Chinoiserie dresser with plain IKEA MALM

Jules Yap·February 2, 2021

When we moved to a new house, I had some IKEA furniture for which I no longer had a specific use. The house was bigger, I didn’t have enough furniture for some rooms and I did not want to spend more money.

In addition, I wanted to make furniture for the hall in a more classic style than these IKEA dresser. That’s why I decided to transform my daughter’s old MALM dresser into an chinoiserie entryway dresser.

IKEA items used:

MALM 6-drawer dresser

Other materials and tools:

Wooden moulding
Saw
Mitre saw box
Contact glue
Silver and black chalk paints
Brush
Brass handles
Chinese style door knocker cabinet pull

Chinoiserie MALM dresser

The first thing I did was to clean the dresser thoroughly so that the chalk paint, (which does not need a primer) would grip well on to the formica.

Once clean and dry, I began to cover it with black paint. I put two coats of paint, letting it dry 24 hours after each one.

Next, I cut small strips of bevel wood moulding to put on the drawers and painted them with silver paint. Then I glued them with contact glue forming a rectangle with the strips on the fronts of the drawers.

Finally I painted the handles and the Chinese door knocking cabinet pull in silver (since I only found them in bronze color) and screwed them on the drawers.

And voilá! I finished the dresser!

I was pleasantly surprised by how the dresser turned out and what little time it took me: about three days taking into account the two days of drying the paint.

All in all it wasn’t too expensive.

Build a snazzy mudroom with IKEA BESTÅ cabinets

The mouldings came up to a total of 3€, the handles cost me about the same amount as the mouldings and the Chinese door knocker cabinet pulls 13€ in Amazon.

Of course, I already owned the MALM dresser.

Now, my new entryway cabinet looks wonderful and it’s just like I imagined.

I decorated the entrance in silver and this is what it looks like now. I hope you like it!

~ by Begoña, Madrid, Spain

Author
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Jules Yap

Jules Yap started IKEAHackers.net in 2006 as a personal blog to showcase the most impressive IKEA hacks from all over the world. Since then, she has learned a lot more about power tools and DIY. Her site has helped thousands modify IKEA furniture with step-by-step tutorials, craft projects and home styling.

Jules is the author of IKEAHackers.net: 25 Biggest and Best Projects".