UPDATE: After posting this, I got a lot of questions on how exactly I assembled it. So I’ve updated the details below. Hope it helps!
I thought it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane and show you my first project… as in the first one where I cut my own wood. I knew that it wasn’t perfect, and that was, and still is, totally fine with me. I felt like I could tackle it because I wasn’t constructing it from scratch; I was simply adding trim and turning something basic into what I wanted. After all, that’s what drew me to woodworking to begin with… being able to make what I wanted. I didn’t realize how much I would love the process!
It started with a large wall in our living room where our TV hangs. It needed something besides a big black TV. Media consoles in the right size (like 8′ long +) were out of sight price-wise, and therefore out the question. I scoured antique and thrift stores for a large dresser or banquette that I could redo, but nothing even approached the length I needed. I wanted something long, low, and narrow. And then I realized that an IKEA rast, or 4, would do just the trick. After all, it has to be the most hacked piece of IKEA furniture there is! It’s cheap, and mostly solid wood. And it can take on almost any look you want.
And lo and behold it worked! I’ve had lots of house guests ask me where I bought it so that they could get one too. So to me, it’s a success. As a bonus, it offers tons of storage for things like seasonal décor, candles, board games, etc.
To think that I did all of this with a circular saw is almost laughable now. After all, it was the first time I’d cut wood with anything! If I’d had a miter saw, I definitely could have made it a little more cleanly with more accurate cuts. But hey, it wasn’t that hard. Anyone can do it, and you can too!
I wish I had detailed instructions, but it’s been a few years and my memory is a little rusty.
I decided to take out 3 of the vertical pieces, or sides, so that it would look like one continuous piece rather than 4 individual dressers that had been ganged together. I started by building one rast, then built the next one without one side and attached it to the side of the first rast. I did need to drill a few holes into each interior vertical support to accommodate the drawer slides, but it wasn’t difficult at all. I continued adding on until all 4 were ganged together.
For the bottom, I built out the empty space beneath each bottom drawer, the toe kick-like area, with a 1×4. I then skirted the bottom with 1x4s around the sides and front.
I made the top with 2 1x4s and a 1×6 running the entire length of the top. I trimmed out the edges of the top with 1 1/2″ wide lattice. The lattice helped hide the small gap between the top of the rast and the bottom of the 1x top. Lastly, I created the look of recessed panels by trimming out the drawers and sides with lattice.
I had wanted to add some fancy-schmancy knobs, but after multiplying even the most basic knobs by 24, I decided to just go ahead and paint the wooden knobs that came with the dressers and call it a day.
I hope this inspired you! If you liked this hack, check out a few of my other IKEA hacks!
UPDATED How-To:
- Assemble dresser A (see picture below) according to the instructions. This will be the left end dresser.
- Assemble dresser B with just the right side/ leg attached.
- Line up dresser B to right side of dresser A. Dresser A’s right side will also be B’s left side. Attach the top of dresser B to the right side of dresser A using a corner bracket as in picture below.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 to attach C to B and D to C. You will end up with brackets at the red arrows in the picture above, attaching top of C to right side of B, and top of D to right side of C.
- To install the drawer slides, find the existing drawer slide holes on all of the interior vertical legs. Drill all the way through to the other side. The drawer slides from one dresser will butt up against the other, but they will both fit.
- Build out the bottom toe-kick areas with 1x4s, then attach a 1×4 across the entire front of the piece and the sides.
- The top is made from 2 1x4s and a 1×6 running the length of the piece. I trimmed the slides and ends with lattice.
Hope these new instructions are helpful! Good luck!
-Marianne
Sources: Items, or similar, seen in the photos in today’s post
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Fantastic use of Ikea Rast dressers! I am looking to fill a very long wall with some storage, and this is a perfect idea. Thank-you!
Yay Melanee! Glad to help!
Marianne,
What type of paint did you use or do you recommend for finished product? Did you sand it down before doing so? I’m about to start this project and had those questions.
Thanks
Hi Will,
No need to sand. I used bullseye 123 to block out to block out the wood seepage. My favorite paint is Sherwin Williams Pro Classic in semi gloss. It gives a great smooth finish that is easy to clean. Good luck!
