what I do

what I do

Monday, June 25, 2012

From plain to spectacular


I have been spending a lot of time at Ikea lately. It is my "go to" place for frames (Ribba), shelves (Lack), cabinet handles (Vinna) and dressers (the Malm).

Malm dresser from Ikea

This dresser is a favorite of mine. It comes in several sizes and I have used them as nightstands, in closets, as living room consoles and dining room sideboards. At $69.99 for the 3 drawer chest or $169 for the 6 drawer dresser, it is an affordable option for most. Ikea now offers glass tops to fit which adds a really nice touch and you can easily dress it up by adding handles.
Like these for example:


But I thought I would show you some other ways to change the Malm dresser from simple to spectacular (just in case you have not seen them before!).


Amanda used these overlays:


To turn her Malm into this!


The overlays are the brainstorm of Danika & Cheryle, a couple of friends who saw the need and came up with this ingenious idea. I found more great examples of how these simple overlays, can transform the Malm dresser on the O'verlays' website:


I love the white on white. 


And while I also enjoy the simplicity of the plain Malm dresser - there is something irresistible to me about these with the overlays.


It is hard to believe this started as a simple Malm dresser.

Ikea's Rast dresser is another common dresser to "hack." 
Here it is in it's natural state which sells for a mere $34.99:


Are you ready to see some crazy transformations?



via | directions here


My all time favorite is Nancy Marcus' Dorothy Draper inspired chest. Here is the $3,200 version:


And here is Nancy's:

See Nancy's tutorial here
This one is pretty great too:

via | directions here

And finally, Naomi's campaign cabinet:


You can see her step-by-step instructions here

Pretty incredible transformations, right? But if you are like me (I am not crafty nor do I love DIY projects) it might feel a little overwhelming. So let me show you something that I know I can do (which means you can too!). It just involves a little spray painting ...

This ...

Ikea's Vittsjo shelving unit - $70.00

+ gold Rust-oleum spray paint ... turns into THIS:


Now I just need to find an empty wall!
Happy Monday Everyone! 

5 comments:

Julia Ryan said...

love it all! can't wait to get started on my own ikea hack soon!

Town and Country Gals said...

Sherri,
amazing transformations! I love Ikea but sadly the closest one is about 3 hrs away in Atlanta! Been there once, it was mind blowing! I'd be there all the time if it were closer!
Rebecca

Holly Gruszka said...

I would really love to get dirty with some DIY action someday but I really don't see it happening anytime soon. Maybe just maybe I could do it if I had a weekend to myself to be able to concentrate on finishing the project. These are some really great updates that these bloggers made - incredible what can be done.

Unknown said...

I love to see what a paint can do! I've been experiencing myself... it's fun.
The last transformation looks incredible and I do have an empty wall and a Ikea store close by...
Inspiring post.

A Vintage Vine said...

Love them all, Ikea always makes me smile, thanks for sharing!