Yeah Yeah, Yet Another Rast Hack...

Materials: Ikea Rast chest of drawers (1), 4" Eames era hairpin legs (4), 9-5/8" Ikea Lansa Handles (3), 3" cabinet screws (8), finishing supplies, drill and circular saw.

Description: Assembled the drawers as per the original instructions, leaving off the included wooden pulls. Spackled the existing hardware holes on the drawer face and finished with white enamel paint. Finally, I measured for new hardware holes, drilled and attached the Ikea Lansa pulls. Note, the entire process of building the drawers took a few days between multiple coats of thinned enamel paint, dry/cure time and sanding.


The cabinet was a little less straight forward, it required trimming both side panels and repositioning the two connecting braces (originally intended between the middle-back and bottom-front). To start, I took measurements to determine the drawer positioning against the side panels, taking into account the width of the brace to be repositioned.

It turned out I cut approximately 3" off the bottom of each side panel. Attached the plastic drawer guides and top panel to the side panels as per the original instructions. Without the pre-drilled template holes, I kept the middle-back brace in the same position it was intended for, but moved it to the bottom of the cabinet. I repositioned the bottom-front brace parallel to the top panel just at the bottom front of the cabinet. Attached both braces with wood glue and cabinet screws. Attached the hairpin legs to the bottom four corners of the cabinet, drilling them directly into the repositioned braces. Finished with two coats of English oak stain and added the drawers.

~ Anthony, New York City

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IKEA Rast Hack {new nightstands}

Materials:
Rast dresser
Wood putty
Sand paper
1x4 the width of the dresser
2 1x6 the width of the dresser
About 40 feet of lattice (per dresser, if you're doing two dressers, get about 75 feet of lattice)
Drawer pulls
Stain
Paint
Floetrol
Polycrylic

Tools needed:
Miter saw
Nail gun
Putty knife

Description:
This is the IKEA Rast dresser. Pretty plain and boring, but solid wood and perfect for dressing up.

First thing I did was build up the bottom so that I could attach the base molding to something. I used one 1x4 and a piece of lattice behind it to build it out.

Then I cut the base molding and lattice to trim out all of the drawers and sides. I used my new miter saw I got for my birthday. Love it!

I then filled all the holes with wood putty and sanded, sanded, sanded.

Then I painted two coats of white paint. I put Floetrol in my paint to minimize the brush strokes. I used Sherwin Williams Antique White paint color.

I pre-stained the top "tray" that I put on the top of the nightstand. I placed two 1x6's and 1 1x4 side by side on the top and used the nail gun to fasten them to the top. And then I used stained lattice to trim around the edge of the top.

See more of the Rast nightstand.

~ Laura

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Rast doubled & dolled up!

Materials: Rast, ikea material & paint

Description: I've been looking for a bedside table/bookcase for my little boys room that they share. I wanted something fun & unique to match the decor, so i got hacking!!

I got two Ikea RAST turned one upside down, drilled 8 holes (two on the bottom of each side of the legs that are going together) & glued 2 dowels on each side into the holes. I then doubled the rast up & they're held in place with 'no more nails' glue & the dowels - they're very sturdy.

Next I painted them white & the shelves orange & I tacked a piece of Ikea material to the back, to match the decor & so things wouldn't fall off the back of the shelf.

I love the outcome, it's unique & fun & it matches the room perfectly! Most of all the boys love it!

~ Peita

Rast Nightstand Mobile Kitchen Storage

Materials: Two Rast Nightstands, 4 wheels, 4 metal plates, lots of screws

Description: We needed some extra storage in the kitchen and we needed to keep it in space under the table that would be otherwise out of reach.

I didn't find anything that would suit our needs. The carts were either too tall to go under the table or to narrow to fully utilize the extra space. Also I didn't want anything made out of plastic.

Here is our solution. I bought two RAST nightstands (very cheap and made out of nice wood). I joined them together with metal plates. Then I have attached four wheels to top of the nightstands and I turned everything upside down.

It wasn't my initial plan, but I had to remove one shelf. The unit would be too deep otherwise and it would be hard to reach items in the back.

Now we have a mobile storage that nicely fits under Bjorkudden table, matches its nice wood pattern and has two level shelves for items of different height.

