Aqua Nightstand Before and After

This was actually Kevin's baby.

He picked it out at a yard sale. It was really beat up, and I confess - I would have left it. I had my doubts. And, it's not vintage - it's a modern piece by Lane. But, we're in this together, and I knew we'd be able to make something out of it, no matter how cruddy it was.

So I (we) had to scrape off the gunky ikk off the top... someone had spilled something thick and gummy on it. Then I suggested we strip it, and see what the wood was like underneath. It was gorgeous.... with a few dings and stains (which I call beauty marks). 

The corners were really chewed up so Kevin just rounded them off. After all the sanding was complete I had to re-stain the edges and corners because I wanted to distress it and natural light colored wood under the paint wouldn't show up well for distressing. (For that I used Minwax "Plantation Walnut".) I also re-stained the top in "Golden Oak", also by Minwax.

Kevin originally picked out a kind of grey-blue color, and I had chosen a dark teal-grey color; so we compromised on "Deepest Aqua" by Glidden.

When I first started painting, it looked really blue - kind of a "smurf" blue. But it turned out a really pretty turquoise as it dried, and with distressing, it really started to look better and better! I finished it with finishing wax and Polycrylic on the top.

Above you see the nightstand is displayed in our new "showroom" in my friend's antique shop. We busted our tails in the shop today moving everything around! So much heavy lifting and moving to do before the fun part.... making displays and decorating things a bit. I'll be sharing some photos soon. 

I am really thrilled with the color.... I plan on doing some more bright stuff down the road!