Seeing Double: Rast Hack

Materials: Two Rast 3-Drawer Dressers, Capita 6" Legs, Blankett 15" Handles, Two 1"x12"x6' Pine Boards

Description: Cut two 1"x12" Pine boards down to size; one 51" long, one 49" long.

Using wood filler, fill all the pre-drilled knob holes and screw holes in the dressers. Sand down any rough edges on all of the wood surfaces.

The 51" board will become the top, this can be stained any color you choose. I used Minwax "Early American".

Prime and Paint Two Rast 3-Drawer Dressers and 49" board any color you choose. I used Valspar "Vintage Teal" in high gloss.

After everything has completely dried, attach 6" capita legs 1" from the edges on all four corners on the bottom of the 49" painted board.

Attach the Blankett 15" handles in the center of each drawer.

On a level surface, screw the two Rast dressers together from the inside to secure them into one piece.

Place the now one big dresser on top of the base, insert the drawers and put the stained board on top.

Voila! Enjoy your new big, beautiful Rast hack!

~ Amie Lawler, Philadelphia, PA

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Yeah Yeah, Yet Another Rast Hack...

Materials: Ikea Rast chest of drawers (1), 4" Eames era hairpin legs (4), 9-5/8" Ikea Lansa Handles (3), 3" cabinet screws (8), finishing supplies, drill and circular saw.

Description: Assembled the drawers as per the original instructions, leaving off the included wooden pulls. Spackled the existing hardware holes on the drawer face and finished with white enamel paint. Finally, I measured for new hardware holes, drilled and attached the Ikea Lansa pulls. Note, the entire process of building the drawers took a few days between multiple coats of thinned enamel paint, dry/cure time and sanding.


The cabinet was a little less straight forward, it required trimming both side panels and repositioning the two connecting braces (originally intended between the middle-back and bottom-front). To start, I took measurements to determine the drawer positioning against the side panels, taking into account the width of the brace to be repositioned.

It turned out I cut approximately 3" off the bottom of each side panel. Attached the plastic drawer guides and top panel to the side panels as per the original instructions. Without the pre-drilled template holes, I kept the middle-back brace in the same position it was intended for, but moved it to the bottom of the cabinet. I repositioned the bottom-front brace parallel to the top panel just at the bottom front of the cabinet. Attached both braces with wood glue and cabinet screws. Attached the hairpin legs to the bottom four corners of the cabinet, drilling them directly into the repositioned braces. Finished with two coats of English oak stain and added the drawers.

~ Anthony, New York City

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Hack that Shack

Materials: LAIVA Desk, RAST Night Stand x 2

Description: When planning my new Amateur Radio Shack in the cupboard under the stairs, ala Harry Potter, there was only one option when it came to furniture. Ikea.

Only in the big blue giant can you find nice and small furniture to make a usable workbench in a 75cm by 50 cm space without building it yourself.

Using 1 x LAIVA desk and 2 x RAST night stand I put together this.

The top RAST has the lower shelf not fitted as this leaves a large enough space for a 19 inch monitor if I decide to fit it, I plan to start off using my Nexus 7 for qrz lookups etc. Connected them using a couple of straight brackets on either side and this gives enough rigidity as to not miss the second shelf. A 6 way power strip sat in the cable tray that the LAIVA powering two LAGRA clamp lights and a RIGEL hook as a headphone holder and the space is complete.

And from the outside looking in through the Hobbit sized door.

See more of the radio shack hack.

~ Jon Byrne, Manchester, UK

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IKEA Rast Hack {new nightstands}

Materials:
Rast dresser
Wood putty
Sand paper
1x4 the width of the dresser
2 1x6 the width of the dresser
About 40 feet of lattice (per dresser, if you're doing two dressers, get about 75 feet of lattice)
Drawer pulls
Stain
Paint
Floetrol
Polycrylic

Tools needed:
Miter saw
Nail gun
Putty knife

Description:
This is the IKEA Rast dresser. Pretty plain and boring, but solid wood and perfect for dressing up.

