How to Turn an Old Vanity Into Nightstands

Being a military wife has its unique struggles. One of which is making your furniture fit into houses of all different shapes and sizes. Which is why I recently had to turn an old vanity into nightstands!

The nightstands we used at Fort Bragg were actually a set of end tables that go with our penny coffee table. However, they wouldn’t fit in our bedroom in Texas, so we had to find new, smaller nightstands.

I love a good DIY furniture project and I knew the perfect piece for our new nightstands.

My dad had an antique vanity sitting in his barn for years and was more than happy to let us have it.

Here’s how we turned an antique vanity into nightstands.

Step 1: Cut the Vanity in Half

First, we detached the vanity mirror and set it aside. Then using a circular saw, we cut the top of the vanity next to the drawers.

We made sure to leave a few extra inches on the vanity top, in case we made a mistake routing the edge. It looked a little wonky because one side was longer than the other, but it’s better to be safe than sorry!

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Step 2: Sand It Down

After the antique vanity was chopped into two separate pieces, it was time to sand them down and prep for painting.

Before sanding, I removed the hardware from the drawers.

Then, using our orbital sander and 120-grit sanding discs, I scuff-sanded the frame of the nightstand. (Scuff sanding means lightly sanding the surface.) I just made sure to rough it up enough to give the paint something to adhere to.

However, I sanded all of the varnish off of the tops, drawer faces, legs, and wood detail on the bottoms of the nightstands. These were sections that we were going to leave wood and not paint.

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Step 3: Prime & Paint

Once the sanding was complete on the DIY nightstands, it was on to priming and painting.

I taped off the wood details and legs and used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer as a base for my paint.

**Pro Tip** When painting wooden furniture white (or any light color) you must use a primer to keep the paint from yellowing.

I covered the primer with a creamy white paint from Sherwin Williams (the color is called Origami White).

This paint also has a stain-blocking quality, which seems like overkill, but if you’ve ever spent hours refurbishing a piece of furniture and then had it turn yellow, you don’t want to take any chances!

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Step 4: Staining & Touch Ups

While the paint was drying, I added stain to the pieces that were remaining wood.

We did a few touch-ups to the wood detailing on the bottom and the legs by scraping off paint that bled through the tape.

Step 5: Add Hardware & Enjoy!

Finally, it was time to add the final touch and return the hardware to the drawers.

I liked the original hardware, so I just cleaned it up and re-used it.

After seeing videos online of people turning an old vanity into nightstands, I finally got to try it myself. And I think they came out great!

These DIY nightstands fit so much better in our new, smaller bedroom. Plus, they match our style and the rest of our thrifted home decor.