Vanity on Stilts

About five years ago I bought a solid-looking nightstand from the local Goodwill for--and my memory is rusty--something in the neighborhood of $5.  I needed something to put my TV on in the apartment I was moving to, and space was at a premium. The drawers were deep enough for all myVHS tapes of recorded shows (no DVR for the graduate student, nosiree), and the TV was an exact fit. Sound odd? Somewhere I have pictures of it in its former function (will add if I can find them.)

When the Mr. and I set up house, it returned to life as a bedside table. Eventually, when we decided it was time to actually get a bedroom set (post forthcoming), it found itself without purpose. Alone in the world, long separated from its twin and (I presume) matching headboard. Probably a dresser or two, too.

With all the shuffling around we were doing in the bedroom, I lost the place where I used to keep all my primping paraphernalia.  Makeup, headbands, hair dryer, jewelry, etc., etc. Aha!, I thought.

Turns out the legs were held on with screws, which left some nice squared moulding around the bottom edge.

We found some legs at Home Depot, for $6 each, and the corner plates ($2) to attach them.

It was a pretty easy project; four legs, some glossy white paint, and "stainless steel" spray paint on the hardware:

It's now tall enough that I can do my makeup with a mirror sitting on top, and the space underneath fits a laundry basket.  It's happily sitting in what used to be dead space between our bedroom and our bathroom.