IKEA Rast DIY Makeover For Less Than $150

I gave plain IKEA Rast dressers a chic upgrade with rich wood stain and modern gold hardware—an easy, affordable DIY that looks high-end. Here’s how to do it!

Real talk: When we moved to Washington, DC in December 2021, we bought two IKEA Rast 3-drawer dressers for nightstands. The size and height makes them perfect for bedside tables if you’re in the market. But I have been looking at them for more than 3 years now willing myself to find the motivation to do one of the 4,500 IKEA Rast hacks I have saved. Well, the time finally came and while it’s not some crazy hack that required power tools (those are really cool but I do not have the bandwidth for that type of project right now) – I still really love how they turned out. Let’s dive in…

IKEA Rast DIY Makeover For Less Than $150

For starters, I bought two IKEA Rast 3-drawer dressers for $49.99 each at IKEA. Putting them together is kind of a pain in the ass (but do-able), but I chose them for one important reason: they are made of solid wood and can be sanded, oiled, lacquered, stained or painted. Once they are assembled, they’re really sturdy so I call that a huge win.

When I finally got my act together and decided to make something of them, I chose a chestnut-colored stain from Home Depot ($10) that matched our bed frame and sealant ($10). I knew I also wanted to change out the wooden knobs and chose a simple gold knob (also from Home Depot) for around $2/each. We had paintbrushes and old rags on hand so I just used those and put a trash bag down on the floor before I got started on my project.

The first step was wiping down the dressers really well and vacuuming out the drawers. Once that was done, it was time to stain.

It was my first time staining anything and I found the process to be really easy. I got a crash course on the concept from the salesman at Home Depot and got to work. Paint on, let sit for 3-5 minutes, wipe off excess, and repeat. Yes, it was that easy. I let the stain dry for 24 hours and then applied the sealant with a brush. I let that dry for 24 hours, too, before putting the gold knobs on.

Honestly, this easy project gave me faith that I can do more DIY projects than I give myself credit for, because I love the end results. Are they perfect? Nope. But are they better than the naked IKEA Rast nightstands that had been sitting in my room for over 3 years? Absolutely yes.