LEARN TO DO THIS: Re-finish a nightstand!

Happy Labor Day! I've been 'laboring' (I'm terribly witty...) on this one for a couple weeks now... finally finished it up, put it together and in place today...
When we bought our new bedroom set after we got married, we decided not to spring the extra $150 for the matching night stand. Would have been nice... but Z kinda had that money earmarked for a new Wii... soooo... we did without. We actually had been using an wooden tv tray for the alarm clock and what not that goes on a nightstand while I tried to find a better alternative.
Enter craigslist... where I found THIS charming little thing for $20.

 The person I bought it from said this of her antique night stand,  (and I quote) "It needs re-finished, but it's really sturdy." By the time I got the thing to my car, the drawer front had come off, and a piece on the front was wobbling conspicuously. Sturdy my arse! Oh well, I was going to have to take it all apart to stain it anyhow. It was pretty dinged up and was this nasty orange-ish color. gross. And had this greenish tarnished brass pull-- knew that had to go.
OK, so I got out my husbands little 'mouse' sander and sanded away. I used a paint/varnish stripper on the trim/detailing. All those little grooves were a pain in my bum! Here it is naked:

And then I put on 3 coats of walnut stain/varnish, (sanding between each coat, what a pain...) and glued and nailed the whole thing back together to sturdiness again! And we changed that yucky pull to a much prettier brushed nickle that matches out bedroom set... and...

SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Now, it was my first time refinishing something... so i am sure you can pick out the blemishes if you wanna try real hard... you can find plenty of stuff like this:

Sigh. Imperfections.

But that's only if you are trying to find fault, because for the most part it looks great! I am pleased!

Now all that's left to do is put is in place... so it can replace this mess: (honestly this is the reason I try to stay away from that side of the room, it is scary and kinda gross. I need to teach Z about trashcans and stacking things. anywho...)

BEFORE...

Gross, right? Um, here's how it looks with new nightstand in place. MUCH better! Much more organization! Much more happy! (although the bed is still not made, don't judge me. The sheets are in the wash...)

Good project, and good sense of accomplishment! Hooray!