Quick and Dirty Nightstands

A few weeks back I garbage picked two prime night stands and refinished them for our bedroom. Unfortunately, once we got our new king sized bed in there, it dwarfed the nightstands and I needed to come up with a solution rather quickly. I happened to have two hexagon shaped table-tops lying around from a DIY-Gone-Awry™ (patent pending) so all I had to do was build some bases.

I bought eight 2x2x8s for the bases and measured the sides of the table top, which were 11″ each. I cut 12 pieces at 11″ using my mitre saw on a 30 degree angle in order to make two hexagons which I would sit the table tops on.

I wanted the base to be slightly bigger, so I cut 12 pieces at 12″ each for the bottoms. I attached the sides of the hexagons together using my Kreg Jig.

I also cut two pieces to size to act as braces between the bottom hexagons for a little extra stability, and attached them using pocket holes.

For the legs, I cut 12 parallelograms (six for each table) at five degree angles with my mitre saw. (My legs were two feet long to ensure the tables would be tall enough for the new bed.) I drilled pocket holes in both ends of each leg (facing in) and attached them to the base hexagon, and then the top hexagon.

Lastly, it was just a matter of attaching the table tops to the newly constructed bases and voila! A couple of quick night stands that are plenty tall and really stable to boot.

I gave them both a few coats of Rust-Oleum chalky finish spray paint in charcoal and let them dry for a few days in the garage. These certainly aren’t the most beautiful night stands I’ve ever seen, but they serve their purpose and the price was right! For a couple hours and a couple bucks ($30 to be exact) they’ll do.

The bedroom is really coming together and it’s time to make my way downstairs, which is equal parts exciting and daunting. I cannot wait to get my hands on that kitchen…