As I mentioned previously, the IKEA Hemnes dresser we bought to go with our queen bedroom “set” at our old house has been doing our new king bedroom set exactly zero favors. I had planned on finding an urban industrial dresser at some point but it wasn’t too high on my list of priorities.

Well, it’s been almost eight months, and we still need and have the old dresser. However, the wood and metal of our “forever” new bed and nightstands from Pottery Barn cause the ol’ Hemnes to stick out like a sore Scandanavian thumb. I found a few possible options to replace it, but none within budget, which means it’s DIY time!

I schemed up this idea one morning after stumbling upon the most critical component, the sticky vinyl, on Amazon. From there, I just had to figure out what paint and drawer pulls I liked and get started.

Materials

I’m a big time online shopper and I ended up getting almost everything on Amazon so it could be shipped quickly without me needing to take extra trips out or hunt around a Home Depot looking lost. (The guys at Home Depot tend to be so patronizing when asking me if I need help! Surely this is an every-lady problem.) This came back to bite me a little bit when the vinyl arrived a different color than expected, but I still think the time saved was worth it.

• IKEA Hemnes eight-drawer dresser, assembled
• Rust-Oleum 285073 Universal All Surface Spray Paint, 11-Ounce, Aged Metallic Weathered Steel x 2 ($16)
• Five feet of 1″ leather strap ($17)
• Adhesive vinyl with wood pattern x 3 ($28)
• Aerosol PolyShades spray polyurethane in Mission Oak ($11)
• Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel x 3 ($12)
• Power drill
• Screws and nuts sized to fit drawer pull holes ($4)

Total cost for spray paint, finishes, leather strap, vinyl, and hardware: $89

Painting the Frame

First, I sprayed the body of the dresser. Removing the drawers made it easy to lift out into our yard, which is full of dead grass that’s about to get ripped up anyway so I didn’t even bother putting down newspaper. The coverage of the Rustoleum was impressive, and I was delighted to see the metallic sparkle almost immediately.

I’ve worked with this Rustoleum before and learned that the type of motion you make while spraying is crucial. Heavy wet areas tend to look the most textured, so do those carefully and sparingly. The textured bits do give it extra dimension, which I think amplifies the whole urban industrial dresser vibe.

I used about six coats of the silver spray to get to the color density that I wanted. I let the color dry overnight and moved it into our garage for the next step: clear coat. While the silver tone was right on target, the texture felt a bit pebbly and was far from the smooth metallic look / feel that felt critical to the success of the project. I ended up spending another two days spraying the hell out of this guy with glossy enamel spray. I went through 3 cans and focused mainly on the top of the dresser, but I managed to get the smooth sheen I wanted.

Creating “Wood” Drawer Fronts

Next, I had to do the drawer fronts. I measured and cut the vinyl one drawer at a time to account for any irregularities between drawer front dimensions. The vinyl was pretty impressive! It was easy to reposition to get just right, and I used a shower squeegee to smooth out any air bubbles in the finish before wrapping the corners.

Once all the drawers were covered, I started spraying them with the Polyshades to darken the vinyl a bit and seal the edges up. This stuff STINKS and takes forever to dry (and you can only do it on a low-humidity day) but it definitely gave the final finish a much more profesh and real-wood look. Worth it 100%.

The vinyl covered up the existing hole for the drawer pulls, so once they were dry I used a knitting need to poke through the vinyl and help me identify where I should drill. After one drawer I realized I didn’t even need to run the drill; the weight of it poked through the vinyl easy-peasy.

Leather Drawer Pulls like What

I wasn’t sure at first what kind of drawer pulls I wanted. Metal seemed like the natural choice for an urban industrial dresser, but I didn’t see any I liked for an affordable price, and I was intrigued by the idea of making pulls myself. I verified that this was do-able by perusing a few DIY links and got to work.

Cutting the leather straps came next, which meant lots of measuring. I decided that any less than 2.5″ of “pull” would feel too small, so I measured out 6″ strips of leather to account for the fold and still give us enough to grab. Once I had measured all the straps, I folded them and marked where to drill on each strap.

The 3/16″ drill bit cut through the leather beautifully. I was able to go super slowly so I could feel when the drill hit the cardboard I had under the leather.

That just left assembly! The screw goes through the strap, then through the drawer, then I secured it from inside the drawer. Drawers go into frame, clothes go into drawers, and we’re done!

Ta dah! I’m very, very pleased with the result. It feels like we gained several more years of use from the old IKEA chest of drawers by turning it into this urban industrial dresser!