com Amber

    love! looks a bazillion times better!

  • http://www.freeteyme.com freeteyme

    I love the knobs! what a difference a paint job and a few accessories make!

  • http://funstuffandprettythings.com al!ce

    Awesome! I love white furniture. It makes all the details of the woodwork pop so well. Good work!

  • http://shoemein.wordpress.com Shannon

    I’m inspired, that looks so much better. My favorite accessory change has to be that lamp!

  • http://www.strugglesofacreativemind.blogspot.com Linda

    Looks amazing! I can really see Domino inpiration here. Your lucky, my fiance would laugh at me for that, he would think it was too girl. I love it though. You have a very good eye for design. What do you do for a living? I don’t think I know.

  • http://calvine.blogspot.com Calvine

    hahaha i am cracking up at your “medieval times” description. What a wonderful update!

  • http://livelovela.blogspot.com Neekoh

    I really love this! It’s definitely given me inspiration to renovate my own living space :)

  • http://www.ontheblogbandwagon.blogspot.com Wanderlusting

    Really love that white nightstand…we need more antique/unique stuff and less IKEA but that will happen when the time comes :)

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  • http://www.bargainbex.blogspot.com Bargain Bex

    I LOVE the Anthropologie, snowflake-y knob. Just darling. I’ve been seeing furniture being sprayed and painted white all over … makes me wonder if I should be painting my wood-rimmed mirror and drawer white too … Hmm …

    http://www.bargainbex.blogspot.com/

  • http://www.sterlingstyle.blogspot.com Taylor

    Hey Emily,

    It looks great! How did you do this? I need to look into this, but I am scared to mess with my furniture even though it could use a new look. How do you start?

    Great job!

  • http://www.wreckedstellar.wordpress.com Wrecked Stellar

    Wow, thought you had bought a brand new nightstand! I love that you took something you already had and used your creativity toward it! Love the snowflake touch- esp. since snowflakes aren’t too girly- but can be enjoyed by both sexes!

  • http://www.aliblair.blogspot.com Alison

    love the clean lines in your room.

  • http://allwomenstalk.com All Women Stalker

    Great transformation! Will link back. :)

    -meream

  • http://www.styleandthecityuk.blogspot.com Becky

    Love it! Wish we had Anthropologie here.

  • http://www.wheredidugetthat.com Karen

    BRILIANT!!!!!!!!! Guess what? i have a white bedroom too! After moving in with the boyfriend I got the paint brush out on all the furniture too!!

    I’m looking currently for THE perfect flea market chandelier to complete the look. Of course, he has no say in all of this.

    Karen x

  • http://www.reverie-daydream.blogspot.com Melissa

    J’adore the new look….especially the handles!

  • http://lolawashername.blogspot.com Her name was Lola

    Lookout, Martha! Well done with the bedroom renovations, miss thing.

    P.S. We’re hosting a little giveaway this week – hope you can swing by!

    Cheers.

  • http://thesoho.blogspot.com/ southern hostess

    What a difference! It looks great. I love the knobs.

  • http://anotherfishinthesea.wordpress.com Beth

    This is so fantastic! I would love to have a nightstand like this! All the little details with the knobs, the antiqued paint and the lamp make it perfect. I also think you found such a happy medium between masculinity and being princessy. :)

  • http://clumpydumpy.blogspot.com Clumpy Dumpy

    It looks great. I’ve been wanting to switch out the knobs on my icky Ikea nightstand and dresser to something more girly from Anthropologie!

  • http://www.chiccoles.blogspot.com Chic Coles

    I love your new bedside table! Those drawer pulls and knob are so fun! Thanks for sharing!

  • http://my-life-in-style.blogspot.com Chelsea

    the knobs are great. can’t wait to get my new place and start decorating!

  • http://heart-of-light.blogspot.com Rachel (Heart of Light)

    It’s such a great (and simple) re-do! Looks fantastic.

  • http://www.phresh-produce.blogspot.com ajarina

    i love the twilight book you have there!! i just did a few retouches myself…paint, new knobs..and a lil touch of something super shabby can always make anything beautiful!! love it

  • http://www.charmly.org lindsey

    absolutely beautiful!!!

  • http://www.holadesign.blogspot.com Hola!Design

    lovely! i love diy projects!

  • http://www.iamstyle-ish.com tiffany

    i couldn’t even tell it was the same nightstand! It looks so good!

  • http://www.thebobbypin.com Natalie

    Love that! I’m tempted to paint our dressers white every once in a while but there are some funky angles that make me nervous. I love how it pops!

  • http://plushpalate.com Crystal @ Plush Palate

    You did a great job! I love the lamp base – I have the same one and have been so happy with it on my entry console table! xo Crystal

  • http://nikymarie.blogspot.com Nicole Marie

    great job!!! its so cute! and love the lamp!

  • http://www.joleystar.com/ Dee

    I love it! May I ask what candle that is? Oh! & Where did you find the cute frame and stand?

  • http://fashionconfectionairy.weebly.com Libby

    You did that yourself, it’s fantastic! My room has similiar touches like that but I could have never done it myself!
    XOXOX
    Libby
    http://fashionconfectionairy.weebly.com

  • http://mustardandsage.wordpress.com Meghan

    I didn’t even realize it was the same nightstand at first. Looks fantastic!

  • courtney

    LOVES it

  • SugarLuxxe

    It’s very YoungHouseLove, so I love it! Their website is http://www.younghouselove.com if you’re thinking to do any more home updating!

  • http://browneyedaesthetic.blogspot.com/ Jessica

    I love your before and after project! I did something similar with a gaudy green window frame mirror–my boyfriend and I primed and painted it and now it’s a lovely white-washed mirror above my fireplace.

  • http://www.ciaochessa.com Chessa!

    beautiful! I love those bins of pulls at anthropologie. this is a great project. looks fabulous!
    and btw, I have like 7 books on my nightstand.

  • http://thelilbee.com The Lil Bee

    Those knobs are BEAUTIFUL! I need to get new knobs for our entryway doors and those are just what I need. And you know what’s so funny? I have lamps just like this on our night stands, as well, both of which have just been painted a fresh coat of white!

  • http://nothing-elegant.blogspot.com Tara

    Such an improvement! So much brighter and fresher!

  • http://www.friendinfashion.blogspot.com friendinfashion

    OMG – what a stunning transformation – lovely!
    x

  • http://chezlavie.blogspot.com CashmereLibrarian

    Pretty!
    I live with three boys (one of which is my husband ;-) ). So I painted the inside of my closet pink. Plus I have a pink heart Porthault baby pillow on my side of the bed.

  • http://becauseimaddicted.net/ geri

    looks amazing!