I’m here today to share the building plans for our Ikea Rast Dresser Hack that we are using as nightstands in our bedroom. Here’s a look at the finished nightstand and then I’ll show you how we transformed the basic Ikea Rast to get this look.
*This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Please see my full disclosure statement HERE.
First, we purchased all of the wood trim pieces we needed from Lowe’s. Below you will find pictures of the pieces on the racks at Lowe’s. The information for cuts and where we used the pieces are on each photo.
Wood & Cuts for Ikea Rast Hack
Ikea Rast Hack Tutorial
The first thing we did was cut a notch in the top of the dresser corners to attach the molding. As you can see, the wood cut easily with a utility knife.
This next part is probably the most difficult. Cutting the molding. You will need a miter saw to make these cuts. Mark is pretty good at this, but even he had a little trouble with one side. Wood filler is a wonderful thing and made it look perfect in the end! Once the pieces were cut to fit the top, we used wood glue to attach them and some finish nails for extra support. Here’s how it looks.
Once you have the molding attached, you can cut the top board to fit. We overlapped the molding by about 1/4 inch all around because we liked the look. But, you can cut your top board to the size you like. As you can see in the above photo, there is a height difference between the top of the dresser and the molding. To fill in this space, Mark used left over pieces of the trim used for the drawers and sides of the dresser. He stacked a few, glued them together and placed them on the top – for added stability when attaching the new dresser top board. The top board was attached using wood glue and finish nails.
Next we framed out the dresser fronts and sides with the 3/8″ pine project board. We just used wood glue to attach the cut pieces and secured them until the glue was dry.
There are two screws on each side of the Rast when you put it together. I used wood filler and sanded to hide those before painting.
At the very bottom of the Rast is a solid board running across. This board is set in. Mark used a jig saw to cut out this piece – as shown above. This was done because the trim piece going over this is also cut out. Below is the paper template I used for the bottom decorative piece. You can print this, cut out the template, trace around it on your 5″ x 2 ft. pine board, flip it over and trace the other side.
Once the pattern was traced onto the pine board, Mark again used a jig saw to cut this out. Then I sanded it smooth. To attach this piece to the bottom of the dresser, we again needed to build up the sides to attach it securely. We used the extra pieces of wood from the drawer and side panels for this. See below.
Then we attached the trim piece with wood glue and finish nails. Below you can see the gap between the front piece and the original set in piece and why you need to fill in this gap.
Since I used one drawer pull instead of the two knobs that came with the Rast, I filled in the predrilled holes on each drawer with wood filler, sanded, and then Mark drilled the holes for the drawer pulls. I purchased the pulls I used from Lowe’s. They came in a set of six and were very reasonably priced.
Before painting, I sanded all the rough edges, used wood filler to fill in any gaps in the attached trim, and when dry, sanded those areas until smooth. As a reminder, here is what the Ikea Rast looks like when assembled.
Ikea Rast Hack Painting & Finishing
And, here is our finished Ikea Rast Hack using these building plans. I painted the piece with Maison Blanche Vintage Furniture Paint in Silver Mink and used a tiny bit of Miss Mustard Seed Antiquing Wax on the front trim pieces to provide a slight contrast. I waxed the entire piece with Maison Blanche Clear Antique Wax.
I hope these plans are easy to follow. Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll try to help.
If you like this post, you might also like these DIY posts.
Who would guess its humble beginnings! Love the new look! The plans are straightforward and having pics of the Lowe’s bins is always helpful. This project has given me some trim ideas for my plain Jane desk! I so appreciate your post!
I’m so glad the photo’s help. I know I’m more of a visual learner and I always appreciate photos!
That turned out beautifully, Doreen!
This is gorgeous. you did an amazing job
That is beautiful. How talented you and your husband are!
It’s so pretty. I love everything about it including the hardware.
This is a very cute up grade. Looks expensive. Great job!
My wife asked me to try and tackle this project, but I’m a little confused by your first picture. It shows what looks like 1×4 (or maybe 1×3) lumber, but the sign with the price on it says it’s 2×3. I know that’s not 2×3 in the picture. I think the sign is for what’s below it (not pictured), not what’s above it. Can you tell me if this is really 1×3 or 1×4 pine? Thanks in advance!
Hi. I see how this could be confusing. The wood is from the “project wood” section at Lowes. They are precut pieces for small projects. The size is 3/8″ thick x 2″ wide x 3 ft. Long. I hope this makes sense now.
Doreen
Ahhhhhh…OK. That makes much more sense. Thanks!!! Maybe I’ll send some pics of our final product. 🙂
This is beautiful. What color paint did you use? That is the exact color I have in mind for my project 😍
Hi. I share the information on the paint I used in this post – https://hymnsandverses.com/2016/11/ikea-rast-hack-maison-blanche.html
Doreen, Was curious how much the total cost of your lumber & moulding supplies were for this? I noticed the Rast was on sale this week so curious if we could afford to do this project right now. Love the way yours turned out! <3
Hi, Amanda. I hope you were able to figure out the amount based on my the prices shown in my post. Doreen
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!❤️
Hi, just wonder what you cut the tops to? Did you leave them as 16x 3 feet?
The tops are 13 1/8″ x 27 1/4″ – just measured to confirm!
Great makeover, Doreen! Love RAST hacks! I’ve featured you on Tuesday Turn About, #5. 🙂 Pinned, as well!
Thanks a bunch, Julie!
What size finishing nails did you use?
I believe they were 1 1/4″.
I love all the details you gave. They turned it beautifully.
Where did you get that small round picture frame? It’s so cute!
I got it at HomeGoods!
You did a lovely job! I am planning on doing one just like this! In the finished picture it doesn’t look like ther sides are trimmed. Did you take those off or is it just the angle of the photo?
It’s just the camera angle. The sides are trimmed!
THIS is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!
We grabbed 2 of these RAST’s on a whim last night to use as bedside tables – 10 years of marriage and we’re finally real adults with matching tables. Right away I knew I wanted to hack them like mad, but this shows my husband a visual what I’m seeing in my brains. I’ll be sure to tag you when it’s complete
Oh, Lori! I’m so glad you like my hack! I totally get what you mean about husband’s seeing what’s in our heads! Mine is the same way!
I haven’t had bedroom furniture for about 7 years; nightstand over 30 years. I’ve been looking @ YouTube for bed frame & I saw lots of videos about ikea hacks & yours & another one I really like but I like yours better. I don’t understand your instructions; I wish you had a video. The nightstand is Beautiful!! Excellent Job!!