The New Nightstands-An Ikea Tarva Hack

I promised I would come back and share more details about the nightstands.  It has taken me until today to finish getting the hardware on them.  I think that proved to be the most challenging part.  I think I shared last week that I was inspired by the hack done by Dear Lillie.  I loved the trim work, the feet she added, and her hardware.  You can see a few other hacks I was inspired by on my Pinterest Master Bedroom Board.  I picked different finishes and ended up not using any feet so far.  But I did use the same trim and style of hardware.  I wanted to share a few more details about my tweaks and how I hacked the Tarva chest.

You see it starts off with unfinished wood and super-tall legs.  When I put together the first one, I was so anxious to get a look at the scale that I put it partially together before staining and glazing it.  I followed the steps below on the second one, which prevents you having to wipe and tape off the drawer liners and rails for staining and glazing.

After opening the box, and taking out all of the pieces, I started with lattice trim which is about 1/4" thick.  (I tried to use a more decorative trim, but it stuck our further than the top of the cabinet.)  I cut it to the size of the drawer.

I didn't have many clamps, so I used 3/4" brad nails to help secure the boards in place while the glue dried.

Next, I added decorative liner to each drawer base.  I got mine from Lowes, but I liked this option I found on Amazon as well.

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Cut it slightly larger than the drawer bottom, attach it, then flip it over and trim the excess with an exacto knife or box cutter.

 

Next up was the stain coat.  I used Minwax Stain in the Provincial color.

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The glaze was something I already had on hand, and couldn't find for sale anymore.  But it was just a basic cream glaze.  You could mix 1 part cream paint to 4 parts glaze like the one below to create the same effect.

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After glazing the wood, it was time to put it together and conquer the 554 kajillion bits and screws.

Before adding the legs, I marked and cut them down flush to the apron of the chest.  Make sure to stain and glaze these too!

After assembling the chest, I sealed the stain and glaze with a matte polyurethane.  I loved this one because it's water-based!

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Here's where I left off last week:

I was almost in the homestretch, but the hardware I ordered required that you countersink the back of the handle, which would have added a lot more work.  I ended up switching out to this cup pull I have used before from Lowes in a bronze finish.  But then it's screws were too long, so it was back to the store AGAIN for shorter screws.   I finally got them on, and patched up the 2 holes I made for the first set of hardware.  You see?  I'm telling you this, so you don't make these same mistakes!  i;ve linked a similar one below.

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In the end, it was worth all of the headache, because I am loving our new nightstands!

I've been playing musical furniture this week, moving things all around the house.  I can't wait to show you what I've come up with this Thursday for the One Room Challenge!