Materials: Rast Chest of Drawers (x2) and Rast Bedside Table (x1), Length of dowel, Length of 2cmx 2cm lumber, BEHANDLA Glazing paint (antique), White Acrylic Undercoat, Brown Acrylic Paint
Description: When expecting our first baby (more than 2 years ago now, gosh time flies!) I thought it was about time I finally attempted a Rast Hack. It was to be be my first ever hack, and the million and one examples I’d seen online were rushing through my mind as I made the 400km drive to our nearest Ikea. How would I make mine different?
I simply stained all the Rast parts except the drawers along with the dowel and lumber with 2 coats of Ikea’s antique stain.
Then I painted the drawer fronts (with handles attached) with 2 coats of acrylic undercoat and traced the images I wanted to paint on with pencil (you can use a projector to do this if you have access to one, or a big sheet of tracing paper, or if you are artistically inclined, just freehand it!) And painted over with brown acrylic paint, handles and all. I just used the cheap stuff you get at the dollar store.
the only thing I would have done differently, is seal the drawer fronts with an acrylic sealer. at the time I couldn’t be bothered, and really likes the way the drawer fronts looked matte, but 2 and a bit years down the track, the white isn’t as white as it used to be, so a sealer would have helped.
Then I assembled the 2 Rast dressers, and used the top and bottom shelves of a Rast nightstand I had to make the connecting shelves in between. If you’re handy with a jigsaw you could probably just cut up two pieces for the job, but the nightstand is exactly the same depth as the chest of drawers, and it’s pre-drilled, so I got lazy and just used that (to be fair, I was 7 months pregnant!)
I simply drilled the bottom shelf from inside the 2 dressers using the Rast nightstand screws, but for the top shelf (because I wanted it to sit flush with the top of the Rast dresser) I nailed a length of 2cm squared timber on both sides for it to sit on. I didn’t attach it on top(it comes off very easily) because I knew we would be moving house and wanted to pull the 2 dressers apart for the move. Though you could certainly nail it down if you want it secured.
Then I cut a length of dowel as long as the Rast nightstand pieces and pre-drilled it either end and attached it from inside the dressers.
Voila! I think I came up with something original, but more importantly, It’s something that still makes me smile every time I walk into my son’s room. nothing beats something that you sorta kinda made yourself.
~ Christine, Australia
via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/6WNF32UXzP0/twin-rasts-in-the-nursery.html From Jules IKEAHacker
