Friday, October 29, 2010

{tale of an ikea dresser}


I bought my Ikea Hemnes 6-drawer dresser back in my college days, when I was living in little studio apartments, working 50 hrs a week and going to school full-time. I needed something cute and cheap. {Ironically, for as thrifty as I was, I also splurged on a Pottery Barn couch for $1400. Which we still have. And I still love.}

I assembled the dresser all by myself, with love and care. You should have seen me beaming with pride when it was complete. {ps: I have a weird fancy for assembling furniture.} The "faux-oak" color matched with my Pier1 living room coffee/end table {also still have} and my cheap Target kitchen table {again, still have, though used now as the kiddo table brought out only at holidays.}

Now my bedroom, shared with amazing hubby, looks like this:

We still have Ikea furniture, but it is the more modern-looking Malm platform bed with nightstands. The old reliable dresser just doesn't match! So, blog friends, I painted it! Believe me, I was nervous as you are reading this, thinking, "Ikea stuff seems cheap, the wood has a faux finish on it that does not seem paintable...seems like a bad idea, G! Why not just buy a new dresser at Ikea -- they are cheap!" Uh, yeah, cheaper than PB, but I decided I'd rather pay $15 for paint than $180 for a new dresser. Sooooo....

...stay tuned for the for the finished product - I will post the "after" pics very soon. You might be surprised at this re-do!

{I know, I know...I'm a total tease!}

Has anyone else dared to paint Ikea furniture???? I'd love to hear!
G

3 comments:

  1. You crack me up! I can't wait to see it. I finished my curtains. Let's just say DJ said it's okay for me to buy new curtains. haha
    -Alicia

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  2. I LOVE your bed linen. I've been looking for one like that for aaaaages.

    I've seen Ikea Furniture makeovers and they usually come up brilliantly.

    Looking forward to seeing yours!

    Sarahx

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  3. Greta, my only suggestion is if it is "faux-oak" I am guessing it is laminate, so go very gently with the sand paper as you rough it up prior to applying paint. Jen and Ben recently refinished a dresser, it is on her blog.

    Good Luck.

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