Spotted Dresser // Ikea Rast

So when I needed to amp up my daughter’s white Ikea Rast dressers, I was instantly drawn to this as my inspiration.  Now when beginning this revamp, I knew full and well that this would not be an heirloom piece.  It is an Ikea dresser.  So when painting this I took that into account.  I’m not investing in the best paint & sealer… I just need this to last a few years.  If it lasts longer than that, bonus!  I am a little anti Spray Paint with furniture after years of every piece being covered by a can, but in this instance I felt it was the best option.  So I painted the three individual Rast dressers & their drawers in Rustoleum Gloss White.  (The tall silver professional can.)  

And after they were dry & the drawers were still out, I screwed the three of them together to make one long piece to give it a bit more stability.  I also wanted the three units together so when adding the spots, the spots were aligned.

For the spots, I pulled out one of Chloe’s watercolor brushes (you know the ones that come with the rainbow color array of ovals in the white plastic tray) and a spare can of Rustoleum Chalkboard paint, as I always seem to have extra around, even though I haven’t done a chalkboard project in about three years.  Ha!  I opened the can, dipped my brush & went forward with creating my spots.  No two are alike.  No two are equally spaced.  I think that adds to the fun of this piece.  I did have to do two coats of each of the dots… and if I didn’t cover the spot exactly, it was no big deal.  This was a very low stress DIY.

Once the spots were dry, I added the hardware back onto the dresser.  I could have gone on the hunt for hardware that felt more in keeping with the Kate Spade piece, but as this was simply used as an inspiration I felt the diamond backplate ring pulls I already had carried along the same feel.  Btw, I picked up this hardware at Home Depot.  I was not able to locate them online, but they were still available at our local store as of last week.  (In brushed silver too!)

And that was it.  A little spray paint, a few (hundred) spots & some pretty hardware was all it took to transform the Ikea Rast into something that appears a bit more expensive.  I definitely would not call this an Ikea Hack.  So I will stick with Revamp.

Now to be completely honest… if you are not familiar with the Rast in person, it is small.  It is only about a foot deep & only 27″ high.  Even after reading the dimensions online, I was still surprised at how small it felt once assembled.  A standard dresser, buffet, console, desk, etc… are usually around 29-33″ high.  The reason why I love this scale for her room is it is very much scaled for her… she’s 5 1/2 (can’t leave off that half!!)  So that is just something to keep in mind if you want to move forward with a similar project.  The beauty of this project is that it could be done on just about anything.  So be sure to find the right piece for your space.  This just so happened to be the right one for us.

I hope you all have a happy Monday!!  

xo – Kristin