IKEA Rast Dog Bed

The internet has taught me that redoing IKEA furniture is not a makeover; it's a "hack." :) So here is my IKEA hack using the Rast chest of drawers:

When I adopted two small dogs, I wanted to provide them with a cozy bed in my bedroom. However, the only appropriate space in the small room was occupied by a Rast chest of drawers. I didn't want to get rid of the chest and lose the drawer space. Then I remembered that sitting in my basement were some of the cabinets I had taken out of my kitchen. Upper cabinets are 12" deep, the same as the Rast. Hmm...

None of the cabinets was exactly the right width, but one was pretty close. It might just work...

The thing might even end up vaguely resembling one of those "chest on chest" style pieces.

I painted the chest and the cabinet with black latex paint in a matte sheen.

The general idea was to set the Rast on top of the cabinet. To keep the whole thing from being ridiculously tall, I cut a few inches off the sides of the Rast (essentially, I eliminated the toe kick).

I had cut a piece of plywood to fit the top of the cabinet. I turned the shortened Rast upside down and attached it to the plywood with screws.

I righted the Rast, placed it on top of the cabinet, and attached it with screws through the plywood. To cover the edges of the plywood, I glued on some wood trim.

I added the same trim around the top of the Rast.

I painted the plywood and trim matte black.

Using the same black paint in a semi-gloss sheen, I stenciled a design on the sides of the piece and on the drawer fronts.

For knobs, I combined the plain wood knobs that came with the Rast with wood bat shapes I'd purchased at a craft store.

I simply drilled a hole in each shape for the screw to go through.

I painted the bats and knobs with silver (brushed nickel) spray paint. I poked the screws through the top of a cardboard box and loosely attached the knobs, allowing me to spray the tops and all around the sides easily.

I attached the silver knobs to the drawers.

I added a cushion made of memory foam inside a pillowcase.

Then, with the addition of a blanket, the dog bed was complete. Nook loves her cozy little nook. :D

Oooh, look, shiny bats!

I used the same gloss-over-matte technique on a chest of drawers and a dresser.