DIY IKEA RAST Nightstand

Do you know what I’ve been wanting to do for a while?

Go to public places without a mask on! Haha

But that’s not possible yet, so I had to go with what’s possible right now.

What is that, you ask?

Transforming a set of IKEA RAST chests into chic nightstands!

I’ve been wanting to do this DIY transformation for a while, and I’m happy to have been able to finally get it done! Plus, it’s too cold to build anything in my cold, uninsulated garage. Hooray for indoor projects!

Before I get into the transformation process, lets talk about the cost of these chest of drawers. They cost $40 each and are made with pine wood. They are sold in an unfinished state, so you can customize them to your preference or use them as is.

I initially thought about going the wood stain route, but I was not in the mood for the several steps required to stain furniture properly; 1- wood conditioner, 2- coats of stain, and then polyurethane. And don’t get me started on the strong fumes of oil-based wood stain. I knew going the paint route would be safest for indoors, and there would be no need to prime the furniture first since the pieces are unfinished. Can I get a amen? 😉

DIY IKEA RAST NIGHTSTAND TRANSFORMATION. How to transform IKEA Rast nightstands. DIY Nightstands. — DIY Ikea Furniture Transformation – Before

The first thing I did was to assemble both pieces of furniture, then decided on the changes I wanted to make. My main goal was to transform the chests with the least amount of money as possible.

Materials:

Pine Lattice Moulding
Wood Glue
6 Drawer Pulls
Wood filler/putty
1- Quart Cabinet & Furniture Paint from Lowes (or try this)
1″ Brad nails (for nail gun)
Angled paint brush
Sanding Block or sand paper

Tools:

Screw driver/ or Power drill
Nail gun or Hammer
Tape measure or yard stick

Below are the steps I followed:

Remove all the drawers and the bottom piece that covers the bottom front of the chest of drawers. Remove the wooden drawer pulls as well.
Measure the dimensions of the front of the drawer.
Cut the pine lattice trim according to the measurements from step 2 with a miter saw (or a miter box & saw combo). I used 12 (5 3/16) and 12 (22 7/8) trim strips.
Apply wood glue to one side of each pine strip and attach the then to the front on each drawer with a nail gun (as shown in the image above).
Fill nail holes and the original drawer pull holes with wood putty, then sand the filled areas after adequate drying time.
It’s time for paint! I used Valspar Cabinet and Furniture Paint from Lowes. I really like this brand because it was tintable. I was initially going for chalk-like paint, but the brand I found was only tintable in light colors. This dark blue is called Mystified.
Apply two coats of paint to the exterior of each drawer and the exterior of the body of the chest.
Install new drawer pulls. Measure and mark the center of the drawer and drill a new hole for the new drawer pulls.

Notes and Tips:

If you don’t have a nail gun, feel free to use a hammer and 1″ finishing nails.
Consider making a template to mark the center of the drawer before you install the new drawer pulls. I like to use templates as a short cut when possible. To do this, I cut out a piece of cardboard that fit the exact space in the front of the drawer, and then poked a hole in the center of it. I placed this cardboard template on each drawer and marked through the hole a pencil. This way, I avoided measuring the center repeatedly and ensured identical placement of the pulls.