Ikea Hack: Quilted Rast Dresser

My last Ikea Hack was so popular, that I wanted to try another one!  (You can read about my Lack Corner Shelf Hack here.)

I wanted a new nightstand for my bedroom that was a little bit bigger and provided some more storage.  The one I was currently using I'd had since I was a child and it was getting pretty squishy.  I only had room for a lamp, my clock, and a phone.  Anything else, like books I was reading, had to go on the floor.  I immediately thought of the Rast dresser from Ikea.  It's cheap and easy to customize.  I did some Pinterest searching, and came up with lots of ideas.  I loved the idea of covering it in a faux ostrich fabric like I'd found at Simple Details, but I also liked the idea of trimming out the bottom to make it look more expensive, like The Accent Piece had done.

I purchased the Rast over March Break.  I had every intention of making this my March Break project...that totally never happened considering I only just finished it!

Here is what my bedroom looked like before, and what the Rast dresser looked like before:

I'd say it was a pretty significant transformation!  Here's how the whole process went down.

I purchased the Rast model for $39.  It was super simple to build - took probably 20 minutes.

When you build the dresser, the piece of wood that runs along the bottom does not sit flush with the front of the two side pieces (you can see what I mean in the before picture above.)  My dad helped me out, and we drilled new holes above the pre-existing ones so the front would sit flush when assembled.  This ensures that you have no gap when you install the moulding.

Next, we measured and cut the moulding to go along the bottom.  (I will leave out the gory details we encountered in this step...in true DIY fashion there may have been a lot of arguing.  We even contemplated not doing the moulding anymore.  The moulding I picked was too large for our miter saw and couldn't be cut properly.  Lessons learned: measure how how high your saw can cut before purchasing wood, and don't start this step at 10:30 at night...)  We were going to nail the moulding to the bottom, but, of course, the nails were not cooperating, so we just decided to glue and clamp.  The glue worked, I recommend that!  We also measured and drilled for the new handles.  I didn't bother filling in the old holes as they were going to be covered by fabric later anyway.

I let the glue dry overnight, and the next morning I had some serious filling and sanding to do!  (I told you the cutting was pretty bad!)

I had two test pots of paint mixed at Home Depot for about $5 each.  One was colour matched to the fabric I chose, and the second one was just plain black.  I primed everything first.  Then I painted the edges of the frame black as well as the moulding along the bottom.  (Once it was painted, you couldn't even tell the moulding had been so crazy! yay!)  I painted the edges of the drawers, as well as along the inside of the frame, the fabric colour.  This ensures that when the drawers are closed, you don't see any of the original pine. Everything received 2 coats.

The splurge for this project was the fabric.  There are not a lot of fabric stores in Ottawa, let alone ones that sell quality vinyl.  I didn't want to go with just regular fabric as I was worried it would pucker once it was glued. I ended up finding some nice quilted looking vinyl.  When all was said and done, it cost about $56 for one yard.  Definitely more than I wanted to spend, but I realized I was going to have to if I wanted to achieve the look I was going for.  I measured and cut pieces for the front of all three drawers, the two sides of the frame, and the top.

I used some spray adhesive to glue the pieces down.  **Note: after about 24 hours the glue started to not adhere and the corners of the fabric were peeling off.  I recommend using a light coat of white glue instead of the spray.  I ended up having to go back and touch up the glue.

Then it was simply a matter of piercing through the vinyl to attach the new handles (I used a needle) and reinserting the drawers.  I wanted to purchase a piece of glass to put on the top to protect the fabric.  I shopped around for some quotes, and it was going to cost almost $80 to have a proper piece cut!  So not worth it!  I was palletizing a kitchen while working at Ikea the other day and noticed that the glass shelves we sell looked about the same size.  I purchased one of the Rationell 24x12" glass shelves and it fits!  It's a bit small, but I just centered it on the top and it looks fine.  And at $10 ($20 for 2) it was way better than getting glass custom cut!

I love it.  It finishes off the room really nicely.  I just have some accessories to tweak in the room and I think I can call the bedroom complete!  I'll add it to my house tour once it's done!