Project: Ikea Draws

I finished this project quite a while ago, but it's taken me all this time to finish the post.

Would you believe it was March, a whole 4 months ago.

There are about another 3 Project posts to do. I lose track of time these days and try to fit in what I can. Holidays are coming up soon, so I'll hopefully be blogging my little heart out.

This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me, very unusual to get the time off. Hooray from 'Travel Days'.

This project isn't hard. Follow the instructions from the Ikea kit to build it. But I thought it needed a bit of a face lift, so before I built it, my trusty helpful tools, paint, and wallpaper off cuts came out.

The wallpaper off cut is, you guessed it, Florence Broadhurst. It's featured in a recent post, Florence Fanatic with a photo of these draws and an assignment for my Certificate IV in Colour & Design in 2007.

Instructions:
You'll need:
1 pack of Ikea 'FIRA'
Craft cutting knife and/or scalpel
Spray glue
Wallpaper off cuts
Sandpaper
Paint Pot or leftover paint (acrylic) and brush (You can now get packs of 2 paint pot brushes from hardware stores - only around $5.00)
Hammer and electric drill with Phillips head attachment

Picture 1: Photo of the pack for the draw set - Ikea product 'FIRA'.

Picture 2, 3 &4: Identify the pieces for the draw fronts. Have ready your spray glue, wallpaper off cut and a cutting tool.

Either have a piece of wallpaper big enough to lay all the draw fronts down, OR cut each individual piece of wallpaper for each the draw front. You will need to make sure there is a little bit of overhang, you can trim this off to a perfect fit when the glue is dry. A regular craft cutting knife is suitable for this.

When the glue has dried trim around the curve at the front of each draw (the finger 'hole'). I used a scalpel for this, as the fine blade helped cut around the curve easier. You can get these at craft stores like Eckersley's.

Picture 5 & 6: While you are waiting for the glue to dry on the fronts, identify the pieces for the top and 2 sides of the casing. Sand back a bit. The ply it's made out of is quite rough and because they make them so cheaply, the finish isn't great.

Choose an acrylic paint to colour the top and sides. I chose a Dulux paint pot in 'Self Destruct'. The colour is all down to personal preference and the decor of where you are going to put the piece.

Picture 6,7 & 8: When all paint and glue is dry, assemble as per the Ikea instructions.

Picture 9 & below: VOILA!! All done. I use mine to house all my acrylic paints, some brushes, my pastels and one draw has pens, pencils, rubber, ruler, etc, etc.