Industrial-Look IKEA RAST Chest Refresh
I'm so excited about this upcycling project - a clearance IKEA RAST chest, turned industrial, for a total of $70. It was a terrific way to save a damaged piece of furniture from the landfill, and organize my entryway.
I found a RAST chest in the clearance section of IKEA for $20 because it has a crack on the top. I snapped it up to use in my entry as a console table where I can stash all the mail/keys/grocery bags/etc that tend to crowd a small entryway.
I'm loving the industrial lockers that are popping up in vintage shops lately but I'm not loving the prices. So I decided to create the look on a budget with black paint and plated cup pulls for labelling contents in the chest. I used water-based Tremclad paint in black gloss that was just under $10 (it took two coats), and pulls from Lee Valley for $6.60 each (and used the provided nails to attach over the old pull holes).
The last step was to print labels on printer paper and cut to size for the plates. So easy and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.
The industrial-looking chest works well with all kinds of styling. Hope it inspires you to think about reclaiming a plain and/or damaged piece to update!
