Ikea Hemnes Nightstand Makeover

For those of you that regularly follow my blog, at first glance you might think that you've seen this little table before.

{I even "staged" it the same as the other table.}

And you'd almost be correct!  The first table is the third of my three simultaneous projects that I've been working on, and the "Aloha Y'all" table is the one I painted & stained in Hawaii... and sadly, I had to let it go to a new home. {I seriously thought about FedExing it back to the mainland.}

Here are the differences:  the most recent table I picked up from a garage sale for $3.00! It's an Ikea Hemnes Nightstand (sticker on the bottom of the shelf proves it), and it looked like this:

IKEA Hemnes Nightstand

Yeah, it was black.  Not me, at all.  Since I was heartbroken about selling the tiny table in Hawaii, I DUG into my purse {and Hubs' wallet!} for the extra three bucks I needed to buy this.  I think the lady would have practically given the table to me when she saw how much I wanted it!  (We purchased a La-Z-Boy love seat from her, too.)

The tiny table from Hawaii had cost me $8.00 at a Army base thrift shop, and it was plain, unstained wood, and didn't have a drawer or shelf.  You can see that post here. It was the first project that I tried with chalk paint, and I had to purchase a small sander to sand the finish off of the top.

Tiny Hawaii table getting it's stain on

This new table got an almost exactly the same makeover, with 2 exceptions.  After sanding the top, and staining it with Minwax Wood Finish in Provincial, I didn't get the same deep, dark richness that I got with the other table.  It's just the way wood absorbs stain differently. Even after 3 coats of stain, it didn't get any darker than what you see. <sigh> oh, well.
Secondly, the chalk paint is a lighter shade of blue.  I like both, but since I like to mix my own colors using what I have on hand, they are different.  I also lightly distressed the Hawaii table, and this one I left alone.

Hemnes nightstand getting it's stain on... same stain, but not as dark and rich

Now, we once again have a cute, functional table that will fit into just about any corner of our house. I'm not heartbroken anymore about not bringing back the other table from Hawaii, and because I was able to do the process again, it has given me more experience and insight, especially about how the stain absorbs into different woods.
If you'd like to see more of the step-by-step process, click over to the original post here.

Sometimes it's the little things that bring you joy. Like the unexpected pleasure of being able to re-create my Hawaii thrift store table with this Texas garage sale find!

For more inspiration on Ikea Hemnes furniture, hop on over to By Brittany Goldwyn at: www.bybrittanygoldwyn.com

Here's hoping YOU get an unexpected blessing today!