Updated Expedit Dresser

Materials: 1 Expedit 2x4 (white), 4 Sets of Expedit 2 Drawer Inserts (white), Capita Legs, Faux Wood Grain Contact Paper, 8 Ring Pulls (brass)

Description: This is a pretty easy hack, but adds a ton of style to a basic expedit bookcase!

I love the look of two tone wood and white dressers, similar to the one from LONNY (pix, left), but the ones I priced were WAY out of my budget. So I originally went looking for the expedit in the Walnut finish with the white drawers because I needed both drawers and open units in my dresser. Unfortunately, the walnut shelves were sold out at the 5 Ikeas closest to me (bummer)! So I decided to DIY the wooden look with faux wood contact paper from Home Depot. It's less than $20 for 75ft of this, so it's really a bargain and you can use it on so many things in your home. I CAREFULLY covered the outside frame of the expedit with the contact paper BEFORE putting the shelf together. I was putting my dresser against a wall, so I just covered all the sides that were showing.

Then I put the expedit together (again, carefully, because the contact paper will tear if you knock it against something. Fortunately, you can patch up tears with more contact paper and you won't notice because the wood grain hides it).

Then I assembled the four drawers, replaced the knobs with old brass ring pulls (purchased from Lee Valley), then arranged them in the four corners of the shelf. NOTE: I bought my drawers on craigslist for $15 each...score!

I also had to put adjustable legs on my dresser because my floors are VERY uneven. I got 4 capita legs in the 4" height and spray painted them Rust-Oleums spray paint in Champagne Mist to match the brass pulls.

That's it! My final cost of this dresser was $180:

Expedit: $70
Drawers (4): $60
Capita Legs: $10
Con-Tact Paper: $18 (way more than you need, so you can use for other projects).
Ring Pulls (8): $17
Spray Paint: $5

I think it looks great!

~ lbash, New York, NY