Materials: 2.5 IKEA Rast, gloss paint, various brackets, legs and handles furniture, stainless steel sheet
Description: I really like a lot of the vintage industrial furniture that appears to be around at the moment, however it's very expensive AND seems to be a lot larger than will fit in my small flat. So....
Having seen various RAST hacks, I thought I'd have a go at my own. (with a couple of prerequisites)
- it had to look like a single solid piece of furniture (not 2 random pieces stuck together)
- I didn't want it to look like a "chest of drawers" with new legs stuck on it. Or bedroom furniture.
Structure
Step 01 - I built the first Rast, without the back to have a good look at the structure and see if my plan would work. I then cut off the bottom section which would normally be the plinth (this in my mind is what makes the Rast look like bedroom furniture) and added I extended the holes that hold the drawer runners completely through the side panel, so that I could add runners on both sides of this board.
Step 02 - Using a combination of the supplied dowels and screws, I mirrored the original Rast. I used metal brackets to strengthen the joins and make sure it stayed square. The middle board now has drawer runners for both sides of the cabinet.
Step 03 - Added legs (which I replaced as they were too tall) then made a "lid" out of the remaining sides of 3rd Rast. Simply held together with steel plates from the diy store. I then edged this "lid" with 35mm hardwood tacked onto the sides.
Aesthetics
- 2 coats of 3in1 primerundercoatknot solution
- 2 coats of industrial grey gloss
- legs, cup handles and card frames from an online diy store
- custom cutbent stainless steel sheet to cover the lid (tip. this was very cheap here in the UK via ebay). I've not glued this down yet but I will do with a silicon bathroom-kitchen adhesive at some point.
Thoughts...
Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome, it looks like a proper piece of furniture rather than a hack and goes well in my apartment. Using a 3rd Rast for parts worked out really well, as I hardly had to cut any wood as it was all supplied. The "lid" isn't attached to the top as it fits very tightly, this way it comes to bits easily for transportation.
~ nik faulkner, UK
