DIY Dollhouse Nightstand

Ready for an IKEA hack?! I’ve been wanting to make a dollhouse nightstand inspired by Pottery Barn’s.  I think it’ll be really cute for my son’s room (though he’s obsessed with cats, so it’s a cat house to him). I thought I’d take the IKEA Songesand nightstand and make it over to be a DIY dollhouse nightstand. Anything to add more mini houses. (my favorite motif!) around!

inspiration

To start off, here’s a look at the Pottery Barn Dollhouse nightstand. I love how sweet the legs, door, and windows are. I’d like to add more color and personality. But overall, I think this is adorable! Though too expensive for me at $449 plus the price to ship it.

how to make a DIY Dollhouse nightstand

Let’s start with the video tutorial for how to make the DIY dollhouse nightstand so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

 

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. I’d be over the moon happy if you subscribed to my YouTube channel! Videos are actually released on YouTube first (usually the night before they’re published on the blog). Thank you!

SUPPLIES

• IKEA Nightstand- Songesand
• Dollhouse Windows
• Fairy Door
• Scallop Trim
• Dentil Molding
• Mini Brass Sconces
• Dollhouse Mailbox
• House Number
• Replacement Legs  
• Plywood 3/4″ thick
• Woodfiller
• White Paint- Ultra Pure White by Behr
• Green Paint- Frosted Sage by Behr
• Band Edging
• Wood Knob
• Rainbow Stripe Wallpaper
• Gorilla Glue

Tools-

• Jigsaw
• Drill
• Router
• Exact-o Knife
• Finger Sander
• Palm Sander
• Dremel Rotary Tool

Note, I do not live close to an IKEA. The one in my state is 1 hour and 32 minutes away (84 miles), so I only go if I’m in the area. But I wanted this nightstand for this project. I checked out the different delivery options and they had a $3.99 option to ship to the FedEx in my neighborhood! It was so convenient and affordable! So try that if you don’t live close to one either.

step 1- assembly

Start by assembling the Songesand. Put it together according to the instructions from IKEA. Don’t attach the door, the handle, or the plastic feet.

Cut out a cardboard template for the door. You don’t have to do this, but it was helpful to see if all our dollhouse windows and door would fit and what size to cut the actual nightstand door. 

Note, we used this power cutter for cutting the cardboard. It’s so nice to have on hand for cutting down cardboard boxes!

I’ll supply that information for this nightstand and the exact dollhouse accessories we use, so if you do the same, skip the cardboard template.

The good news is that the trim, windows, and door I have all will fit great on the nightstand front!

step 2- cut the door

Next, I grabbed some plywood I had on hand from a recent project. It’s 3/4″ thick and I’ll use it for the front of the night stand.

First, we cut it to size with a table saw.

For the IKEA Songesand nightstand, a 18-1/4″ x 14-1/16″ door is the perfect dimension.

Next, we used a pencil to draw on where the openings for the window and door will go.

We made sure everything was centered and perfectly spaced. This way, the front of the dollhouse nightstand will look really nice!

Next, use a drill to create a hole in two corners of each window and door.

The drill bit needs to be large enough for the jigsaw blade to fit through it.

After the starter hole is made, put the jigsaw through the hole and begin cutting out each window and door.

Make sure to take your time. It’s important to be precise so the windows and doors fit nicely in the opening. Note, it’s ok if they wiggle a bit. When everything is painted that’ll add a layer so they’ll fit nice and snug.

It’s exciting once all the openings are cut! Putting the door and windows in place gives a good idea of how the finished nightstand will look!

step 3- hinge attachment

Next, on the back of the wood front we just cut for the nightstand, holes need to be created for the hinges. I re-used the same hinges and screws that came with the IKEA nightstand. The hole for that is about the same diameter as a quarter, so I used one to trace onto the wood.

Use a drill to create a hole on either side of the circle. Be careful to not drill through the front of the plywood! Make sure to measure so they’re the same distance from the middle circle as on the old door.

Then, use a router to cut out the holes for the hinges.

Test the hinges to make sure they fit nicely in the created holes.

If they do fit, use a screw to attach the hinge to the wood. 

On the inside of the nightstand, holes need to be drilled so that the the taller door can now be mounted. Hold the door up to the nightstand to make where the base plate of the hinge goes on the nightstand. Drill those holes.

Use a screwdriver to connect the base plate to the inside of the nightstand.

Last, connect the door to the nightstand.

It’s exciting to see it in place and working! The DIY dollhouse nightstand is getting closer to being complete!

step 4- shelf

Next, because the new nightstand door goes all the way up, the shelf is too wide for the door to shut so it needs to be cut down. Use a table saw or a jigsaw to cut the shelf shorter. 

And now, the sides of the nightstand need new holes drilled for the shelf pins since the shelf is shorter. Use a drill with a drill bit to create a new hole. Make sure to not go too deep or you might drill through the side of the nightstand! A good trick is to use painter’s tape on the drill bit to guide how deep to drill.

Put the shelf pins into the new holes.

Last, install the shorter shelf in place.

step 5- finish work

The original door came with plastic protectors so that if the door hits the frame of the nightstand, it doesn’t slam. Use a drill to create a small hole for those.

