IKEA Hack: A VIKHAMMER Nightstand Makeover

We finished building our new king size bed frame a few weeks ago (I’ll try to get the tutorial posted soon!). We ended up using Ana White’s Modern Farmhouse Bed Frame as our inspiration and simply altered it to make it a better fit for our room.

So obviously with a new bed frame I looked forward to (finally!) having matching nightstands. We’ve been using a couple hand-me-down mismatched nightstands since we got married more than a decade ago. Neither was much our style, but they were free and in good condition.

In comparison to our new bed frame though, the proportions of both night stands were way off and they didn’t match at all so we figured it was time to upgrade to something a bit more us.

While shopping around I stumbled upon the VIKHAMMER nightstands available from IKEA. I liked the clean lines and the storage capacity, but I was concerned the all-black would have been too dark and the all-white would’ve gotten lost among the white walls in our bedroom. I wanted some contrast but not too much. I’m particular like that sometimes. 😉

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So, we set about sprucing up the all-white version of the nightstand.

With the simple addition of a little bit of wood, some spray paint, and a couple drawer pulls, it was super easy to customize the nightstands to blend in with our modern farmhouse style.

Want to make your own? Here’s the quick breakdown.

SUPPLIES & MATERIALS

• VIKHAMMER Nightstand
• Matte Black Spray Paint
• 3″ Drawer Pull
• 1″ x 24″ x 3′ Edge Glued Board

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spray paint the VIKHAMMER’s metal legs. Allow to dry completely.
2. Assemble nightstand.
3. Using a cardboard template, pre-drill holes to attach drawer pull. If desired, spray paint drawer pull to match nightstand legs and allow to dry completely before screwing pull onto the drawer.
4. In the meantime, cut the 1″ x 24″ x 3′ edge glued board into (2) 1″ x 24″ x 15 5/8″ sections.
5. Lightly sand, wipe clean, and then apply wood conditioner and stain if desired. We opted to first apply a coat of Minwax Dark Walnut followed by a second coat of Minwax Early American in order to match our bed frame.
6. Once dry, lightly sand the top of the nightstands. You want to scuff up the surface just a little before spreading Liquid Nails or a similar construction adhesive onto the top of the nightstand. This helps improve the bonding ability of the adhesive.
7. Using clamps, position and then secure the edge glued board to the top of the nightstand and allow to dry for 24-48 hours. Be sure not to over-tighten the clamps or you’ll risk damaging the wood. Just to be safe, we recommend placing a cloth over the edge-glued board, followed by a scrap piece of wood and then applying the clamps.
8. Once the adhesive has completely dried, remove clamps and apply sealant if desired. We chose to use Minwax Polycrylic in a Satin finish here.