Chic bedroom storage from two $35 RAST dressers

We got the RAST chest of drawers for our tiny bedroom because nothing else could fit. Before I even knew how I was going to hack the bedroom storage, I fell in love with these beautiful brass handles from Aliexpress. The delivery took a while but when the beauties finally arrived we started hacking.

Materials for our bedroom storage:

• IKEA RAST 3-drawer chest
• New handles or knobs (or you can keep the originals and just paint them)
• 4 caster wheels (you can also use just simple legs)
• Two pieces of wood: 1.8 mm X 58.2 cm X 8.5 cm for the toe kick
• One board of 30 cm X 124 cm or 3 of 8-10 cm X 124 cm
• 4 mm glass top 30 cm X 124 cm
• Painter’s tape
• Wood color
• Wood glue
• Glass top
• Wood boards

Tools:

• Drill
• Screwdriver
• Painting kit

Steps for the RAST bedroom storage makeover:

Step 1: Assemble
Assemble the dressers according to IKEA’s instructions, but do not insert the drawers yet.

Step 2: Join the dressers
Join the two dressers together. I used screws. Pay attention and place the screws above or below where the drawer should fit when it is closed. Two screws on top and two on the bottom should be enough. Choose screws less than 2.8 cm long (the thickness of the two side panels).

Step 3: Add a base
Next is to add a base, in order to attach the wheels and to create a square shaped frame for the dressers.

Attach the board (or boards) as a base to the bottom. Because a full board was too expensive in our local wood store, we decided to take 3 cheaper pieces. We screwed them to the edges of the dresser, and you can hardly notice them from the sides.

Step 4: Add wheels
When the base is done, attach the wheels with screws.

Step 5: Fill the toe kick
Next is to fill the toe kick to keep the front aligned at the same level. We used the two shortboards and glued them in place. At the bottom, we inserted folded pieces of paper to help center the panel so that grooves of the same thickness are created on each side.

Step 6: Fill the holes
If you intend to replace the knobs that come with the RAST, now is the time to seal the existing holes with wood putty. Apply the putty and wait for it to dry then smooth with sandpaper.

On this dresser, as you can see where the light stains are, I used white colored putty. Before I started painting, I meant to paint it with an opaque color, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided on a striped pattern. Please, don’t be reckless like me! Plan ahead and pick a compatible shade of putty to your final design.

Step 7: Paint the frame
I painted it white after I inserted the drawers and locked them inside, but it’s actually easier to do it when they are out.

Step 8: Create the pattern with masking tape
Insert the drawers and make sure they are all in the right place (each drawer can be slightly different).

Now we start the really fun part

First I created a big X with the tape between the corners (1). Then I added strips from above and below (2), and then again (3), and then I took away the middle strips (2) keeping it exposed to the paint to come. I continued the same process from the center outside until the entire front was covered with masking tape stripes.
In some places (4) I used 2 strips together in order to get thicker spacing.
Then I started to cut out the little pieces in between in order to create the triangles. In The image, you can see in blue the outline of the strips that should remain before painting. I’m sorry the image is cropped that way, I forgot to take a pic of the full front.

Step 9: Paint
Start painting the stripes!

I used a synthetic brush, and Americana DECOR chalk paint, and you can use whatever type of paint you’d like as long as it’s suitable for wood. I chose to paint all the strips with the light turquoise paint and the external strips with dark blue.

You can see the video here:

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