Another side table FAIL.

I had a bit of a DIY fail this weekend that I'm still trying to recover from. A while back, I purchased this little gem on craigslist for $20. Perfect size, perfect shape but UGLY color. I. Was. Smitten.

My plan was to strip off the gross burgundy paint and refinish the piece in a nice, dark stain and maybe add a handle on the drawer to create more interest. Sounds cute, right?

Well, after an evening of stripping and a day of sanding, I realized that the top of the nightstand was... VENEER. Read: not able to be stained.

For those that don't know, this isn't my first encounter with nightstand drama (post: here). Because of the awkward space, it's been outrageously difficult to find a nightstand that will fit. We're talking daily visits to craigslist, weekly visits to thrift stores and countless hours of trying to talk myself into the possibility of having to pay upwards of $100 for something that would work (sorry, dad but I almost had to).

So naturally, when I found the nightstand pictured above, I blocked out any possibility of the piece having anything wrong with it and focused on how cute it would look stained.

Where does that leave me now? Figuring out a Plan B. Which I believe is paint. Which I'm not sure will work based on the room's current balance of color and neutrals. Case-and-point being:

1. The nightstand is right next to a white plastic chair, making white a non-option.
2. The nightstand is right next to my duvet cover which is pretty much the only thing in my bedroom with some actual color. That actual color being one shade of green.

So I'm thinking I need to find a way to introduce an accent color that will allow me to paint the nightstand something bright - counteracting with the white chair and wood dresser while not blending in too much with the green duvet cover.

Here is a picture of my bedroom to-date:

And here are some photos I found to hopefully help me on my way.

fine green design

family circle

re-nest

pinterest

apartment therapy

Anyone else have any other ideas?

Side table FAIL.

After successfully spray painting both lamps and an oval mirror (all featured here), I figured why mess with a good thing and proceeded to spray paint my less than perfect side table, hoping to give it a breath of fresh air. Well... FAIL.

After sanding (thankfully I have a sander), priming and spraying the piece a glossy bright white, I set it up in my room and stepped back to admire. Low and behold, I HATED it. As you can see, the side table already isn't the right height, calling even more attention to it by spraying it the bright white. On top of this, when setting beside the glossy (and adorable) white chair, the room ended up looking unbalanced with all of the white piled into one corner of the space.

Having already spent above my non-existent budget, I needed to find something that would work within my own home. Because the lamp is so tall, I wanted something a little lower than my bed, helping to balance clunkiness of a large bed. I then talked myself into liking the square table vs. a circular one as long as I further complemented the lamp base with additional circular accessories. Finally, with the surrounding pieces all being smooth and the lamp shade being textured, I decided to add more texture by using a rattan cube as a side table to help balance out the two finishes.

After accessorizing the dresser a bit more with an aloe plant potted in a shiny white pot, I was finished. Now all that's left is 1) a solution for what to do with the [boring] hutch (featured here), 2) the purchase of some rugs and new curtains and 3) spray painting a few of my frames to get rid of the some of the red (featured here and here).