Ideas for an IKEA Hack

Now that our busy Christmas schedule has calmed down some and my painting deadlines were met, I'm excited to be able to get back to a few projects around the house.  A while ago it became very clear that we desperately needed more storage space for our clothes, especially during bulky sweater season, and a well timed trip to IKEA provided us with a solution.

In order to maximize our storage capacity without cutting into the already small room too much, we needed a wide, shallow chest of drawers.  IKEA's 6 drawer Tarva chest fits the space exactly, and since it's unfinished wood and it comes in a million pieces, the price is pretty low for a dresser this large. 

We assembled it right away and have been using it as-is (I told you we were desperate!), but in the meantime I have been mulling over what exactly to do with it.  Since it's unfinished we have the option of staining the wood to give it a more traditional look.  Here is a pretty grayish stain color from Restoration Hardware.

Or a slightly redder finish, although the knotty pine that our dresser is made of would look different than this one in the end.

I love painted furniture, too, and there are so many fun options for paint colors-- it could look great in gray, black, white, pale blue-green or even a pinky-red...

I love this pre-painted version from Maine Cottage in Bluebell.

This white dresser has prettier lines than our humble IKEA version, but it's fun to imagine this is what it could look like:)

 I love how sharp this black dresser looks with the brass hardware.

Then I could always go in a different direction completely and wrap the dresser in either fabric or textured paper.  Here you can see an old hack project of mine with raffia wallpaper, 

and here are two linen wrapped versions with nailhead trim.

So many choices!  So far I have managed to find some new hardware to replace the clunky, boring wooden knobs that came with the dresser.  I scored these 12 brass drawer pulls at our neighborhood antique/junk shop and can't wait to use them.

Decisions, decisions...  

xo

Liza