DIY IKEA RAST FAUX ARCHITECT DRAWERS

Happy Wednesday Friends!

I have been MIA for a bit, in fact since Easter! Time flies. But I can assure you, I have been busy and am back with a few new projects this week!

I have a few furniture makeovers to share, including these DIY architect drawers made from Ikea Rast drawers.

Original old architect drawers are ridiculously expensive. We are talking in the thousands! And as much as I'd love an original set, they just aren't in the budget. 

I've seen a few people create similar drawers and it has been on my "want to do" list for quite a while. So when I saw a set of Ikea Rast drawers come up in my local area I was all over them, so to speak. 

Funnily enough, the lady we purchased them from turned out to be my son's old art teacher! She was lovely and the drawers were in as new condition so not only did I get them for a great price and didn't have to travel far, I also didn't have to put them together, had I bought them new. That's a win right there!

Given they are raw pine, I just gave them a quick wipe over, and then pulled out my Rustoleum Decorative Glaze. I know this is mostly for using over the top of chalk paint, but it also has a pretty colour over raw wood.

To apply I used a sponge brush.

And then rubbed it in/wiped off the excess with an old t-shirt. 

Here is just the top done. Quite a difference.

I knew I wanted each of the three drawers to be divided into 3 faux looking drawers. So I grabbed a pencil and ruler and marked out 2 even lines across each drawer front. Then I used the edge of the metal ruler to create an indentation on those 2 lines, that in turn replicated 3 drawers. 

I've seen other people add sheets of wood to crate the appearance of more drawers, but I think this method works well too. I actually used this method on my dining table to create faux planks!

Next I found the centre of each "faux drawer" and screwed on metal antique bronze coloured vintage style label holders that I had been saving for this project. 

I also ordered from Amazon the Antique Bronze cup drawer pulls to match the label holders. I put one on each end of every drawer.

For my label inserts, I grabbed a sheet of white card and using my vintage typewriter, I typed up numbers for each drawer. (I've seen this on the original ones!)

To age my labels I mixed up some coffee in hot water.

Then brushed it over the card.  After the card was fully dry, I cut my labels to fit the drawer label holders.

They are a bit off-centre, but this just adds to the aged appearance (or so I'm telling myself). Lol.

Each drawer is still fully functional, it just appears that there are 3 in each one. 

I'm super happy with how my drawers turned out. I did seal the top of the drawers cause our kitty cat likes to sit on them and look out the window. 

SAVE IT FOR LATER 

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Look out for another furniture makeover very soon!

Have a great week!

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