Hi there! What did you use for the top?
oops never mind!
Hi there! Great hack, looks beautiful. I want to reproduce it but I noticed that in your the draws the area where the handles are is deeper than the rest of the front of the console. In ikea Rast the whole front is straight. How did you do that?
Thank you!
Thank you! I trimmed out each drawer with what I call lattice. You can find it at the big box stores in the trim section. It is 1/4″ thick and 1 1/2″ wide. I attached the trim around the edge of each board with glue. Hope this helps you! Good luck!
How did you hide your cable box and TV wires?
Hello,
The cords are fed behind the wall. Our cords then go under the floor to a closet where we keep our cable box and other electronics. But you can simply feed them down behind the wall then have them come out behind the console into your cable box.
Hello! I love your idea! I’m actually flung it right now! I purchased my 4 rast dressers & put one together so far but I got stuck on how you attached them to each other & also, how you attached the drawer glides? Because essentially, you’re attaching the next one you the outside of the first dresser… But there are no predrilled holes for the glides…
Thanks so much for any help you can give me!
~Beth
Hi Beth,
Thanks for stopping by! I did this project a couple of years ago and I couldn’t remember how I assembled it in detail, but your question spurred me to go ahead and pull it apart to remember! I’m updating the post now and will have it up soon. Hopefully that will answer your questions!
Hi Beth, it’s updated now. I hope I’m not too late for you!
This is beautiful! I’m going to attempt a similar hack of my own. Can I ask how long your TV is? Trying to gauge if I should use three or four Rasts.
Thanks so much! My TV is 62″ long. Good luck!
This is perfect for my husband and I! I would love to do this with 3 Rast dressers to make a 9 drawer dresser for our bedroom to put our tv on. The lattice that you used to trim etc is there a unfinished type that I could use so that I might be able to stain the dresser? We are military so we move every 3 years and this is completely move friendly and will be easy to pull apart to move when we are ready for our next duty station. Love this Idea!
Hi Kylie,
First of all, thank you so much for your service and sacrifice! You can definitely buy the lattice unfinished. At Lowe’s it’s called raw pine square lattice molding. Good luck! I would love to see pics 🙂
Fantastic idea.
Are the drawers deep enough to store DVDs laying on their sides?
Thanks Chris,
Yes, the drawers are a perfect fit height-wise for DVDs. The interior of each drawer is 22″ wide, 10 1/2″ deep, and 6″ tall.
Just stumbled upon your blog post from Pinterest. What a great project! I would have walked right past those little dressers in IKEA, but now I’m dreaming of incorporating this into my bedroom!
This is so awesome! I am a little confused about the top though. Is it just the 4 individual ones next to each other?
Thanks Kimberly! I attached the 4 individual dressers together, then I made a top with 1 1×6 and 2 1x4s. I trimmed out the top with 1 1/4″ lattice, so the top is almost like an upside down tray, if that helps!
What a fabulous piece! How did you actually put the top together? (The 1×6 and 1×4’s?) Nail or wood glue?
Thanks Danyal! If you have a kreg jig, I would attach the 3 pieces together with pocket screws, then glue and nail to top of dressers. If you don’t have a kreg, you can use flat metal braces on the underside. If not, you can just nail and glue each board individually. Good luck!
First of all I love this!!! I’ve read it 100 times and still trying to figure out how you did the top. Since it comes with tops did you not just use those and put it together?
Hi Amber, glad to hear you love it! I’m sorry it’s not explained well enough! I did use the tops of the dressers. Once the whole piece is finished, you can’t see the original tops, but they are there to help the stability of the individual dressers.
So once all of the dressers are put together and attached, I then laid the long 1×4 and 1×6 pieces across the top. These pieces rest on the the vertical dresser sides, and there is a tiny (maybe 1/8″) gap between the long top pieces and the original dresser tops – you can see the gap in the IKEA picture above. I then used the lattice to cover that gap and finish off the look of the piece.
Hope that helps you! Good luck!
