My Ikea 'Rast' Remake

Description: Remake your plain pine, unfinished, three drawer Ikea 'Rast' dresser into a chic nightstand or end table in just 2 hours and just by adding some paint, wood stain, and new hardware!  

Materials: Ikea 'Rast' Three Drawer Dresser, Fast-Drying Polyurethane, white paint, paint brush, sand paper, wood stain, and new knobs.

Steps:

Step 1 // Materials Ready
Get out your materials. I used materials that my father-in-law already had. Which were semi-gloss white paint, a dark water based wood stain, and fast-drying polyurethane. I also had 2 different sized paint brushes, sand paper, and 2 wood blocks to place your dresser on while painting the bottom. 

Step 2 // Assemble
Put the dresser together. Follow the fairly confusing Ikea instructions. I resulted to my husband doing this part. Put everything together except for the drawer knobs!

Step 3 // Sanding
I sanded for a good 5 minutes on each dresser. Just so there weren't any pieces of wood sticking up. I really wanted to get them smooth.

 Step 4 // Stain and Paint
Stain the outside of the dresser. Apply two coats. I only did two coats so I could still see the wood. While those dry, paint the fronts of the drawers white. Apply two-three coats.

Step 5 // Sand and Polyurethane 
Sand the outside of the dresser again after the stain. This keeps the wood smooth still. Blow off the sand and paint on the polyurethane. Apple three coats of the poly. Allow the poly to dry over night.

Step 6 // New Knobs
Once everything is dry, add on the new knobs. I found mine at Hobby Lobby...originally I bought 10 different ones and had to take a week to narrow down on which ones. I ended up liking the simplest bronze floral ones the best.

Not the best "After" pictures, but they work.

And the total cost...

Ikea 'Rast' Dresser - $35 each 

(I got 2 so $70)

Hobby Lobby Antique Bronze Floral Metal Round Knob - $2.99 each 

(I got 12 at 50% off so $18)

Paint, wood stain, and polyurethane - $0 

(I already had it)

So I paid about $88 for two totally new nightstands, which can usually get quite expensive. So I am happy! Have any questions? I'd love to answer below!