~ Maciej Witkowiak, Poznan, Poland

Fabric-Wrapped Ikea Rast

Materials: Rast 3-Drawer Chest, Fabric, Poly-Acrylic, Iron, Ironing Board, Paint Brush, Razor

Description: For my version of the Ikea Rast Hack I decided to upholster the chest with a heavy-duty linen fabric I bought from the scrap pile of my local fabric store.

I guided my way through the upholstering process by watching the simple steps in a DIY video from Martha Stewart called, "Linen-Wrapped Table How-To" instructed by Christophe Pourny.

Step 1: Starch and iron your linen so it's crisp and has no wrinkles.

Step 2: Apply Minwax Gloss Polycrylic Protective Finish to the side of the wood you want to upholster with a paint brush. While still wet, place the linen over the wood board.

Step 3: Iron dry over the linen fabric on the wood board, this permanently adheres the fabric to the Ikea Rast.

Step 4: Cut the corners of linen at 45-degree angle; fold and crease fabric to make the corners even. Apply poly-acrylic finish to edges; iron to keep it in place and trim excess corner fabric with the razor blade. (This was the hardest step for me, watching the Martha Stewart video a few extra times really helped!)

Step 5: Apply topcoat of poly-acrylic finish to the entire Ikea Rast. This is optional but it will protect your fabric from spills or stains with a clear shiny coat. I did not do this step because I like the texture feeling of the linen.

Step 6: Add hardware of your choice. I bought my ring pulls from Lee Valley Tools and my nail heads from a local fabric store.

See more of the fabric wrapped IKEA Rast.

~ Kelly Boudreau, Florida

Shabby chic Rast

Materials: Ikea Rast, incense burners, paint, brush, saw, emery sandpaper for polishing

Description: A forgotten brown Rast commode in the corner gave me a perfect opportunity to try distressed paint technique.
I also had a few unwanted incense burners.

1. I polished the whole thing, then glued the incense ornaments to the middle of the drawers.

2. Driven by a sudden impulse i cut out a pattern from the bottom spacer with a jig saw, polished and stuck it to the top.

3. I painted the whole commode to light blue.

4. When dry I used sandpaper to distress certain parts of the furniture.

See more of the shabby chic Rast.

Name: Laura - Subl�t blog, Budapest

A Grown-up RAST

Materials: RAST dresser, lattice strips, a few pices of 1x6 for the top, wood glue, paint stain and poly

Description: To make a small nightstand that somewhat matched an existing dresser we already had, we decided to hack the inexpensive RAST dresser.

After a good sanding all over, and filling in the pre-drilled holes for 2 pulls on each drawer, we got to work.

The front of the dresser we already have had a paneled look, so we cut lattice pieces to size and framed out the fronts of the RAST drawers as well as the sides of the piece, then simply used wood glue to adhere them.

To make a new more substantial top to the RAST, we used clamps and woodglue between a few pieces of 1x6s. Once cut down to size and sanded, the top piece was stained a dark espresso finish to match the color of the inspiration dresser we already had. We set aside the top until it was time to screw/glue it on.

Once the RAST was dry, we filled in the extra gaps in the lattice and molding we used to dress up the kick board. Then we painted the body of the RAST and drawers a creamy white. Once that dried, we secured the new top in place and used a small strip of molding on the front to cover the gab underneath and make it look like it was always meant to be there.

To polish it off, we drilled new, centered holes for each drawer and added a single brushed nickel pull.

See more of the grown up Rast.

~ Beth

IKEA Rast Dresser turned Sofa Table Shoe Storage

Materials: IKEA Rast Dressers

Description: To solve a perpetual entryway problem involving our shoes, I decided that I wanted to take two IKEA Rast dressers and combine them into a side-by-side version, and then add some legs. My inspiration actually came from another IKEA hack, but I needed to put a bit of a different spin on it in order to make it work in our space.

The first step was cutting the base off the bottom of the three vertical braces. The outer two were cut so that the side of each piece met the 1x2" board that I was using to brace the bottom. The middle piece was cut a little shorter so that the bottom sat against the 1x2s. (You can see what I mean in the 'in progress' picture!)

On the middle piece, I also drilled the holes that hold the drawer runners all the way through so that I could put the drawer runners on both sides. I also had to shave the back lip off of the middle piece so that the backing could be nailed flush on both sides.