Was the top hard to make? I was confused as to how you did it, until you said “like an upside down tray” 🙂
I’m also confused by your term “lattice”, is it like skirting board? Sorry for all the silly questions. Absolutely love the finished outcome, am hoping I can convince my husband to help me give it a go. We too have a leave wall mounted tv, and struggle for a suitable entertainment unit to sit underneath it. Also struggle for decent DVD storage too. Hopefully hubby gets onboard. Thank you for sharing your knowledge xx
Hi Candece,
These are not silly questions! The lattice I’m referring to is lattice moulding. Check out this link… https://www.lowes.com/pd/1-5-in-x-8-ft-Pine-Finger-Joint-Lattice-Moulding/1000443149
I personally shop at Lowe’s often, and there it is included in the moulding section where you would also find baseboards and crown. Hope this helps, and good luck!!
Hi there, did you paint the dressers before or after assembling them?
No, I didn’t paint before. I got it all together then just painted where needed.
Hi there!
So creative and thank you for sharing!
May I ask what color paint you used for the console and the knobs?
Thanks Melodi! I just used Sherwin Williams Extra White on the console and a flat black spray paint on the knobs. Thanks for stopping!
Hi Marianne,
Do you remember what type of Sherwin Williams Extra White paint you used? Went shopping and found that there are 19 different types they offer in Extra White. Thanks!
Hi Devin, I do not remember exactly which I used for that particular piece, but since then, I have begun using Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint – I use semi-gloss. It’s a bit more expensive, but it goes on so smoothly that it’s worth the extra money for me. Hope this helps!
This looks awesome!! Making me want to go to IKEA right now and purchase the dressers. Did you make that rectangle vase in the middle too? Or was that purchased?
Thank you Tanz! I made the vase in the middle because I needed something long and low. It’s made entirely out of 1×4 and is really easy. I’m getting ready to post another similarly made container which may help you. Good luck with your project!
I can’t find the diy post on the vase 😭
Hi Priscilla, Oh no! I don’t think I posted an actual how to on that vase holder. I did built it the same way I made this one:
Magnolia Market Inspired Wood & Metal Tote
The only difference is that I kept the ends flush with the front and back instead of inset as I did on the tote. As for the stain, I used one of my faves, Minwax Special Walnut. I detail here how I did the stain…
Farmhouse Vintage Stain Technique
Hope this helps and good luck!
Love this! I am currently building this now. Did you use the kick toe piece that came with the dresser, or just your own 1×4’s in place of it? Thanks!
Thank you Kelly! I did use the toe kick. I installed it per the instructions, then I sandwiched in a 1×4 on top of it. Over top of that 1×4 is my long 1×4 baseboard. If I were doing it today, I would probably have found a simpler way to do this! Perhaps some pocket holes in the toe kicks to install them flush to the front of the dresser, than put the 1×4 baseboard on top. Either way would work. Good luck!
Ah! I’m so excited I found this! My husband loves a large TV and finding a long piece to go under it is so darn difficult. I’ve never done an Ikea “hack.” Since you’ve had this for a while, are you happy with how it’s holding up?
I hear you Nichole! That is exactly why I resorted to a hack! It’s holding up just fine. I don’t use it for everyday storage but rather seasonal stuff. I wouldn’t put a ton of heavy stuff in it. But I’ve never regretted this project in the least. It definitely isn’t going anywhere! Good luck!
Oh my gosh, I am dying over how gorgeous this project has turned out. We moved house last year and because it was a new home, I foolishly decided to sell all our stuff and start over. I didn’t consider how long it would take to refurnish an entire house, and how expensive. This has given me some motivation to visit ikea and create a few things we need for much less than I had expected to pay.
Hi Vicki, I’m so happy I could give you some inspiration! Good luck!
LOVE THIS! Trust me when I say that I could never create this on my own – yet it is the EXACT size and functionality of what we are looking for. Did you ever end up seeing an item like this for sale to buy anywhere else? Or should I look to hire someone who could make it for me!?!?! 🙂
Thanks Katie! I have never seen anything like this elsewhere, or at least not for anything close to budget-friendly. It really wasn’t difficult and it was a fun learning experience. But if you want to hire someone, even a novice could do this pretty easily 🙂
Hello!
