Before and After: This Adorable IKEA Nightstand Hack Will Make You Want to Buy Dino Knobs
Hello, IKEA hacks, our old friend. When it comes to inexpensive yet custom decor, IKEA is a goldmine. That’s where Liz Stiglianese turned when she was redoing her bedroom—after falling in love with dreamy blue nightstands with gold legs she saw online that topped $100 each. Liz didn’t want to blow her bedroom budget on nightstands, so she picked up a pair of solid pine TARVA nightstands to DIY the look herself.
Their small size was a perfect fit, and the simple, sleek shape was an ideal canvas for Liz to create her own self-styled furniture. For the top portion, she grabbed chalky finish paint online in a soft blue color, plus wax for finishing. To mimic the look of the metal legs on the inspiration nightstands, she bought metallic gold paint.
After painting the top blue—it took three coats, and about 20 minutes of work for each—Liz finished the top of the nightstands with clear protective wax. It took about an hour to get the metallic finish on the legs using the gold paint.
The whimsical mismatched dinosaur knobs were a special buy from an Etsy shop. “I wanted cool knobs, so I looked on Etsy and found the gold dinosaur knobs and had to have them,” says Liz. “The only setback was the screw on the knob didn’t fit in the nightstand drawer, so I had to drill to make the hole bigger.” That was easy enough work, though, and once Liz widened the hole and screwed the dinos into place, her work was done!
Her favorite part (besides paying just $135 for both nightstands and all her materials)? Unlike the original nightstands she’d been eyeing, these beauties are totally custom. “I had purchased three sample chalk paints in different blue colors to see which worked best with my bed frame, rug, and comforter and landed on Nantucket Blue,” says Liz. “I love that each nightstand is totally unique and that I was able to pick exactly what colors I wanted.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.