Once the three sides were attached to the 1x2 bottom braces, I did attach the tops - but only for extra stability and support. With the entire base built, I then created a kind of "tray" over the top combining a 1x12" and a 1x2" to get my desired depth, and then creating the finished edges using lattice (just glue those suckers on!).

After the top was built, I flipped the entire thing upside down and added 6" square legs from Home Depot. I think they were $3 a piece - and well worth it! The legs really help make the whole piece fit into our space and doesn't block the gorgeous wood border in our living room!

After the legs, I did the tedious work of filling in all holes with wood putty and sanding them flush. And then I was finally able to stain the entire piece using Minwax's Red Mahogany. Once the stain set in, I used some leftover white semi-gloss paint on the top. After layering on two coats, I used 120-grit sandpaper to "antique" the top - which basically means I rubbed off some of the paint to expose the stain underneath. It gives it an older look, instead of a store-bought freshness.

Overall this was a pretty inexpensive project - well under $100 even with the knobs ($1.19/piece at Home Depot) and lumber for the top, and I'm completely in love with the final product!

See more of the Rast shoe storage.

~ Chelsea

RAST: from bedside to desk

Materials: RAST, drill.

Description: We needed to divide our workspaces and place a printer and a notebook, so we decide to hack a RAST.

Instructions

1: Screw the first shelf (it will serve as divider)
2: Drill a hole on both sides to place the second shelf (it will serve as base for the notebook)

~ Chiara, Genoa, Italy

3 hacks, 4 RAST's, and the ultimate A/V Stand

Materials: 4 RAST nightstands, 2 CD stands, 4 casters, 4 clasps, 4 L brackets, 4 metal connecting plates, keyboard pull out hardware, 2 shelves, various screws.

Description: It's a 3 in 1 hack.

The first part was a few years ago. I simply took 4 of the RAST nightstand and created 2 separate A/V stands. The bottom RAST was flipped upside down, and the 2 were connected by the clasps. I added casters to the bottom of one.

When I moved, I stacked them all together.

I put my turntable on top, and because it was really high I didn't use it very much. I'd been using a different shelf for just the turntable, but it was taking up space.

So the 2nd hack was to look for a pull out shelf. I found one for keyboards at Home Depot for $32, and installed it upside down on the main shelf of one of the RAST's. Works perfectly, and I had a perfectly sized shelf just sitting around.

That got my hacking juices flowing, so I decided to create my 3rd hack.

I took two old CD stands and attached them together with 2 metal plates from Home Depot. I then put casters on the bottom, creating a solid base.

The RAST's were then attached to the base with L brackets, also from Home Depot. I kept the configuration of having the bottom RAST be upside down, but instead of the single stack of 4 I went with 2 stacks of 2.

I used 2 more of the metal plates for 2 of the RAST's, as the clasps weren't working correctly anymore. The other side still has the clasps.

I had another shelf from an old bookshelf sitting around, and so it was screwed into the top posts of the 2 top RAST's to create a TV shelf.

I wanted the base to raise the components off of the ground level, and it also works out as a nice place to display some figures.

The corner where the stand used to be now fits the other shelf unit as a nice spot for cleaning LP's.

More photos here.

~ Geoffrey Holland, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Ikea Rast Turned Campaign Chest

Materials: Ikea Rast 3 Drawer Chest, Behr High Gloss Paint in Sugar Plum, 3 Campaign Style Drawer Pulls, 3 Packages of 2" Brass Flat Corners, Paint Brush, Tube of Elmer's Wood Filler Max, Sanding Sponge, Drill

Description: I love campaign furniture but the antique pieces are so hard to come by! I decided to hack the Ikea Rast, giving it the campaign style with a modern, bright-colored twist! Follow the steps below to make your own.

Step One: Assemble Rast chest according to Ikea's instructions (do not install drawer pull knobs, you won't be using them)

Step Two: Fill in the pre-drilled holes (on the drawers) with wood filler. Once filler dries, sand it down so it's nice and smooth

Step Three: Paint the entire chest (I had to use 3 coats) and let it dry completely

Step Four: Install corner brackets using drill (one on each corner of each drawer)

Step Five: Install drawer pulls using drill (you will have to drill new holes with your 1/4" bit)

See more of the Rast campaign chest.

~ Louisa, Madison, AL