How to Save an Ikea Pine Dresser
Just a little bit of time and paint are needed to makeover an IKEA pine dresser such as the Tarva, Rast or Lesvik into a beautiful farmhouse style piece.
Have you ever felt that a piece of furniture can become a part of your family? Last year at around this time I had written a story about another dresser. Well, this year it’s time to take on this downtrodden mess. This old fellow is an Ikea pine dresser. And like the other one, it too has traveled across the Atlantic to spend most of its’ formative years here in Greece. But in this case I would say they were deformative. Now, I am going to show you how to save an Ikea pine dresser.
The dresser was used by two rowdy boys… and you know what that means. They used it as a playground, climbing onto it, and diving off of it and all sorts of other creative activities. Boys will be boys, as the saying goes. And here is the proof.
And here is more proof. We had to put it back together with screws. Of course, we all know that Ikea furniture is not the sturdiest in the world but it was solid pine and deserved a new life … even if it was looking awful. Here we are to the present and we had to decided what to do with this old thing. Were we going to keep it or use it as firewood? The saving grace was that it was solid pine for the most part. We just needed to realign the drawers as best as we could.
I had on hand this lovely shade of green and decided to paint it. It’s the hubs favorite sports color.
It’s called Enchanted by Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint from DecoArt. Originally I was thinking of doing it as an ombre with each drawer darker as we went down. (If you would like to buy this product I have included Amazon links at the bottom of the post.)
But once I painted the whole thing, it looked really dark so I decided to distress it just to get an idea of what it would look like with the contrasting wood. I even added the knobs back on. I had wanted to get new knobs originally, but when I added the old ones back on I liked the look.
But here is what happened next. When I put the drawers in the whole thing looked way too dark. So I added some white paint to the Enchanted color and lightened it up a bit. When I distressed I also sanded the whole thing. This really gave a soft smooth feel to the whole thing. I was really impressed by this finish. I did this on the whole dresser.
The bottom half here is waxed with Americana Decor Cream Wax. You can see how it darkens it a bit. (If you would like to buy this product I have included Amazon links at the bottom of the post.)
The finished job with wax and distressing. It now has a beautiful sheen and it is protected.
As for the top it was just sanded down and finally gave it a coat of wax.
When using chalk paint the big plus is that you don’t have to sand before. No prep work. But I did sand after I finished painting when I was distressing the piece. Not only did it make a huge difference in the appearance but it became as smooth as butter, paving the way for the wax.
I reapplied the knobs that I had from before; they look great and really stand out now.
You can see the nicks and scratches on the top and some dark green color but that’s okay as it adds to the charm of the piece.
Here you can see how the distressing shows just the green in some places…
Can you see the subtle sheen? Now every time I walk by it, I just have to run my hand over it.
… and in others the green and the wood, giving it more dimension.
It’s far from perfect. You can still see that there are some gaps where the drawers close, and it is full of nicks and indentations but it is a huge improvement from before. And it is full of character, even the hubs loves it.
Everyone goes on vacation in the summer and I go to work, but it was well worth it. And now that I have shown you how to save an Ikea Pine Dresser I am off to my basement. I do believe I have an old bed that I can paint to match this dresser. Would you have bothered to save this old thing or would you just have sent it to wood heaven?
Addition Furniture Painting Ideas you Might Like:
IKEA Malm Dresser Makeover 
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I love it when I get your comments and I will reply to each and every one of them.
You did a fantastic job on the dresser Mary! I’m glad that you decided to give it a make over instead of using as firewood. I love the color with the contrast of the wood top. Lovely piece!
Thank you so much Linda, I guess I’ll have to find my firewood elsewhere.
Hi Mary, I like what you’ve done with the dresser, but I would have loved to have seen how an ombre effect would have looked.
As for saving dressers. my daughter still uses an old chest of drawers that I had as a child and we also have a really tatty old set of drawers that we store bits and piece in on our back balcony. It’s only made of chipboard, but I also had that in my room as a child. All refurbishing is done by my husband as I wouldn’t know one end of a paint brush from the other and as for sanding???
xx
Debbie when I had decided to redo this dresser I told my husband I would do it for him, so when I showed him what ombre looked like he was turned off by it. He didn’t even want it distressed until I actually did it and then he was pleasantly surprised.
Now as for you knowing one end of a paint brush from the other, well, you are lucky that you have your husband. Mine only dones the nailing and wood cutting , he likes to use those power tools, which I am all too happy to let him handle.
SUCH gorgeous work!
Thank you Sarah, after this it should stick around another 25 years.
