DIY Compass Rose Night Stand

This is a step-by-step How To Not Paint a 1970’s Night Stand.

I received two night stands from my sister, That Clever Chick. They were our Great-Grandmother’s night stands, but Dear Sweet Sissy didn’t have any use for them so they were sitting in her garage. I decided to take them and repaint them but hadn’t decided on anything in particular so then they lived in MY garage for a while. Finally, browsing Pinterest, I had come up with a few ideas. This was my original plan, found here:

Pretty maps are hard to find. These days, they have bright colors and I just don’t find them appealing. I went to Half Price Books to try to find a map book, but didn’t have much luck. (I also don’t have the patience to sift through their MASSIVE clearance section though, so if you do, give it a try!) I tried printing out some old world maps but they were too small, so instead I decided on a compass rose. It would be simple but still look awesome, and be easy to reproduce, since I have 2 night stands.

First, I tried taking some chemical stripper to them in order to get any finish, stain, or paint off of them. I will let you know now, that I will probably NEVER use chemical stripper again. Even using rubber gloves, I burned myself several times by getting this stuff on my skin. And, just by leaving a used shop towel on the garage floor, it ate the smooth layer off of the concrete on the garage floor. THIS IS SOME NASTY STUFF.

Next, I tried painting the night stands with leftover latex paint. Hubby was sick of the night stands taking up space in the garage, so I was trying to kill two birds with one stone and get rid of some old paint at the same time. Unfortunately the paint wouldn’t stay put. There was a plastic-y 1970s finish on the night stands that prevented paint from sticking to it.

Paint scraping of easily – you can’t have that on a night stand!

So I decided to power wash them. Fastest way to get paint off of them, right? Well, yes, but it also made a huge mess. There were chunks of latex paint all over the driveway, and the wood didn’t really like it either. There was some splitting of the layers of wood, since it was a composite instead of solid wood (I’m guessing it was in the 70s that the US started cheaping out on quality furniture?) Anyway, I got the paint off as much as possible, and then sanded the rest of the table smooth.

After it was power-washed

Then I decided to spray paint the tables. I bought 2 cans (one can for each table, right?) Man, that stuff DID NOT WANT TO COVER. There were patches where I could see the wood even after passing over the same spot several times with the spray paint. I ended up using 1 1/2 cans just for one table. The spray paint also didn’t go on smoothly. I’m not sure if it’s because of the chemical stripper, or because I bought a matte finish, but it’s bumpy. I like to think this will help prevent things from sliding off of the night stand in the future.

one can of spray paint was not enough

Then they stayed in the garage a while longer. One painted, the other one, not. We got busy, the days grew shorter, and I didn’t have a lot of daylight hours at home. So they waited.

Finally, while Hubby was out of town (probably hunting, but by now I can’t remember where he was) I decided enough was enough. I brought the painted night stand into the house and started working. I cut and traced the Compass Rose onto the wood, eye-balling it in the center. Then I started painting it in.

Drawing and Painting the pattern, free-handed with the exception of tracing the outline.

This part went perfectly. So perfectly in fact, that I’m afraid to start working on the other one, because I know it won’t turn out as well at the first one. I have seen this pattern my whole life – Beginner’s Luck turns into junk the second time around.

Blurry, but Finished!

The Final Product

I am thinking that on the other night stand I might put an anchor or something instead of another Compass Rose, but I haven’t decided yet. At this point, January in Southeast Texas doesn’t bode well for outdoor projects, especially painting, so I guess I have some time to decide. What do you think I should do? Below are a few Photoshopped ideas:

So, all in all, it turned out well, even though there were a few hiccups along the way. Lessons I’m passing on to you: (1) try to avoid using chemical stripper, unless you are wearing a HAZMAT suit; (2) prime every time; (3) buy twice as much spray paint as you think you’ll need; (4) don’t use latex paint on furniture when it has a terrible plastic-y finish on it.

There you go. My experiences have paid off for you again. Learn from my mistakes, and you will be a crafting genius. Everyone will want to know where you got your furniture, and you can just say “I made it.”

Cheers!