A couple years ago I found myself in a predicament. We had just moved to our current home and we were especially tight on money. In our condo we had a nightstand on one side of our bed and a wooden file cabinet on the other side. They were in the same tones of light oak, so it still looked good. Unfortunately, our wooden file cabinet became unworkable so upon moving we got rid of it. When we arrived to our current home we were in need of a new bedside table to anchor the bed and to provide a surface to put a lamp and other nearby necessities on.
The nightstand we already had was one we bought when we were first married.  It was from 10 years ago.  I was in graduate school at the time and my husband had just gotten out of graduate school. Neither of us had a job. We bought it at Meijier’s for $40 (back then I didn’t know about Craigslight-gasp!) with our precious wedding gift money and only bought 1 because we didn’t have the money for two.
Since there was no matching solution I decided to find something with the same wood tone again. Thankfully, a pin from pinterest came to mind and a budget friendly solution was secured!!! Below was my pinterest inspiration. A shelf used as an attractive, free-standing entryway table! Brilliant!!!
I had noticed some shelves and brackets at Home Depot the week before so I went back to check them out.
Here is what I found:
I purchased the light oak one to match the wood tone of my other nightstand. The 12″x24″ size is perfect for a nightstand. The brackets came in several different finishes. In the wood aisle they also have wooden brackets and corbels that would work well. I bought the rubbed bronze oil brackets for $6.86 each. My freestanding nightstand shelf solution came to a total of $17.00. I bought a basket at %50 for $11 at Michael’s to go under it. It stores books and magazines.
The shelf is easy to install. All you do is screw the screws it comes with into the shelf and then into the wall. If I were going to be putting heavy things on it I would have used anchors to reinforce the weight. And of course you could also buy some wood and stain it yourself!
Here are some more examples of putting a shelf to work as pieces of furniture:
A Console TableÂ
http://www.storypiece.net/2013/05/22/royal-furnishings/
http://www.letsgetcrafty.org/diy-sofa-table/
A Nightstand
 
http://www.justthebeesknees.com/2013/04/carsons-room-reveal.html
A Desk
Cococozy.com
21 responses to “The Shelf that Does-it-All”
Thank you so much for including my sofa table in your post! A year later and we still love it. Creating your own as a solution for your nightstand was brilliant and it came out nicely.
You’re welcome,Danielle! Glad to hear your pretty sofa table is still doing it’s job!:-)
Great ideas Tamara!
Thanks, Stephanie! So good to hear from you! 😉
Your nightstand looks gorgeous! We did this several years ago to convert old {junky} bookshelves into pretty wall-mounted ones.
Great thinking, Keri! Thanks for sharing!!!:-)
I am updating my daughter’s room and have been looking for ideas for a vanity area. It needs to be small but functional. You gave me lots of inspiration, thanks! A shelf and cute brackets is definitely the way to go!
That will be so cute as a vanity!
What a great idea! I have been needing new side tables in our bedroom and that might just be the best choice! Thanks for sharing at our Motivational Monday party! Be sure to stop by again tomorrow to link up another diy/home post.
Thanks, Amanda! Will do!:-)
I’m Pinterest junkie – Not sure how I never stumbled upon this brilliant idea! Thankfully Pinterest led me to your blog and now I know this awesome and affordable decorating trick. I will definitely try the night stand and desk ideas. Thank you!
You are very welcome Kelly! Thank you for coming by!!:-)
how about making it a bench
Love these ideas! I think I might make a little shelf-table to put by the front door, to put outgoing mail, etc. on.
That would be a convenient place for it for sure! Thanks for stopping by!:-)
We used a leftover Ikea shelf in my daughter’s room for her vanity. We added a vanity mirror, make-up organizer and a hanging hair tools holder. Perfect. And now from your post, have an idea for a space in which we need a specific piece of furniture, which I cannot find. I can use two shelves!
Yay, Penny, so glad to have helped!:-)
Great inspiration! I love how you displayed the use of narrow areas and make a shelf “act” like furniture. Thanks for sharing these ideas.
You’re very welcome, Luci! Thanks for coming by!!:-)
I gotta say- this was a great read!! SO many good ideas- that look very easy & cheap!! I like easy & cheap! 🙂 Haha Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you enjoyed it, Nina! I like cheap and easy too!:-)