The tale of two pink nightstands

For a long time Lillian has been looking for an old bar-cart or AV stand to use as a bedside table. Her IKEA bed frame is a little higher off the floor than is standard, which is great for stowing suitcases full of sweaters and shoes, but means that the usual nightstand is lower than the edge of the bed, which decorators frown upon.  It also makes Lillian feel like the Princess And The Pea atop a stack of twenty mattresses, unable to reach her lamp, her book, or her tea without tumbling head first out of bed.

Mom!  Mom?  Mom! Mom!  Will you bring me a drink of water?  Mom? Mom!  Mom!

Then I remembered that Grandma Ruth (my mother), who lives nearby, had this old metal utility cart in her garage.

When I was growing up it lived in our kitchen, but it got evicted when Mom finally agreed to replace her forty year old, "coppertone" (sixties-speak for dark brown with darker brown ombre edges--so fine!)  refrigerator.  I don't remember where it came from originally, but I do recall Mom spray painting the cart brown.  (Everything old is new again: brown!) I also remember that our previous, very old, refrigerator expired one summer when we were out of state and we came home to find a big white coffin full of warm food which had thawed and leaked out all over the kitchen floor.  Mom used to be a fearless DIYer back in the day,  and also spray painted the original turquoise range hood and oven door.  For decades the stovetop (not a good candidate for spray paint) remained turquoise as a reminder of a more colorful era.  It recently got the heave-ho when she bought all new appliances (almond, which, although already out of date and which had to be special ordered, was as modern as she was willing to go.)

Anyway, I crammed the cart into my trunk and brought it home, and today I cleaned it up with sandpaper and denatured alcohol, and spray painted it with Rustoleum Ultra Cover in Gloss Berry Pink.

Orchard Supply Hardware sent me a $5 off coupon for my birthday this month, making Lillian's new nightstand free, which is my favorite price.

Of course I ran out of paint before I was entirely done with the last coat. Back to OSH!

Lottie is fearlessly watching for lizards and rats.
She fools them into thinking she is asleep and the coast is clear.  So sneaky.

Chase  is not interested in DIY projects, unless it involves turning on the bathroom faucet (not that much!--just a dribble--there now leave it for ten minutes while I drink), which he would like me to do about twenty nine times a day.
And also at night.

And there it is!

Yes, we do both have [slightly different] pink night stands, but it really was the right color in both rooms. If Lillian ever gets her room clean enough to show this little table neatly arranged beside her bed, I will take a picture and post it.  That, however, could take a long long long time.