Creative Night Stand

I used a stool once. It was a tall stool (came up to near my waist), and I bought really cool square plates and a bowl with a ridge on it that fit in the rungs of the stool, so it was like it had shelves. I painted it a creamy white color and sand papered the edge to make it look distressed. I got so many compliments on it!

a file cabinet, a nice wooden one

My mom, back in the day, when we didn't have a lot of money, would take a good sturdy box and she would glue pictures from magazines on it this way & that, all themed type stuff and then she would take masking tape and cover any areas not covered with the pictures. then she would take black or white shoe polish and cover the masking tape staining it. then she would epoxy the whole thing. This is great for kids rooms as you can match their theme and for my mom's room, she did pictures of 50's things like shoes, purses, jewlry, dresses, etc... and it was cool. Haven't thought about this in a good long while, so thanks for the trip down memory lane. =~P

I found a broken wooden child's school desk on the side of road years ago and fixed the leg and slapped on about ten coats of white paint. It has been my husband's night stand ever since--perfect with a basket in it for nighttime items, goodies, pens, a book, notebook, CDs, whatever. Plenty of room on top. :)

I also had a side table made out of rarely read/used heavy books that I still wanted around. Something like that with a small TV tray or something on top to protect the books works well. My nightstand was from the local antique store for about $10 and is just a cute old phone stand with an open shelf underneath and then a drawer. Someday I'll paint it and put a new drawer knob on it, but for now it is perfect.

tiered hat boxes? steamer trunks. any old crate or cardboard box covered with cute fabric. A stack of books
Find a nightstand at a thrift store and paint it.

Can you let us know boy/girl/ adult? theme??

I love vm's answer.

vintage trunks/suitcases stacked, a stack of books, a crate on castors, varnished tree stump, file cabinets, an old rustic bench or desk... personally, I do the old furniture and repaint it all chippy like.

http://www.westelm.com/weimgs/ab/images/wcm/products/2010... (tree stump)

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/5-unique-bedroom-nightstan...

lots of cute ideas here:
http://myboldandthebeautifulworld.blogspot.com/2010_06_01...

Anything from the thrift store or a yard sale that you can throw a piece of cloth of your choice over. On my husbands side of the bed is an antique sewing machine cabinet (no sewing machine in it).

I used to use an old trunk I got at a thrift store years ago.

My dad used antique sewing machines for nightstands. I also use an antique piano stool for a side table between our antique rockers. I really like the hat box and stack of books idea. You could put a foot locker on its side. Or the old college stand by - cinder blocks. LOL!

my daughter used an old chair in my granddaughters room. they sawed off the back. the seat was just plain flat seat. they sanded and painted the whole thing white and stenciled her name on it. looks good cost about $3 for the paint