Toddler Bedside Table DIY

Flipping another thrift-store find, taking the piece from scratched up to whimsical fun!

After completing my toddler’s big boy room makeover it was time to redo the bedside table that I purchased with the plans to redo it to align with the rest of his room decor. I purchased this piece a few months ago from Habitat for Humanity Restore for $10, it was marked for a discount, and I immediately saw the potential and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!! Upon first glance the piece seemed really sturdy and solid and then I noticed that the top drawer had a mark from Sumter Cabinet Company. I looked up this brand as I was unfamiliar and it looks like it was previously a division of Chromcraft Furniture. It appears that new furniture is not being made under the Sumter name currently but based on my quick Google search the furniture has a reputation for being of good quality and is a quick/easy re-sell for pretty top dollar!!!

I’ll post a before picture here:

Before:

I thought that I had gotten a better “before” picture that showed the two unfinished drawers as well but cannot find it anywhere so this is the best I’ve got, however I think it still does a good job of showing the original finish and the condition. As you can see this little table had seen better days. It was pretty scratched and I didn’t love the current orangey stain but I loved the shape and size so I scooped it up.

The Refinishing Plan

My plan was to paint the frame to match the rest of the furniture in my toddler’s room which is a custom paint color created by Sherwin Williams to color-match a bookshelf that I had in his room as a baby, ironically the bookshelf isn’t in his room anymore but I do really love the color and his dresser is already painted in this color so we’ve just kept it going!! My plan was to decoupage the two drawer fronts with the same wallpaper that I installed in his closet-see my blog post here that details the entire toddler room makeover!! I’ve included an “inspo pic” below here, this is what I was going for, obviously a very different look but you can get the general idea of the decoupage drawer fronts.

Inspiration picture:

Re-finishing Process

I started the refinishing process by removing all of the existing hardware and giving the entire bedside table a deep clean with my go-to Krud Kutter. After the piece was clean I got to work applying the wallpaper accent to the two drawer fronts. This wallpaper is peel and stick so does have an adhesive backing but I also put some wood glue on the drawer fronts prior to application of the paper and then used Modge Podge over top to secure the paper to the drawer fronts. I applied this in two coats with allowing for a full 24-hours dry time in between coats. After setting the drawers aside to dry, I got to work on the frame. I applied Citristrip to the frame to strip the top layer of stain and then gave the frame another good deep clean with Krud Kutter. There were a couple damaged spots that I filled in with wood filler and they were as good as new-this piece had very minimal fixing required which is a nice change for a furniture flipper like myself! After allowing the wood glue to fully dry I got to work with sanding. I sanded with 60 grit, 180 grit, and then 220 grit sandpaper to get a nice smooth finish. After the sanding was complete I applied one coat of primer, using my go-to the Zissner 1, 2, 3 Bullseye primer.

Priming:

As you can see I had a sidekick decide to join me at this point, my gal doesn’t always love being in the workshop with me but when she does she’s going to relax to the max for sure!!

Sidekick:

Refinishing Continues…

After letting the primer dry I did a light sanding with 400 grit sandpaper followed up with tack cloth to remove any sanding dust and then got to work with painting. I ended up applying three coats of paint with a light sanding with 400 grit sandpaper in between each coat. As I mentioned earlier this is a custom color-match color that I got from Sherwin Williams but I’ll include a picture below of the can with the “formula” below.

Painting Process:

After applying the three coats of paint it was time to seal the piece. I applied two coats of Varathane ultimate polyurethane in semi-gloss with, you guessed it, a light 400 grit sanding followed by tack cloth in between coats! I also applied the polyurethane to the two drawer fronts and attached the new hardware that I had purchased for the project! Now for everyone’s favorite part before and after pictures!!

Before:

After:

My Key Take-Aways:

Regular trips to the thrift store can pay off in terms of finding high quality pieces that could benefit with an upgrade. A lot of thrift stores will start to discount items if they have been at the store for a while which was how I scored this piece so affordably!
If a piece has an original seal/manufacturer mark do some research on the brand to help assess the quality of the piece, a simple Google search can tell you a lot about the quality and the re-sale value, if re-selling is the goal!!
Don’t be afraid to go bold-applying wallpaper to the front of these drawers is likely not going to appeal to everyone but I LOVE how it turned out and think it is such a fun whimsical look.