How is it the middle of September already? Time seems to be flying by lately!

We had the most incredibly wonderful, fantastic cool front last weekend! (I may have enjoyed it a little bit) In Houston, when the high temps don’t make you sweat like crazy the minute you walk out the door… Autumn is approaching. I welcomed these mild days with open arms, but they also reminded me that Fall is almost here and the end of the year is nearing the horizon. There was a twinge of sadness, but also excitement because it is almost my favorite time of the year… the Holidays!

Ever since Christopher made his transition into a big boy bed this past January, we have been using the small table from my nesting tables as his nightstand. I have been searching for a simple nightstand that I could refinish to match his dresser to no avail. I had contemplated using the IKEA TARVA nightstand and after little to no luck on my thrifting expeditions, I swung by IKEA for the TARVA.

I started this project with the simple unfinished TARVA nightstand from IKEA. In a stroke of pure genius, IKEA produced a completely “hackable” side table with drawer. There are infinite variations of this piece since it is literally a blank canvas.

A few ideas swirled around in my head, but in the end I stuck to the original plan and stained the TARVA to match Christopher’s existing dresser. I used the same Minwax Gel Stain in Chestnut.

I stained the piece before assembly to avoid any inadvertent gaps in stain. Also, it is much easier to manipulate individual pieces rather than the entire table.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had finished staining Christopher’s nightstand and I finally got around to assembling it and putting the protective coat on it last week.

My favorite top coat is by far Polycrylic in Clear Satin. It provides fantastic protection without a heavy sheen. I applied three coats to the top, sides and drawer front/handle.

My best advice with any stain or sealer is to follow the directions to the letter. I ended up putting the Polycrylic on in our entryway due to the abhorrent amounts of humidity we’ve had in recent weeks. At long last, the finished product made its debut in Christopher’s room last Thursday.

I am completely pleased with the end result!

Have you “hacked” an IKEA piece in your home?

~ Corinne