Then push them into place.

For the door, it needs a pull. Use a drill to screw through the wood.

Attach the screw in the back.

And on the front you have a knob. I choose a plain wood one so I can camouflage by paining it the same color as the front of the nightstand.

Use wood filler on the front of the dollhouse. We had one screw that went all the way through that was easy to cover up with wood filler. On the edges of the windows there may be some jagged edges from cutting out the holes. Fill those with wood filler. If the holes are extra deep, wait for the first layer of wood filler dries before adding a second layer.

step 6- base

Next, build a base for the legs to attach to for the DIY dollhouse nightstand. The bottom of the nightstand is hollow. Which is dumb because that could be extra storage. Since I want to add legs, we cut two 2×4’s and two 1×4’s down to 14 5/6″ long. They fit snut in the bottom of the nightstand.

Use screws to attach the lumber to the bottom of the nightstand. Drill a hold before adding in the screws to prevent splitting the wood. Screw through the bottom so you get both pieces of wood. Make sure to not screw all the way though the bottom of the nightstand.

I painted the nightstand legs before attaching them to the nightstand. They each got two coats of Frosted Sage paint by Behr.

Once the legs are dry, use screws to attach the feet to the metal plate.

Then place the plates on the bottom of the wood base under the nightstand. Put them as close to the sides and front/back of the night stand as possible.

Use screws to attach the plates to the bottom of the nightstand.

Now the nightstand has cute little feet! This isn’t a necessary step, but it looks closer to the inspiration this way. And it gives the nightstand some height. For my son’s bed, the nightstand now is a better height with the legs added.

step 7-  more finish work

Next, sand the edges and the openings of the plywood door so it’s nice and smooth. For around the windows, we used a Dremel with the sander attachment.

For sanding the top of the plywood so its smooth, a palm sander works great.

Paint the front and back of the door. I used Frosted Sage by Behr.

On the edges of the door, use an iron to attach band edging around the rough edges of the plywood.

Cut the trim for the dollhouse to size. For this, using an exact-o knife worked best.

Paint the dollhouse trim and windows. I choose to use Ultra Pure White by Behr for painting these. It’s too cold where I am at to spray paint outside, but that would’ve been quicker. The windows needed 3 coats of paint to become white.

Use an exact-o knife to trim off any band edging that comes over the side of the door.

When I use band edging, the edges always have a tiny gap from the wood to the new wood trim. I don’t like that, so I use wood filler to fill the gap.

Once the wood filler is dry, sand it smooth.

Paint the edges and the door front and back to finish it off.

step 8-  final touches 

Because of all the changes inside the nightstand, there are probably 10 holes that are no longer needed.

So to cover that, I pulled out some peel and stick wallpaper I had on hand. I cut it to size and wallpapered the inside of the nightstand. Much better!

Last, use super glue to attach the windows, door, trim, and accessories. I glued on the back of the window and door frame before putting them in place.

I do wish I’d used hot glue on the smallest accessories like the door knocker, mailbox, and house number. Those won’t get a lot of wear so hot glue would be fine. Because the Gorilla glue takes 12 hours to dry, the smaller pieces got crooked before drying. So I pulled those off and re-glued them with hot glue gun.

Once the door has dried overnight, use screws to attach the door back onto the nightstand.

Side note, our top trim is thick so it prevents the door from fully opening. To combat that issue, we sanded off the obtruding parts and then painted it white.

after

And here is my little DIY dollhouse nightstand! Isn’t it so cute?! I’ve been wanting to make something like this for years so it feels really special seeing it come together!

I love all the little details on the front- the sconces, mailbox, fancy trim. It feels so special! And then having it open to the wallpaper is very fun. This can be used for normal storage, or it can be a play area. Either work.

price breakdown

The Pottery Barn inspiration nightstand costs $449 plus $69 deliver for a total of $518.

Here are all my supplies for this project-

• IKEA Nightstand- Songesand $89.58 (with shipping and taxes)
• Dollhouse Windows $20
• Fairy Door $10.91 
• Scallop Trim $8
• Dentil Molding $7.19
• Mini Brass Sconces $22.12 for 2 
• Dollhouse Mailbox $13.03
• House Number $6
• Replacement Legs  $24.60
• Plywood 3/4″ thick $0 I had it on hand
• Woodfiller $0 I had it on hand
• White Paint- Ultra Pure White by Behr $0 I had it on hand
• Green Paint- Frosted Sage by Behr $0 I had it on hand
• Band Edging $0 I had it on hand
• Wood Knob $0 I had it on hand
• Rainbow Stripe Wallpaper $0 I had it on hand

Total- I spent $201.43

I am fine with that price. It’s a special piece to me. It’s much cheaper than the $518 and I like it more. Yes I splurged on some of those special dollhouse detail pieces. But I love it!

Alright! So there is my DIY dollhouse nightstand. I hope this tutorial is helpful if you want to make one. If you were just following along to see how it came together, thank you for checking it out! Let me know what you think of this nightstand in the comments.

 

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

If you love it, pin it!