It’s so simple to give a basic and boring Ikea Tarva Dresser a good old makeover to give you kids room that “wow factor!



Hello Pastels and Macarons readers! I am Anika and I blog at Little Free Monkeys where I share fun DIY’s to create a home for my little kids (or monkeys as I call them lovingly). I am so excited to be sharing this fun Ikea Tarva dresser makeover I did for my kids room on Maria’s amazing blog today! I am a big fan of Maria’s creative inspirations and I am honored to be able to share my project with you all.

My kids share a room and we are always looking for gender neutral decor. However, it is for the kids after all and I love to have a lot of fun and whimsy in there as well. Nothing is better than lots of fun colors! I built them a bedside table with book storage a little while ago which has been such a life saver to keep all the bedtime books organized. Next, we needed a dresser. I wanted clean simple lines and a little splash of color. I have built my fair share of furniture like this X-base nightstand but I opted for an Ikea Tarva dresser because, lets face it – why build a whole dresser when you can buy this simple dresser from Ikea. To go with the fun, whimsical and colorful theme we wanted for the room, I came up with this simple design that adds a ton of fun to the room!

This started off as the plain wood Ikea Tarva dresser from the my local Ikea store…



Source : Ikea

Just a little bit of paint turned it into a fun and whimsical dresser perfect for the kids room.

Materials needed for the Ikea Tarva Dresser makeover

180 Grit Sand paper (and optional orbital sander) Shellac based primer White oil based primer Painter’s tape Various colors of latex paints Disposable brushes for the shellac and oil based primers Good quality bristle brush for the paints. Yard stick and pencil

How to create your own Ikea Tarva dresser makeover

Unfinished wood from Ikea is not perfectly smooth. A quick sand with the 180 grit sandpaper was all that was needed to get a smooth finish. In order to seal all the knots and keep them from bleeding through the paint, I gave applied a shellac based primer locally to the knots.

Next I added 2 coats of an oil based primer followed by 3 coats of white paint.

After waiting impatiently for the paint to dry, I put the drawers back on the dresser and marked lines where I wanted them using a yard stick. To add to the whimsy, I also wrapped a few lines on to the top as well. Then I took the drawers apart and taped off all the lines that I had marked.

I painted all the colors I wanted along the taped lines. On some of the overlapping lines, I had to paint one color, wait for it to dry and then tape the other line and paint. For the knobs, I used the knobs that came with the dresser and painted them white. Thats it! A super fun and colorful Ikea Tarva Dresser makeover!

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please do pin it and share with your friends! It makes me smile 🙂

Want to see MORE Ikea Tarva Hacks? Check out these 15 Hacks using the Ikea Tarva!

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