Was it worth it?

We've needed more dresser space and wanted some real nightstands for a while now...so a few months ago, we found a set of nightstands and a dresser at a yard sale. I asked how much for the set and the man told me it was $45...I only paused for a few seconds to decide whether or not it was worth it, plus the work I would have to put in to make them look decent, and the man quickly lowered the price to $25. I couldn't pass up the deal and so in a matter of minutes committed myself to yet another furniture refinishing project....for some reason I like to punish myself and take on these kind of things. I think it's the good deals I can't pass up, plus furniture in the store is marked up SO much, and I like the creative aspect of it where you decide what stain to do, knobs, etc. If I'm gonna do it I find solid, quality furniture that needs a facelift - no compressed sawdust junk. Anyway, this is what the pieces looked like when I was sanding them down.

Finished sanding and with a couple of coats of primer --debating whether to keep them light or do a dark stain.




Decided to go with a dark stain, but the stain didn't 'take' since it had been whitewashed previously. I could've spent HOURS and hours sanding them more, but I paid $25 for these things - I wasn't about to invest that much time in them. I figured that sometime we'll actually buy a nice bedroom set and just pass these down to our kids or something. SO.... I painted them a dark brown. I was kind of skeptical about whether it would look okay or not, but they were sitting around for so many weeks and I just wanted to get 'em finished. So this is how they turned out.

I'm not completely thrilled with them (stain wouldn've been so much better) but we're enjoying the extra storage space and I don't think they look awful. But after calculating the money I spent on primer, paint, sealant, and knobs, I didn't just spend $25 on these things, I spent about $100 and about 4 - 5 hours of my time. (Knobs can really add up quickly)
The question I have in my mind is was it worth it? I'm still wondering.....

This is definately my last furniture project.....maybe......let's hope so. Too much work.