I purchased some pre-owned night stands for super cheap, but they desperately needed a makeover. They were mismatched and the paint was very scratched. Although they were made of wood, the top was a veneer, so sanding and staining were not an option unless I wanted to keep the tops a cherry color.

I wanted a lighter wood-look finish, but knew my only option was to paint. Right away, my plan was to refinish these the same way I painted my steel front door.

Here is where I started:

Materials Needed:

• Sandpaper
• Light colored paint (I used Sherwin Williams Latte)
• Old paintbrush or chip brush
• Walnut Gel Stain
• Gloves
• Rags or additional chip brush

The first thing I had to do was lightly sand off the rough spots in the old paint and give the new paint something to stick to. After that, I applied a thin layer of SW Latte with my old paintbrush. I was careful to apply the new paint in the direction that the wood grain would go if the entire thing was made of real wood. If you apply the paint in all different directions, you will get a cross-hatched look with your finish and it won’t look as nice.

Because the base paint was so dark, I applied a second coat of SW Latte. If I had used primer, or if the base color had been a lighter color to start, one coat would have been sufficient.

After the paint was dry, I applied a layer of the Walnut Gel Stain with a rag. You could also use a chip brush for this step. The streaks add to the wood-look, so you don’t have to get fancy with your application. The important part of this step is to make sure you are applying the gel stain in the direction that real wood grain would go. I applied just a small amount of gel stain to my rag and wiped it on in small sections.

If you would like a darker finish, you can go back and apply more stain. I wiped the stain in one continuous direction all the way across each section to there were no strange marks where I picked up or set down my rag.

After the stain was applied, I used a piece of scrapbook paper to cover the inlay of the drawer near the handle. I see many DIY folks using cane webbing or something similar in areas like this, but these side tables were going in my bedroom. My husband and I are the only ones who will be seeing these, so I decided scrapbook paper was good enough for me. I also didn’t want to spend any money on this, so paper was the way to go!

I spent a little extra time on the bottom to make the edges look better and let it dry. Done! I’ll probably go back and finish the inside, too. It clashes pretty hard! What do you think?