2 Nightstands Repurposed into a Tall Dresser

You’ll know I love a good repurposed project. Thus it is no surprise that I really love how my friend Chrystele gave these 2 nightstands an entirely different look and use.

These pine wood nightstands were in good condition but without particular charm. They were made of solid wood and sturdy but this honey color… Yuck!

Here is how she repurposed them into something much nicer: a tall dresser with a loft furniture look.

Table of Contents

#1 – Combine the 2 nightstands

First thing first, she simply put one nightstand on the top of the other. This step is pretty simple.

Sorry, the quality of the photo is poor but that’s the only picture she took.

The trickiest part of this DIY project is to attach the 2 nightstands together. Here Chrystele used several L shaped angle brackets. The top nightstand must be firmly attached to the lower one so it does not move at all. She put a small piece of wood on the front of the new dresser to hide the gap between the two nightstands. It will be later painted a fake drawer front.

On each side of the new tall dresser, wood filler was used to hide the gap between the 2 pieces.

#2 – Paint the repurposed nightstands into a tall dresser

Before painting, the new dresser and the drawer fronts were lightly sanded. Proper sanding is important. It helps to create a smooth finish so you will have a better result. Sanding also ensures the paint will “stick” to your furniture.

The drawer fronts were painted with 4 different colors: charcoal black, gray, taupe and creamy white colors. She used two coats of paint for a good looking result. She also decided to add stenciled numbers to give the furniture an industrial style.

Since the stencils were quite small and did not cover the entire drawer fronts, Chrystele made a cover using cardboard. She did not want to ruin her paint job at this stage!

Also I would advise you to make a test on a random wood board using spray paint to check your cover sealing. If there is no bleeding, you can proceed with your painting job.

Another tip: Should you want to keep your stencils clean and use them again and again, you should clean them immediately. I mean Immediately, not a couple of minutes after using them. Most spray paints dry very fast and are very difficult to clean

You may have noticed drawer #4 is missing. It is actually the fake drawer made with the wood board used to cover the gap between the 2 original nightstands.

#3 – Add New Pulls and Feet

To give some additional height to the dresser, Chrystele added four homemade legs.

She also added card holder drawer pulls. I’m a huge fan of these pulls. They bring character and authenticity even to the more basic piece of furniture.

The entire piece was sealed using clear wax.

Here is the final result.