IKEA Hack…Tarva Dresser Makeover
How is 2014 treating everyone? We are off to a good start and hoping tonight when Auburn (cross our fingers) beats Florida State tonight in the National Championship game it will be even better! Regardless it’s always great to be an Auburn tiger!
I still have several projects from 2013 I want to share with you, starting with this IKEA hack dresser makeover for little chickadee’s nursery. So as simply as possible let me tell you how this happened.
We picked up the TARVA unfinished wooden dresser at IKEA for $149.99. Everything at IKEA always seems like such a great deal. Then you put it together and realize why it’s so inexpensive. Thankfully since I was about 7 months pregnant III and my sister did most of the assembly work! It only took 3.5 hours :o)
This piece would look beautiful stained with some fun hand painted knobs (which you could probably find on sale at Hobby Lobby). But I had a different idea in mind. I started by priming and painting the dresser (minus drawer fronts) a teal/mint/green color. It’s Behr from Home Depot but I don’t remember the exact name, I can find out if you would like to know. The drawers got a crisp coat of white paint.
Next I cut out the fabric (from Hobby Lobby) in a rectangle two inches smaller in length and width than the drawer fronts. I attached the fabric in the center of the drawer using a spray adhesive made by Krylon.
I picked up general purpose screen moulding and 5/8″ wire brads at Home Depot as well to add a little dimension to the drawer fronts. I painted all of the moulding white before I started cutting. After measuring the length I needed each piece I used a miter box and hand saw to cut each piece at a 45 degree angle.
I attached the moulding to the drawer fronts using the 5/8″ brads, every 6 inches or so. Then I used this patch and paint to fill in the corners and nail holes.
After another coat of paint on the trim all that was left was attaching the knobs!
I absolutely LOVE how the dresser turned out. One of a kind, you might say! The dresser is a little bigger than I thought it would be, but every drawer is filled to the brim, so I’m glad we went with this six drawer size.
Love it, love it, and love it some more! Great job, thanks for posting!
Love what you did with the Tarva Dressers – so pretty! I just gave one a makeover as well to use as a change table for my daughter. It’s the perfect size dresser for one isn’t it? Yours caught my eye at the From Dream To Reality Party.
It works perfectly for a dresser/changing table!
This dresser turned out gorgeous! We would love for you to share this at the Awesome Things Tuesday Link Party here:http://artzycreations.com/awesome-things-tuesday-65/ Have a great day!
This is SO stinking adorable! I absolutely love the colors!
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I just did a Tarva for my daughter’s room. I wish she had let me be this creative…all she wanted was a white dresser with teal pulls. Yours turned out fantastic!!!
Mandie recently posted…My Dream Bookcases
Thank you so much! It’s nice when they are younger so don’t really have an “opinion” just yet :)
This is such a beautiful Hack…..your colour choices are stunning! Probably the best hack I have seen!
Gilly @ Colour Saturated Life recently posted…Kitchen Clock Makeover
You are soooo sweet! Thank you so much!
Great makeover! Thanks for the inspiration!
This is SO adorable! I love the colors you chose, and the pattern is perfect. I NEVER would have thought to use fabric! So clever! We’d love for you to join our party and link this up at Motivational Monday going on right now! :)
http://www.dwellinginhappiness.com/motivational-monday-26/
Amanda @ Dwelling in Happiness recently posted…Motivational Monday 26
I have been following your blog since I since I was only 4 weeks pregnant and I am so excited I found it. We are starting to get our baby girl’s nursery together now and was trying to decide between this ikea dresser or the smaller Koppang Ikea dresser. I really like what you did with chickadee’s dresser and am hoping you have found you do have enough room/width for her changing pad on top. I noticed this dresser is a couple inches more narrow then the other one I was considering. Can you let me know if you are having any trouble with changing her on top of the Tarva dresser, and perhaps what changing pad you are using? I treid to look at dimensions of different changing pads online. Thank you for all the great ideas, I love your Blog! -Nicole Skaife
I so glad you are along for the journey Nicole! Congrats on your baby girl…..having Chickadee what a life changer in the BEST possible way! The Ikea Tarva dresser is a little bigger I think than I thought it would be, but we have so much stuff and had no problem filling it up! The changing pad does hang over the back very slightly, but it has not been a problem for us. We have the changing pad from Babies R Us. I think it is the Summer Infant brand. Good luck with the dresser. I’d love to know how it turns out!
I have this dresser and the 5 drawer tall one, on the tall one I did a stain on it in a blue gray with dandelion stencils in wood glue so that when you stain that area doesnt pick up stain and has a cool natural wood look to it! for a more “manly” look on the other one (this dresser exactly from ikea) I stained the outer the same gray blue stain and then Decoupaged the drawer faces with black and white comic book prints. and left ALL the knobs on both completely natural. I love the versatility of these SO much that I came across this Hack browsing Ideas to do the same two dressers for my daughter, when I first saw this I thought hey cook decoupage I wonder what the dimension is, well que surprise that its actually fabric which is GENIUS! it will add amazing texture to the piece and I have seen a lot of hacks that add more wood elements that are SUPER intimidating but this looks like wood working that is easy! so long story (not so short) this.is.AWESOME
Thank you so much!! A blue gray stain I bet is beautiful and using wood glue to create a pattern is a great idea. I’m actually about to buy a smaller version for a bedside table! Maybe I’ll try out the wood glue idea :o)
Love, love, love this!! How much fabric did you use for this project? I’m thinking about doing the same thing in our nursery. Thanks for sharing you idea!
this is seriously, offing amazing! sharing on FB and pinning!
Jocie@TheBetterHalf recently posted…How to Build a Wall-Mounted Lumber Storage Rack
What an amazing transformation!!! I just love everything in the final picture, the colors, the dresser, the art, the basket. You rock!
Vanessa recently posted…Amazing Activities for Kids – 2013
Looks awesome! I love the colors and fabric you chose!
Chelsea @ two twenty one recently posted…Pantry Makeover
that looks seriously amazing!
the cape on the corner recently posted…Gorgeous gray girls and random crazies
That turned out FABULOUS!
Amanda @ Dreamsicle Sisters recently posted…Valentine’s Day Fonts
I love how this turned out! Very creative and PERFECT for your little misses room!
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Hi Laura Beth!
Ooooh, your dresser is just beautiful! Thank you so much for such wonderful and clear pictorial directions. I am one of those people who is afraid to fail so I don’t get started, but posts like yours give me confidence! Who knew there was a miter thingy like that?!! You nailed it about IKEA…I call what I buy “a box of parts”…bless your sister for being such a great help! Congrats to Auburn for making it to the National Championship!
:-) Laura
Looks so sweet and pretty! I’m getting ready to use fabric on a dresser in our guest room/ nursery too! Love how yours looks!
Love the colors! So sweet!