Ikea Malm Hack

April 3, 2015 by Ruthie 12 Comments

Welcome to Refashionably Late.  If you are new here, please join 23,954 subscribers and followers for weekly DIY projects & ideas!  I’d love to get to know you and answer any questions you may have.  You can also follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, & Facebook.I have been searching high and low for the Ikea Malm dressers on Craigslist.  I wanted dressers to use for nightstands in our bedroom so that we had more storage.  I had previously bought these amazing dressers on craigslist but then discovered they are Original Conant Ball Stamped Dressers.  I wanted to paint them but when I found out what they were I knew it would be a huge sin if I touched them.  I was back to the drawing board and I liked the idea of making over the Ikea Malm dressers because I liked their size and had seen lots of hacks online.  My inspiration for this Ikea Malm hack was from one of my favorite bloggers, Amy from Homey oh my!  I originally wanted to replicate it with the same colors and detail but I decided to add a few of my own touches to the project.

I had been searching for Ikea Malm dressers for quite some time on Craigslist and I came across someone selling two of them for $5 each!!  5 DOLLARS EACH!!  I couldn’t pass them up!  My husband and I got in the car immediately and went to buy them!  One of my other favorite bloggers, Gwen from The Makerista, has a great article on Craigslist shopping.  I had no idea you could set up email alerts when you are searching for a specific item!  Such a time saver!  Check it out!

To start I needed to prime the dressers and I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 2 Multi-Purpose Primer and Sealer.   This primer is great especially for laminate furniture…which is almost all of IKEA. 🙂  It went on really smoothly and I didn’t even need to sand the dressers beforehand.  I did do a good cleaning to the dressers before I primed them just to make sure all dust and gunk were gone.

I let the dressers dry overnight and then I began paint them.  I wanted to go bold with the dressers.  I figured if I ended up hating them it wasn’t too big of a loss as they were only $5. 🙂  I chose the color Indigo Streamer by Valspar.  I loved the richness in the blue and I thought the color would really pop in our bedroom.  I painted the dressers with 4-inch foam rollers and used a brush in areas that were hard to reach with the roller.  The dressers needed three coats of paint since the blue is a fairly bright color.  After the second coat it was pretty close to complete coverage, but as you can see below, it needed a few touch-up spots here and there.

After all the coats of paint dried I applied 2 coats of polyurethane on the tops of the dressers to protect from scratches and spills.  I did not want water rings on my freshly painted dressers! 🙂

I picked up these adorable gold hammered knobs at Hobby Lobby.  When buying knobs (or really anything) at Hobby Lobby you always want to wait for it to go on sale.  When knobs are on sale they are 50% off.  These knobs were originally $4.99 and so I was able to get them for $2.50 and a total of $15.  As I’ve said before, I’m always looking for the best deal out there!

I marked the center of each drawer and my husband helped me drill holes into the drawers so I could screw on the knobs.  We chose a drill bit similar in size to the screws on the knobs so that they would fit tightly and not come undone.

It was then time to screw on the L brackets into each corner of the drawers.  I purchased the L brackets at Lowes.  They are 2.5-inch brackets.  I wanted something smaller but would still make a statement.  I found it hard to just screw the screws into the fiberboard so I decided to start the hole with a drill bit that was similar in size.  It created a grip for the screws and then they screwed in quite nicely and quickly.  I would highly recommend doing this rather than other ways as the fiberboard can be quite tricky to work with.  (Side note: When putting the screws on the top of each drawer make sure to do it at an angle because the drawers slant at the top.)

The last small detail I added to my dressers was decorative drawer liners.  I purchased these at Dollar Tree and I needed about 5 rolls to complete the drawers.  There were a few stains from the previous owners of the dressers and I wanted to hide the stains and make it feel more sanitary. 🙂  (I did clean them out too, of course.)  I love how the black and white liners look with the bright blue.

I was a little nervous about the bold color but I absolutely love how it looks.  I love how it compliments the blue in our bedspread and how it gives the room a pop of bright color!  I spent a total of $50 on materials (brackets, knobs, paint, liners) and $10 on the dressers.  That in total is still cheaper than buying one Ikea Malm Dresser!  SCORE!

I hope you love what I did with these dressers as much as I do!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend and is able to spend it with friends and loved ones!

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