house update: IKEA tarva dresser makeover

October 9, 2014

The last time I had a dresser was in college. I'm embarassed to admit that for the last 4.5 years, my "dresser" has actually been this lovely:

*apologies for the shoddy quality of this and the upcoming photos. My camera was recently stolen so I'm relying on cell phone pics for awhile.


In the apartment, that was no big deal. We had an enviable walk-in closet that could have fit our queen-sized bed and probably had a little space to spare. Hiding the drawers in there was no big deal.

But now, we're homeowners. City homeowners. And if you know anything about city living, it's the lack of storage (OK, I'm sure most of you would say lack of space, but we're quite fortunate in that regard. Our home is a good size, but there's simply nowhere to put things!)

Enter IKEA. Sean and I occasionally go on idea-gathering trips and on the visit before our settlement, I saw this kid:
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Meet the Tarva dresser. The Tarva series has a few pieces and as you can see, there isn't much to it. However, there isn't much to the cost, either, making this a blank canvas ready to customize and leaving you the cash to customize it. This 5 drawer version only retails for $99, and with a lovely find on our local facebook yard sale group (if you have one, join! you can get rid of crap and find things you need!), I scored it brand new for more like $70.

I kept my customizations simple and even accounting for those, the total cost of the finished piece was around $85-90: the white paint was left in the house by the previous owner and the hardware I had my eye on (which was sold at eye-gouging prices at the hardware stores) came to less than $12. Add a mini paint roller to speed up the job, and you have a thrifty, pretty dresser!

One of my favorite details of the bedrooms is the antique glass doorknobs...so, choosing hardware was a no-brainier - more glass!


Also, I wanted a "whitewash" look so the wood grain would still show. The paint the owner left behind worked perfectly!


I know, I know...the finished product. Here you go:





What do you think?

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PS -are you following me on YouTube? Lots of reviews are coming and some will be in vlog form!

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