Drawer tables are a thing, right?

Now, I am quite fond of the saying: waste not, want not, so when faced with a couple of redundant drawers, I was eager to come up with a new use for them. Left over from my now made-over sideboard, these two drawers were in line to become wooden planters for the garden, hanging box/shelves things, or – quite brilliantly – side tables. It was actually the Mr who accidentally came up with this idea when we first moved into the house and had nowhere to put a cup of tea when relaxing on an evening, and he turned one of the drawers on its side and rested his hot cuppa on the top. Because the drawers are narrow, they fit perfectly either side of the sofa, something I think we would struggle to achieve with shop-bought side tables.

I quickly came round to the new table idea – so, one rainy Saturday afternoon turned into another upcycling/makeover project and voila, these little gems were born.

A few people have suggested this idea is a bit mad, but I for one am quite proud of this reuse, and they match the rest of the living room (bar the horrible red carpet) beautifully. Who’d want to waste them anyway?

Take two old drawers like this one

Paint grey – this is Warm Pewter matt emulsion by Dulux, which I used for the sideboard

Mask off stripes and paint two coats of colour. I went for Banana matt emulsion by Habitat and gloss white by Johnstones Paints to bring contrast and to tie the colours to the sideboard further

Once completely dry, carefully peel away masking tape to reveal the finished design

This one fits snugly between the sofa and some shelves

A great place for our side lamp (need a new lampshade – ideas please?!)

What do you think? Is this mad or savvy upcycling? The only thing I would change is to fill the holes left by the drawer pulls.

Upcycled sideboard

Inspired by good old Kirstie Allsopp, I have finally transformed my old sideboard (which I picked up for £15 at a local furniture clearance) into a practical media unit for the living room. I am loving grey and yellow as a colour scheme, so chose to do the sideboard the same. The Mr and I popped over the road to Homebase and picked up ‘Banana’ matt emulsion by Habitat and ‘Warm Pewter’ matt emulsion by Dulux. While the paint cost us more than the actual sideboard itself, the quality of the colours is worth every penny and I am looking forward to seeing what else I can paint to match our new piece.

To make room for our DVD player and Freeview box, I decided to take two of the drawers away (still trying to figure out another use for them) and painted the cavity in yellow. I continued the yellow on the inside of the drawers and left the rest grey. To pay homage to the original piece, I left the legs uncovered, as I really like the shape of them. After two coats and a few drying hours in between, I added some lovely ceramic drawer pulls from Pushka Knobs, which I discovered while working at The National Home Improvement Show last month.

What do you think of the finished result? All we need to do is drill a hole in the back for the cables and slide a shelf into the cavity to make room for more gadgets. I am really pleased at how this little project turned out – and it only took one weekend. Thanks Kirstie!