Creator Makes $700 by Flipping 2 Nightstands She Found Next to a Dumpster
For a furniture flipper, there's nothing better than coming across solid wood furniture for free on the side of the road. And no one knows that feeling better than Kara, the furniture flipper and content creator behind the YouTube page Lemons to Lemonade Home, where Kara essentially turns lemon furniture into amazing restored pieces.
Recently, Kara came across two solid wood nightstands alongside a "free" sign, and she immediately took them home and got to work upgrading them. She documented the entire process in a YouTube video - and shared that she sold them for $700! Keep reading for all the details on her flip.
Related: Furniture Flipper Thrifts $25 Wood Veneer Cabinet and Transforms It Into Pastel Masterpiece
This Furniture Flipper Found Two Nightstands By a Dumpster, and She Totally Restored Them
As Kara explained in her video, she had been hoping to find free nightstands like this for around two years! In a stroke of luck, she noticed these two red mahogany wood nightstands on the side of the road near a dumpster when she was driving home from work one day. The matching nightstands each had three drawers featuring gold "batwing" hardware, which Kara removed as her first step.
Then, she took out the drawers, thoroughly cleaned the nightstands and used an electric saw to cut the feet off of both nightstands.
Up next, she started stripping the finish from both nightstands using acetone. Once everything was stripped, she installed new wood feet, and then applied two coats of a gray-tinted spray primer. Then, she decided to paint her nightstands gray, and she applied the paint using a paint sprayer. She left the new legs a natural brown wood.
Once all the paint dried, it was time to line each drawer with contact paper and then replace the drawer pulls. Kara chose cup pull handles in brushed chrome, and she added two to each drawer. And finally, her transformation was complete!
This Nightstand Flip Turned Out Amazing
Kara listed the nightstands on Facebook Marketplace for $700 - which must have made her a pretty impressive profit, considering she got the night tables for free!
In the comments, followers applauded her hard work. "Great job as usual!" wrote one commenter. "I definitely would've picked them up ... I'd venture to say $700 is a perfect starting price point. Hope they sell fast," someone else wrote.
However, some people didn't love the design choices Kara made.
"I don't like the color or the drawer pulls. I was hoping you would keep them the same, just renewed," someone commented. "I like the flip, but not massively keen on the colour or, indeed, the hardware. They give me office vibes, which I'm sure you didn't intend. However, they do look much better than the beaten up originals. Well done," another commenter wrote.
Whether or not you're a fan of the style, there's no denying that this upgrade was much needed!
Related: Furniture Flipper Thrifts 18 Mismatched Nightstands and Flips Them All at Same Time
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 5:45 AM.