The Nightstand sans Sparkle-y, Disney Stickers.

I have officially finished my first piece of furniture. Technically, I completed it a few weeks ago. But I've been on a hunt for the perfect hardware, which I stumbled on today in Target. So, drum rolls please....

A few before shots:

I forgot to take a picture before taking out the drawer and hardware, but the hardware was exactly this style:

And now:

The nightstand was my mom's. I remember it in my parent's room as a kid. Somewhere along the way, I snatched it and was so wonderful enough to fill the sides with my sticker collection and marker markings. Eventually, it ended down here in Charleston with me, stickers and all. Then Tomas and I got a new bed when we moved which is a dark mahogany. So I decided I wanted to stain the nightstand mahogany as well.

First, I sanded. When I started this project, it was still 100+ degrees in Charleston. So I had the genius idea that I could sand inside so I didn't have to bear the heat. Please, learn from my illogical mistakes, and don't do something as stupid as sanding inside. (Unless you like the taste of sawdust in your food and bed and clothes and every other part of your house.)

Next I stained, then decided the stain wasn't dark enough. So I sanded again (outside this time), picked up a darker stain, and stained again. Finally, (months later) I added a new handle. And voila! It was really that simple. It's still not as dark as I was hoping, but I'm still happy with it!