DIY Atomic Nightstands with Hairpin Legs
So now the bed is complete, our next project was to build a pair of mid century modern inspired nightstands. Originally, I was going to buy a pair of nightstands. I wanted a pair of Paul McCobb nightstands that matches my dresser. I looked all possible sources, but could never find one within my budget. I saw an eBay listing for about $2,300 – WTF?! I only paid $10 for a matching McCobb dresser!!! I started to gather ideas to design my dream nightstands – something cute, functional and easy to build. I like designing my own furniture – there are endless possibilities!
Her Side
My plan was to use the leftover oak plywood sheet from the bed project. When I bought the 4’ x 8’ sheet at a local hardware store, I had them cut into pieces. For legs, I used a set of vintage hairpin legs I already had. Each nightstand would have a storage space with a door and a separate storage area for books and/or knick-knacks. Surprisingly, building the nightstands was harder than building the bed. The measurements had to be super precise – unlike the bed, 1/16 of an inch difference made a difference! I measured twice, but still cut twice (if not more)… The hardest part was fitting and attaching the doors. No matter what I did, the doors were crooked. It was hard to evenly space the doors top and bottom without leaving too much/less gaps. I was so frustrated that I even thought of just gluing it onto the body.
His Side
We stained the body with the same color as the bed. We wanted the doors to be something different, so we bought a colored stain called “Mandarin Orange.” We thought the color would tie into the color of the wall application. The color of the doors didn’t really turn out as we wanted it to be though. It looks more red than orange… After attaching the knobs, the color didn’t bother me too much. I am happy that now I have a pair of matching nightstands that fit our needs – and they are one of a kind no one else has 