This project is so beautiful! I just moved into my new home and my mom and I are halfway through making it! However, we got stuck at the toe kick part. We are confused as to what exactly to use to fill in the gap before putting the 1×4 across the entire length of the dresser. Help?
Hi Nicole,
I’m sorry for the delay! I filled the gaps with short 1x4s, then laid another 1×4 on top. Hope this still helps you!
Hi!! Obsessed with this!! 😍 may I ask what brand/color stain you used for the vase???
Thank you so much for posting this!!! I loved it so much I took the dive and made my own! It’s not perfect by any stretch so there is a strict no looking at it closely rule hahaha, but it was my first solo attempt at something this involved… I’ve painted and sanded lots of furniture but never tried to make something into something else! I had a friend help on the day we put all the dressers together, and it turned out great. Thank you for the instructions and the idea!
Congrats Shannon! I totally know the feeling of excitement at completing these projects – it can be addicting! Thanks for letting me know!
Hello can you please kindly email these instructions of the units of drawers looks amazing and big families it’s a yes for sure
I’d love to try the Ikea storage
Many thanks 😉
Beautiful piece of furniture, I like what you do!
Check out my blog at peppatreestudios.com maybe you’ll enjoy my projects too 🙂
Love this project. Can you please tell me more about how you did the recessed look on the drawers? What lattice and where did you get them? Do you have tutorial on this?
Thanks Steph! The drawers are quite easy. I used this lattice molding. It’s in the molding section at lowe’s or home depot. It’s 1 1/2″ wide and 1/4″ thick. I just cut the pieces to length and glued on. Good luck!
How is the second toe kick attached to the first Rast ?
Hi Nick,
I’ve hacked this a couple of times now, and I think there are a couple of ways to do it. The first, which is what I did on this media console, was to attach the toe kicks as shown on the IKEA instructions. Then lay a 1×4 on top of it. Attach the 1×4 to the original toe kick glue and screws or nails. Do this on the bottom of each unit. At this point, you will have a flat flush surface for the length of the console. I laid a long 1×4 on top of that and simply screwed from the front into the 1x4s underneath. I think I screwed into the console legs, too. Then I just spackled the holes and glued. To keep it cleaner, you could also screw from the back through the toe kick and into the two 1x4s.
A second option would be to install the IKEA supplied toe kick flush to the front of the legs. You could use pocket hole screws. If you don’t have a pocket hole jig, you could use L brackets from the back. Then you would just lay the long 1×4 across the front and screw to the toe ticks. Hope this helps, and good luck!
I love the Rast media console hack, I was just on the Ikea website though and I saw they have a 6 drawer dresser, would it work with two of those instead of 4 of the 3 drawer single ones? It works out to be cheaper but seems like it would end up being the same length with a little less work.
Hi Adrian, I’m not sure which dresser you’ve found, so it’s hard for me to comment on how it would work. Granted, if it’s all wood, it shouldn’t be too hard to modify. I know that 4 of the rasts cost only $160. I see the 6 drawer Tarva, but it’s $180 for just one. I may just not be looking in the right place. If you do decide to go that route, I would love to see the results. Good luck!
Hi Marianne!
This piece is beautiful! I was thinking about making one for myself to use as a buffet/sideboard in my dining room. I went to the Ikea website to look at the measurements of the Rest…it looks pretty narrow. Are you able to fit a good amount of stuff in those drawers? Also, did you have to secure it to your wall to ensure it didn’t tip over? I always worry a little bit about that.
Thanks!
Hi Jenn, the Rast is a rather narrow piece, which is one of the things I actually liked about it. Your best bet may be to check it out in an IKEA store if you are able. I’ve got a lot of stuff in mine, but sometimes they are too narrow for some things, and I would be a little concerned with anything super heavy. Mine is not secured to the wall; I know that’s advised, especially with little ones, but it sits quite low to the ground and the way it’s attached together, I think it would be really hard for it to tip.