Mary, I would have saved it too. The warn look is what helps add the charm to your finished piece. It’s Fabulous! Love seeing old furniture get a reprieve from wood heaven 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing with us at Brag About It! Hope you are staying cool!
~Laurie
Yes Laurie, if you look close enough there is a whole life written on it by way of scratches and knicks. I am so happy I was able to finish it. Thank you for your sweet words.
Mary, I love the re-do. You did a fantastic job with it. I think you’re right the original knobs look really good. I would have saved this one too! Thank you so much for sharing with us at #SimplifyWednesdays. Have a beautiful week! Pinned, Tweeted, Shared, Stumbled
xo,
Carla a.k.a Mrs. R @ SimplifyLifeWithMrsR.com
Thank you so much Carla. It would have been a shame to get rid of it given that it has such a long history with us.
It turned out wonderful. I also raised boys and put many things back together with screws. Sigh. I also like Ikea furniture despite what many grumblers have to say about it. 🙂
Krista it gets the job done and in this case it has lasted 25 years so no complaints on my part.
Very nice makeover. It’s now very charming and quaint. I enjoy your blog immensely because you re-purpose items on a budget
That was the best comment for my ears/eyes Leanne. I always try to do things on a budget because I like many of you cannot afford to have fancy machines or craft supplies. Even the chalk paint I use is reasonably priced. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
What an incredible before and after. This is just the inspiration I needed – I am about to give a makeover to a side table!
I am so happy to hear that Kit. I would love to see it when it is finished on your blog. I love furniture transformations.
Mary, the idea that it is far from perfect fits with the weathered look! I love how you transformed something that many people would give away into such a handsome piece! The distressing you did is spectacular. You should be very pleased with your hard work. It was certainly time and effort well spent
Thank you so much Debbie for your kind words. I am really happy with it and feel with this particular piece that I have finally mastered chalk paint.
That turned out so well!! I really like how the wood and the dark green paint peeks through the top coat.
That was a happy accident! I didn’t think that the green would peek out and when I saw it I was so pleasantly surprised.
I love this dresser makeover! As soon as I saw it on your home page I had to track down the post. Hands down this is my favorite furniture makeover you’ve done! Perfect color and perfect distressing. What a show piece it is now pinned and sharing on my FB page. Bravo!! XO Wendi@H2OBungalow
Thank you so much Wendi. It is my favorite too. And with this project I finally feel comfortable using chalk paint. The finish is so smooth to the point that it really surprised me.
This turned out really beautiful! Great work!
You made some changes on your blog design? It seems really clean and fresh!
Thank you Katerina. Yes, I cleaned it up a bit. I wanted the photos to shine and not have so much clutter.
Mary, this looks fabulous! What a great transformation. The color is lovely and the distressing adds tons of character to the dresser. Thanks for sharing with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
Beverly the distressing makes all the difference. Without it, it would have been a boring dresser and it would not have made any difference had I painted it or not.
I love the way your dresser turned out! Old things seem to have so much more character and meaning to us. I hope you find the bed!
Teresa this is so true. There is no way to duplicate the character on this piece. I was able to find the bed, and I hope to make it a matching set with the dresser, as soon as the weather cools down a bit.
I love the Americana Decor chalky finish paint. It goes on great! The color looks so good. Thanks for linking up Mary!
It really does go on great Crystal and it is reasonably priced.
Love how your dresser turned out Mary! Also that colour green looks amazing with the wood top! It’s also sooo lovely that it has a special story to it all so!
I love that green. You know green is my favorite color and until now I had been shy to use it. What a mistake that was Sam.
I love this so much. I love seeing how furniture can go from beatup to refreshed. Thank you for sharing these great tips!
I have to agree Kayla, there is no greater satisfaction that to make over something that is ready for the landfill or in this case wood heaven.
Love how this turned out, Mary! Ikea furniture is always fun to makeover and upcycle. A piece like this that is solid wood is perfect for that kind of project, and a new coat of paint is just what it needed. This looks really great! Those swirly knobs are really neat, too!
Thank you Celeste. This particular piece was solid pine so it was really nice to be able to save it. And the paint is buttery smooth!
What a gorgeous transformation! I love the colors you picked, too. Thanks for sharing your project with us at Funtastic Friday.
Thanks Sherry. I like the color combination of the dark and then the light on top. It adds depth to the whole piece.
What a stunning makeover! I absolutely love the color you chose. It looks so professional, and the antique look is brilliant!
Thank you Angie I am loving the two tone look with the natural wood.