Repurposing a 'pier unit'

18 years ago

I'm adding a photo of what I am talking about. You all have seen them, and maybe a few of you still have the big bedroom 'pier unit'. I know that mine was in my bedroom until 3 months ago.

We bought it in 1990 and it is still in wonderful condition. I am just tired of it. It has fabulous storage. I'm sure that I could only get peanuts for it on craigslist and I'm thinking about repurposing, but I can't bring myself to put that first coat of paint over the finished wood, even if it is yesterday's red oak. (I also have oak cabinets, so I'm not bashing at all!)

Right now the pier units themselves are in our small 10x10 guest room with the queen bed. It's a tight squeeze, but until one of my college age daughter's leaves for good, this is where it has to be. The headboard part and mirror are in the garage because they don't fit.

Do I keep it and paint the piers to try to make them look like they are a cottage style (most likely I would use ivory paint) or do I keep the set together as is and put it on craigslist? Do you think that anyone would buy it? Does anyone have any other ideas about how to use the set?

Btw, Mr. Spiffy is driving this one. He wants to call up goodwill and have them take it away asap!

Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (9)

daisyadair
18 years ago
Spiffy,
I recently sold my bedroom set similar to yours on Craigslist. I could not believe how much room they took up until they were gone. I took the money and bought some wardrobes from Ikea, which for me was so much better storage space. IIRC, I got around $650 for the whole set, including two dressers. If you scroll down on my blog, you can see pics.

Sell it!

Here is a link that might be useful: old pier unit/new wardrobes
les917
18 years ago
I would hang on to it, in case the college age daughter needs furniture for her first apt. Seems to me that it could be a great unit in a living room with a couch where the bed usually goes between the piers, or in a dining room.

Do you have a place to repurpose it if it is painted, or does that just seem like the only alternative to make it work in your home? I wouldn't paint it unless I were really sure that I was going to use it.
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User
18 years ago
Since I am thinking about redoing my master bath, I think some of it could work well around some vanities. (Of course, if you are not doing a bathroom, then I have no real suggestions.)
laurmela
18 years ago
I have one of these as well. Got it in 1984, sold oak, very heavy. Right now we are still using it, but we have seperated the pier units from the headboard. We put them together, actually my DH clamped them together from the top and they are on one wall. The bed is on another, dresser another and armoire another! I would love to get rid of it too, but another time, I guess! ")
Ideefixe
18 years ago
Maybe you could put a desktop in the space where the head of the bed goes, but I think it's just too massive for daily use. I wouldn't keep it in hopes some child might need it. They can go to Goodwill, just like I did.
spiffy6241
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions. I was particularly intrigued by the bathroom cabinet ides, but unfortunately, we're not doing bathrooms right now!

I am pretty inspired by the craigslist story - you may see my set on the San Diego craigslist after we get back from vacation. Hopefully it doesn't end up on one of the "Craigslist Fun" threads!
Dianne DAndrea
5 years ago
Hi. Not sure if you still monitor this but I would like to disassemble my pier group. Can the take the middle part off and the end units able to stand on their own?
hafemann
5 years ago
I am interested in doing the same thing.
HU-616046914
2 years ago
I am also lokking for a solution to mine. i would like to keep the cabinets and middle and just take the bedframe off and place a table between the cutboards… is that possible?