DIY: IKEA hack campaign dressers

If you know me, you know that I have a very distinct style when it comes to decorating, and it even spills over into my wardrobe. I am very traditional and classic when it comes to my design style. Lots of black and white, with some clean stripes and polka dots mixed in. Very traditional. So these emerald green bed side tables seemed completely out of my element, but it was something I didn’t have to think twice about. When I saw this DIY floating around pinterest, I knew it was a must in my apartment. And, with the black and white theme I have going on-it’s very easy to add pops of color.

Materials:

• $40 Ikea Rast Dresser
• Paint of your choice (I used Valspar Clubhouse)
• 12 flat corner brace pieces
• 6 drawer pulls, I couldn’t find an online version of the ones I originally bought at Lowes, so I found some alternatives that would work well! Drawer pull 1 // Drawer pull 2 // Drawer pull 3
• Wood putty and Sand Paper Block

Instructions:

• Once you have your IKEA Rast Dresser, first thing you will want to do is fill the holes with wood putty where you would have put the knobs that came with the dresser. Let dry and sand over each spot to make it flush with the rest of the wood.
• Paint all the pieces, making sure to paint the 2 long side pieces since there will be overhang at the top. We made the mistake and had to add the paint once we assembled the dressers.
• Let the paint dry overnight.
• Next, you’re going to mark out where you will place your corner pieces. Place a corner piece on each of the drawer face corners and with a sharpie or pencil, place a dot in between the holes of the corner pieces.
• Drill out small pilot holes in order to ensure not to split the wood.
• Then drill out the holes slightly smaller then the screws. Make sure to screw in the screws slowly so you don’t end up stripping the screw heads or splitting the wood.
• Determine where you want your drawer pulls placed and mark out your drill marks for those as well.
• Drill small pilot holes here as well just like the corner pieces. Then drill out the holes slightly smaller then the screws.
  • Make sure the screws you have are short enough they don’t go all the way through to the other side.
• Now to the hard part, deciphering the IKEA instructions to actually assemble the dresser!
  • Remember, you aren’t going to make use of the knobs that came with the dresser.

We ended up doing two dressers; one for each side of the bed, so all of our materials ended up being doubled. These are trendy, yet functional since you are able to use them as dressers and still small enough to double as side tables. These bed side tables are completely doable on a college students/newlyweds budget! And, as an added bonus-this DIY project didn’t take us very long to complete-maybe a day and a half, painting included.

PS: I owe most of this DIY to my handyman. I’m really lucky to have him around to put up with my crazy DIY’s! Love you T.