hello and welcome back to switch and lever! boxes and drawers, what would we do withoutthem? but what if your new drawer unit doesn't quitematch the rest of your decore? with some slight ingenuity and hardware that'snot much of a problem. one thing i truly love about ikea is thatmuch of their selection can be had in raw,
personalized woodworking branding irons, untreated, wood or plywood. it will readily accept both stain and paint,making it ideal for hacking to anything your creativity could come up with. we're starting off with an ikea moppe minichest of drawers.
unfortunately it's something which may beon its way out of the ikea selection. it's not sold in sweden any more, even thoughit's available in some other locations. i was lucky enough to pick up a slightly usedone at a flea market, but it does mean that i had to go through some extra steps, to getrid of the marks left by the previous owner, which you wouldn't need if you were to buya new one. the drawers also have a notch cut out in thefront for easy opening, but the beauty here is that if you don't like that notch you cansimply flip the drawer around to get a completely smooth face. this also proves fortunate if you, like me,have a slightly used model as the backs tend
to be in a bit better condition. since we're going to prep the unit for stainingi would recommend to give it a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper to make sure everythingis nice and smooth, regardless if you have a new or used model. don't be too vigorous in your sanding however,as the top veneer isn't super thick, and you could easily go through it. there are a lot of surfaces to sand, but don'tfret if your arms start hurting, pain builds character. plywood dust, however, slowly kills your lungs,so do wear a dust-mask!
i wanted to make the insides of my drawersa bit more durable to hold up to wear a bit better than the rest, so i took some timeto mask off the outsides of the drawers and spray the insides with a couple of layersof black spray paint. this also took care of the marks left by thecrayons that were kept in the unit before it came into my posession. be sure to remove the masking tape while thepaint is still wet, as you may damage the paint if you wait until its dried. remember that everything you do once, you'regoing to have to do five more times, so it may be quicker to batch it all out insteadof doing one at a time.
first mask all the drawers, then move on topaint them, rather than going back and forth. now, once the paint has thoroughly dried let'sgive that boring plywood some depth and life. i'm using a mix of a mahogany and a dark onyxoil based stain made by zar. i found the pure mahogany stain was too redfor my taste, so cutting it with a dark stain brought it to a more appealing hue. don't worry about getting stain on the blackspraypaint, as it's dark it will become imperceptible in the final product. as opposed to using a brush i'd definitelyrecommend using regular cotton rags, at least for smaller objects like these.
it's also easier to control when you're wipingoff the excess stain. while the video plays, let's talk brieflyabout stains. there aremany different kinds of stain, water based, alcohol, gel based and like this oil basedstain. the benefit of oil based stains, as opposedto water based, is that it won't raise the grain, and you have a much longer workingtime. as the oil based stain doesn't penetrate thewood as much, you may need to add another layer once the first one is dry to get thewood dark enough. the benefit of it not raising the grain isthat any varnish you apply after will feel
smooth, and the need for sanding in betweenlayers of varnish becomes superflous. the extra working time also allows you toslather on a thicker coat of stain, and wait for a few minutes while it soaks in, thencome back to wipe off the excess. doing that with a water based stain will likelyresult in an uneven and splotchy job. i'm definitely a fan of oil based stains,but remember, as it's based on linseed oil the rags need to be disposed of properly,as there is a minute risk of spontaneous combustion. this particular stain dries in a few hours,but there is definitely no harm in letting it cure over night. once the stain is dry, wipe over it againwith a clean rag to make sure there are no
drips or anything you may have missed. thick areas of stain may take days to cure,if at all, so wiping them away is paramount before adding a sealer. at this point the stain in itself looks great,but it won't add much in terms of shine or lustre. i chose to simply spray varnish all pieceswith a couple of coats of varnish. you can definitely add a brush, or wipe on,polyurethane varnish, or even a water based varnish if you so desire. it's a good idea to make a few test piecesas you're staining, and try out your varnish
before putting it on your actual workpiece. some varnishes won't work well with some stains,and may lift them, or make the result look splotchy. i didn't bother to stain and varnish all theway into the main unit, or the back and bottom of it, as it's areas which will never seethe light of day during normal usage. so, to be able to open the drawers, as we'returning the notches inwards, we need some sort of hardware. i got these pre-patinated brass drawer pullswith space for small labels cheaply from ebay, but you could probably find similar thingsin a local hardware store as well.
to make sure we're placing the drawer pullson the same place on every drawer we're going to make a quick paper template. mark and cut out a piece of paper the sizeof the front of your drawer. place your drawer pull where you'd want iton the template and mark the two screw holes. also take care to mark the center of the holes. now you can take your template, put it onthe front of your drawer and mark the location of the screw holes using a nail and hammer. mark a small drill bit with some tape, tomake sure you're not drilling through the front of the box, and pre-drill the locationsyou marked.
this will help the screws grab into the woodand prevent the wood from splitting as well. since the screws have a bit of a countersinkwe also give the wood a little countersink as well, to make sure they seat all the waydown into the wood. if you're a stickler for detail you can alsomake sure all the screw heads are oriented the same way. every bit counts in the final impression! oh, and now do that five times more, before finally reassembling your drawer unit! adding hand written labels will keep withthe style of the unit!
when done just fill your drawers with anythingyou could imagine, and enjoy a work well done! as long as you don't pull the drawers entirelyall the way out the somewhat rough interior is entirely hidden, and should hopefully lookgreat in your home or workshop for many years to come! this particular model has become rather popularto hack, so i could definitely recommend going somewhere like pinterest and search for inspiration,if you want to see what others have done! there is a very thriving ikea hacking communityonline, we've just barely scratched the surface. why don't you dip your toe in and see whatyou could come up with!? i truly hope you enjoyed this video, and ifyou have some spare time in between coats
of varnish, check out one of the previousvideos from switch and lever. if you haven't already, subscribe and followon instagram for exclusive sneak peeks of future things to come. until next time!
