A while back I stopped in IKEA to get some freezer bags. You should check them out here. You can buy them online or in the store and they cost a lot less than Ziploc brand. A 30-pack is $3 and includes 15 6-quart bags and 15 4.5-quart bags. Plus, they are freezer safe and available in other sizes too! While I was there, I saw this cute little wooden chest and I thought it would be fun storage for some little knick knack or another.
I put the chest in my cart along with the other $179 worth of items that I just couldn’t live without and headed home. (Does IKEA have the most expensive freezer bags or what!) As do many of my IKEA finds, this chest got pushed to the back of my craft closet and I had all but forgotten about it until I recently declared that 2019 is the year I am going to do some crafting for myself. My first project was to be the IKEA wooden chest!
Since I haven’t been in the habit of step-by-step crafting I don’t have pictures of each step I used to upgrade my storage chest but future projects down the road will be more detailed.
I knew I wanted some drawer pulls on the box and I didn’t want the open finger tabs to show. I just turned the drawers around to provide a solid drawer front and ordered a set of drawer handles with label holders from Amazon to give the chest a library card index type of feel.
Before applying the hardware I sanded the cabinet edges smooth, rounded the corners of each drawer, and sanded the center area of the drawers to give them a well handled look. I finished the cabinet with a coat of Minwax stain which I sanded a bit after it had dried to continue with the well-used theme. I also added some dark wax to areas that I wanted to look more distressed and aged.
After attaching the label pulls I printed and cut labels on yellowed paper using my Silhouette Cameo and a Sakura Jelly Roll Pen. I then spritzed the paper with walnut ink (You could easily use Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain) and inserted them into the label holders.
My project was quick and easy and I love the way it turned out!
As it turns out, the storage chest I bought is no longer available but they do have another one here with a few more drawers that would look really cute up styled in the same way! If you have up styled an IKEA Moppe chest I would love to hear about it and see your pictures too!