First thing I did was build up the bottom so that I could attach the base molding to something. I used one 1x4 and a piece of lattice behind it to build it out.

Then I cut the base molding and lattice to trim out all of the drawers and sides. I used my new miter saw I got for my birthday. Love it!

I then filled all the holes with wood putty and sanded, sanded, sanded.

Then I painted two coats of white paint. I put Floetrol in my paint to minimize the brush strokes. I used Sherwin Williams Antique White paint color.

I pre-stained the top "tray" that I put on the top of the nightstand. I placed two 1x6's and 1 1x4 side by side on the top and used the nail gun to fasten them to the top. And then I used stained lattice to trim around the edge of the top.

See more of the Rast nightstand.

~ Laura

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Cooking with Rast!

Materials: Bedside rast

Description: I've assembled 2 Rast bedside tables. I place them on their side and put one against the other creating 2 big cabinets and one narrower in the middle. On the left cabinet I inserted some compensated shelves.

On the right side I added a door creating a pantry and on the other side I built a frame where I glued a clear plastic sheet which is the oven door. The back of the cabinet is made by a compensated base where I laid a wooden bar to hang the kitchen tools. It is all being painted with water colours. It has a real bargain tap. Total price approximately €30.00.

~ Erika

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Double Rast Cabinet Hack

Materials: Ikea Rast drawers

Description: Screw two Rast chest of drawers together, add some timber or MDF, decorate with molding and give extra legs. Voila!

See more of the double Rast cabinet.

~ Kata, Budapest

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Ikea Rast Dresser with silver ring pulls

Materials: IKEA RAST

Description: I bought the IKEA Rast Dresser since it is solid wood for only $34, and then hacked it into a beautiful nightstand for our guest bedroom.

After priming & painting entire piece Benjamin Moore's Dove White, I then measured and taped off a design for the front of the drawers. I used left over wall paint (Sherwin Williams Misty) for this part.

I bought my silver drawer ring pulls off Ebay for around $2 a piece. So for $47, I transformed the IKEA Rast Dresser into a trendy nightstand!

See more of the Rast makeover.

~ Leah

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Shabby chic Rast

Materials: Ikea RAST Chest of 3 Drawers

Description: A plain IKEA RAST PINE 3 drawer cupboard was the perfect size for a shabby chic French style spare bedroom.

I customized it by:

Gluing on a decorative wooden moulding shape on to each drawer.

I tacked each in place with a thin nail

Once dried, I painted it all the same colour.

I changed the drawer knobs / pulls to clear glass ones

My IKEA HACK is now perfectly lovely.

See more of the Rast hack.

~ Dee Snook, West Midlands

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Rast doubled & dolled up!

Materials: Rast, ikea material & paint

Description: I've been looking for a bedside table/bookcase for my little boys room that they share. I wanted something fun & unique to match the decor, so i got hacking!!

I got two Ikea RAST turned one upside down, drilled 8 holes (two on the bottom of each side of the legs that are going together) & glued 2 dowels on each side into the holes. I then doubled the rast up & they're held in place with 'no more nails' glue & the dowels - they're very sturdy.

Next I painted them white & the shelves orange & I tacked a piece of Ikea material to the back, to match the decor & so things wouldn't fall off the back of the shelf.

I love the outcome, it's unique & fun & it matches the room perfectly! Most of all the boys love it!

~ Peita

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Rast Nightstand Mobile Kitchen Storage

Materials: Two Rast Nightstands, 4 wheels, 4 metal plates, lots of screws

Description: We needed some extra storage in the kitchen and we needed to keep it in space under the table that would be otherwise out of reach.

I didn't find anything that would suit our needs. The carts were either too tall to go under the table or to narrow to fully utilize the extra space. Also I didn't want anything made out of plastic.

