DIY: Painted and Stenciled Night Stand

I bought this night stand at a yard sale earlier this summer, thinking it would go nicely next to the Mr.'s side of the bed. We currently just have a little Ikea table there because it was cheap and it fit, but I wanted something with more height and a drawer so all of his junk wouldn't just be laying out in plain sight. This was $5 and it fit the bill, and even though it's not the sturdiest thing ever, I grabbed it.

It needed a new paint job desperately, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it, so it sat in the garage for a few months while I thought about it (meaning I had other projects I wanted to do first).

After looking through Pinterest at other dressers and night stands, I decided I wanted to do a metallic paint on it. I thought it would look nice next to our new headboard and our bedspread has silver in it, so I gave it a try.

My supplies:

I lightly sanded it to remove the yellow paint on top and smooth it out a little bit. Although I normally don't prime things before spray painting them, I did this time since it's a furniture piece and I wanted it to look nice. After the primer, I sprayed on several coats of Rustoleum's Metallic Spray Paint in the color Chrome. As you can see, it's a pretty shiny finish.

After I had two full cans of the chrome spray paint on the whole thing, I stenciled the drawer with a darker pewter paint to add some contrast. My sister-in-law loaned me some Martha Stewart stencils so I didn't have to buy them.

You can see there is some seepage where there shouldn't be, but I just cleaned up the areas with a wet q-tip right after I removed the stencil and most of the excess paint came off. 

Finished drawer.

The stenciling was kind of a pain in the ass. Lining up the stencil in the exact position was tough and making sure all of the little crevices were stuck down took some patience. But I really like how it turned out! 

Since our bedroom is dark, here is the finished product in a better lit room. 

And in our room:

(Sorry for the darkness)

The stenciled shape matches the shape on our pillow covers almost exactly, so I was pumped about that, too. 

Tips for using metallic spray paint:

• This stuff is very unforgiving. Metallic spray paint shows off fingerprints like no other. I touched the drawer with my thumb and the fingerprint is just hanging out there, never to be wiped off. Thankfully, it got stenciled over. Maybe wear gloves when handling the items? The night stand also has a few imperfections in the form of dents/scratches and the silver spray paint accentuates them. I'll pretend that it adds "character." 
• It does not cover nicely. I used at least four or five coats to get a good cover on this thing, which meant two full cans of spray paint. 
• You have to do thin coats. If you spray excess in any one area, it shows through on the next coat and can make it look splotchy. I tried to make mine as even and thin as possible, but there are still spots that look a little darker because that area went on too thick. 

Tips for using stencils:

• Make sure all of the crevices of the stencil are really stuck down to the item by using a spray adhesive. Most are temporary if you only spray one side (so just spray the back of the stencil). I had paint seep under the stencil in a few places so I had to go back with a q-tip and clean it up.
• Don't wait for the paint to dry to remove the stencil. You want the paint to still be wet so you can go back and touch up if needed. 
• Wash the stencil between sections so any paint that did seep through the back is wiped off and doesn't get on the next section of whatever you are stenciling. 

Cost breakdown:

Night Stand: $5 at yard sale

1 can Rustoleum Primer: $3.44

2 cans Rustoleum Metallic Spray Paint in Chrome: $3.71 x 2 = $7.42

1 min jar of Rustoleum Metallic Accents Paint in Real Pewter: $3.98

Stencil Brushes, which I didn't use: $2.97

Stencils: Free, borrowed from sister-in-law

Total: $22.81