*this is a sponsored post and this hack along with several others are up for voting! Go here to place your vote for your favorite hack!
I love IKEA, and I love IKEA hacks. I even have a pinterest board just for IKEA hacks. It’s just so cool what you can do with the plain wood pieces that IKEA sells at very affordable prices.
Now I know some people aren’t that impressed with IKEA and think their furniture is super ‘cheap’. Well, it IS cheap in price and it’s not built with the quality and durability of hardwood furniture made in a furniture shop. But it wasn’t intended to be the fine, high-end hardwood furniture from a furniture shop! It’s well-made, inexpensive furniture that comes in pieces that make it easy to buy and transport home.
And the instructions – I’ve heard people complain and seen them roll their eyes over the instructions. But you know what I’ve found? It’s really very easy to put and a piece of IKEA furniture together. I put my IKEA rast dresser together all by myeslf in just under 30 minutes. I’ve put other pieces together too and I’ve not had problems with any of them. If I can do it – anyone can!
When I was contacted about receiving a rast dresser, hardware and paint to do an IKEA Rast Hack I was pretty happy. I’ve seen so many hacks over the past several months and it was fun to do one myself. Mine is pretty simple but I really like what it looks like.
Here is what I used:
Antiqued bronze pulls and Casters from Hickory Hardware
Large dowel rod, plywood, wood filler,and hanger bolts from Menards
To add the casters I needed ‘legs’ to mount the casters onto. To mount legs I needed a board on the bottom of the dresser. I would have just screwed the board onto the bottom of the dresser from the side – but my husband stepped in and did it a better way! He added some small pieces of wood to each side, pinning them on with his air pinner. Then the plywood bottom was added using glue and screws.
For the ‘legs’ we used a long, hardwood dowel rod that fit in the top of the casters. To make the ‘legs’ fit properly we used a belt sander to sand down the lower ends so they fit snugly into the tapered casters. The casters were then screwed securely to the ‘legs’.
I was really liking how the casters took the plain pine dresser up a notch but I also thought it needed something a bit beefier for the top. So my hubby stepped in again and used the rest of the plywood to create a top. I would have just screwed a piece of the plywood on the top – but once again my hubby did it even better! He created trim pieces for around the edge of the plywood so the plywood edge wasn’t the finished edge. He created a bit of a groove on each side so the plywood piece would sit tightly and level on the top of the dresser as the Rast dresser’s sides stick up a bit above the top. Then he added trim under the tops overhang to give it even more of a finished, classy look.
The IKEA Rast Hack comes with two wood knobs per drawer. But I like the look of one drawer pull in the middle of the drawers of the Rast Dresser. So I used some wood filler from Menards to fill the pre-drilled holes in the drawers.
After 3 coats of paint on the drawer fronts I drilled new holes for the pulls. I have this cool guide my hubby gave me to figure out what size drill bit to use. 🙂 (he gave me a couple cordless drills too – gotta love a man who gives you power tools and teaches you to use them!)
As I said, my finished IKEA Rast Hack is simple – I like to think it is elegantly simple. With just a few additions we took a plain, pine dresser and turned it into a pretty white piece with stately lines and fun pulls and casters.
The finish on the paint does indeed end up very smooth and almost free of brush strokes.
It is an oil based paint so using this paint requires EXCELLENT ventilation. I wouldn’t use it inside – I painted outside. It also takes a good 48 hours to be completely dry. If you have your heart set on an oil-based paint this one would be a good choice – make sure you use a brush designed for oil based paint. I used old brushes I had on hand and tossed them when I was finished. You must use mineral spirits to clean oil based paint and I prefer to just use and old brush and toss it when finished.
My opinion is this would be a great paint for exterior trim – the finish is just shiny enough for that and the finish is so smooth and pretty for exterior trim. If you have furniture that needs oil based paint this would be a good option.
I love the hardware – those casters are just so fun. And by using the dowel rod to create the ‘legs’ you could add these casters to just about any piece of furniture. I picked the pulls hoping they would match the casters and they did – beautifully!
I liked the look of this dresser styled in a nautical theme – would be fun in a child’s room.
I also set it up beside my bed – see how well it works as a side table?! And those drawers would be some great additional storage in any bedroom.
There are so many great IKEA hacks out there – I hope you enjoyed my take on it!
I certainly enjoyed participating in this hack. There are several of us that did these and they are being voted on now!! Go here to see them all and to vote – you can vote once a day through September 7th.
*this is sponsored post – I was given the dresser, hardware, and gift cards to buy paint and supplies. All opinions expressed here are 100% my own from my experience working with these items.
LOVE it! I love how you styled it by your bed! The black and white dots add such a pop and the white flashcard is so cute.
BUT, I also love your ocean sign. And those handmade boats are the funnest ever!
The casters on the dresser are so awesome.
I rather like how it turned out too!
For some crazy reason have always loved highboys with casters on legs. Old fashioned I guess. I love your hack. What’s wrong with IKEA? If a piece is well taken care of it can last long time also. Your dresser looks so cute with great beach sign and little boats. Sure works/looks great next to your bed huh?
I have seen so many of those boats and love they’re all so different. I made one this summer, was surprised when daughter wanted one, loved mine. Think will make her one while they’re gone to take their daughter to college in San Rafael, CA.
Michelle was crying tonight when they came over to bring their dog for us to babysit. They’re leaving in a.m.and will be gone all week. When they drop daughter off at college they’re going to Monterey to see aquarium there and visit some of son in laws old friends. She was crying as her and her girls are very close, she’s a great Mom. will be hard for her to have Delainey gone. Have to loosen those strings. When our kids left they stayed in San Diego area so not like with Delainey going away so far. Delainey will be homne for holidays as Michelle already got her ticket. Will be interesting to see how grown up Delainey has gotten.
How are your girls doing? Growing up too fast too? Seems all of sudden they’re a certain age and they are so grown up.
Your hubs did great job making sure your hack turned out well and safely. Good for him, shows he has good standards, will help your dresser last longer also. Glad you had him to help you. That’s how my hubs is, wants to do things the right way to start. We have benches, stools he made in MT that we’re still using and that was in 90’s. and we’ve moved few times. I am fussy also, if I’m not going to do something right then just can’t do it at all, including house work. Was raised that way and taught our kids to be that way.
Better let you go, hope you’re having great weekend. Good to hear from you.
Hi JaneEllen! Great to hear from you again! My girls are doing great – getting ready to start school. My oldest will be attending a Career Center after 6 years of homeschooling so that’s going to be a big change for all of us! She starts Friday. The other two will still homeschool and their books should be here soon. Hope your daughter is soon into the routine of life with her daughter off at college – that’s gonna be a big adjustment!
Well, again, I looooovvveee what you have done!!! If only I had room for more furniture or wanted to replace what I have!!!
Thanks Donna!
I think you did a fabulous job with this piece. I have many Ikea items in my home ~ some tweaked, some not! I voted for you, good luck!! 🙂
Thank you so much Kim!