Here is our solution. I bought two RAST nightstands (very cheap and made out of nice wood). I joined them together with metal plates. Then I have attached four wheels to top of the nightstands and I turned everything upside down.

It wasn't my initial plan, but I had to remove one shelf. The unit would be too deep otherwise and it would be hard to reach items in the back.

Now we have a mobile storage that nicely fits under Bjorkudden table, matches its nice wood pattern and has two level shelves for items of different height.

~ Maciej Witkowiak, Poznan, Poland

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Fabric-Wrapped Ikea Rast

Materials: Rast 3-Drawer Chest, Fabric, Poly-Acrylic, Iron, Ironing Board, Paint Brush, Razor

Description: For my version of the Ikea Rast Hack I decided to upholster the chest with a heavy-duty linen fabric I bought from the scrap pile of my local fabric store.

I guided my way through the upholstering process by watching the simple steps in a DIY video from Martha Stewart called, "Linen-Wrapped Table How-To" instructed by Christophe Pourny.

Step 1: Starch and iron your linen so it's crisp and has no wrinkles.

Step 2: Apply Minwax Gloss Polycrylic Protective Finish to the side of the wood you want to upholster with a paint brush. While still wet, place the linen over the wood board.

Step 3: Iron dry over the linen fabric on the wood board, this permanently adheres the fabric to the Ikea Rast.

Step 4: Cut the corners of linen at 45-degree angle; fold and crease fabric to make the corners even. Apply poly-acrylic finish to edges; iron to keep it in place and trim excess corner fabric with the razor blade. (This was the hardest step for me, watching the Martha Stewart video a few extra times really helped!)

Step 5: Apply topcoat of poly-acrylic finish to the entire Ikea Rast. This is optional but it will protect your fabric from spills or stains with a clear shiny coat. I did not do this step because I like the texture feeling of the linen.

Step 6: Add hardware of your choice. I bought my ring pulls from Lee Valley Tools and my nail heads from a local fabric store.

See more of the fabric wrapped IKEA Rast.

~ Kelly Boudreau, Florida

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Shabby chic Rast

Materials: Ikea Rast, incense burners, paint, brush, saw, emery sandpaper for polishing

Description: A forgotten brown Rast commode in the corner gave me a perfect opportunity to try distressed paint technique.
I also had a few unwanted incense burners.

1. I polished the whole thing, then glued the incense ornaments to the middle of the drawers.

2. Driven by a sudden impulse i cut out a pattern from the bottom spacer with a jig saw, polished and stuck it to the top.

3. I painted the whole commode to light blue.

4. When dry I used sandpaper to distress certain parts of the furniture.

See more of the shabby chic Rast.

Name: Laura - Sublót blog, Budapest

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A Grown-up RAST

Materials: RAST dresser, lattice strips, a few pices of 1x6 for the top, wood glue, paint stain and poly

Description: To make a small nightstand that somewhat matched an existing dresser we already had, we decided to hack the inexpensive RAST dresser.

After a good sanding all over, and filling in the pre-drilled holes for 2 pulls on each drawer, we got to work.

The front of the dresser we already have had a paneled look, so we cut lattice pieces to size and framed out the fronts of the RAST drawers as well as the sides of the piece, then simply used wood glue to adhere them.

To make a new more substantial top to the RAST, we used clamps and woodglue between a few pieces of 1x6s. Once cut down to size and sanded, the top piece was stained a dark espresso finish to match the color of the inspiration dresser we already had. We set aside the top until it was time to screw/glue it on.

Once the RAST was dry, we filled in the extra gaps in the lattice and molding we used to dress up the kick board. Then we painted the body of the RAST and drawers a creamy white. Once that dried, we secured the new top in place and used a small strip of molding on the front to cover the gab underneath and make it look like it was always meant to be there.

To polish it off, we drilled new, centered holes for each drawer and added a single brushed nickel pull.

See more of the grown up Rast.

~ Beth

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