Pastel Rainbow Storage – IKEA Hack

Hey friends! I’m actually surprised that after blogging for over ten months now I haven’t done any DIY or crafting related posts. I’ve always loved making stuff so I hope you enjoy me doing these posts from time to time.

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For this project I did a mini IKEA hack of the Moppe mini storage chest. This project was super simple that I almost feel silly posting a “tutorial” of it. I wanted to shared it, though, in case it inspires someone, or if you just want to know what colors of paint I used! 

These drawers come fully assembled and look nice in their natural wood state if you want to keep them this way. I knew I wanted to do something to the drawers but my indecisive self couldn’t figure out what to do. When one of my absolute favorite home decor bloggers, At Home with Ashley, painted her stairs a rainbow, inspiration struck. I loved the mix of the wood tones and the pastel colors of her stairs so I knew this would work as I did want to leave part of the chest unpainted.

The drawers are perfect for storing any little thingamabobs hanging around your space. Mine holds everything from stamps for scrapbooking, my Alex and Ani collection, and even small home decor items I’m not currently using. I think these drawers are great for office spaces or craft rooms. 

Everything I used for this project (minus the Moppe) is from Michaels. 

Paint colors (from left to right): Periwinkle, Sky Blue, Beach Glass, Couscous, Wild Salmon, Poodle Skirt

What I Did

I wanted to give the drawers a stained look. To do this I used very thin coats of paint and only did one coat per drawer. Except the purple one. For some reason the purple went on streaky so I ended up doing a second coat to even things out.

I opted to use a regular paint brush over a sponge brush for this project. I thought it would help the wood grain show through a little better and you don’t have to worry about the paint getting absorbed into the brush. This paint brush was one I had on hand that I got in a set at Michaels for around two dollars. You obviously could use something nicer but this one got the job done.

For each drawer I squeezed a small drop of paint directly on the drawer and then spread it out horizontally with the brush. I did horizontal strokes because this was the direction of the wood grain. If the first drop didn’t completely cover the front of the drawer (which it usually didn’t) I dotted on the paint in the areas that needed it with my brush, and then again spread it out in horizontal strokes.

Because I was using such thin coats of paint, each of the drawers dried quickly (definitely less than an hours time). I did each drawer one by one because of space, but if you have a large area to work in you could paint all of the drawers at the same time!

The drawers came out a little more opaque than what I envisioned. If you do want a little more of a stained look I would suggest mixing a bit of water with your paint to thin it out some.

More in decor: Grandmillennial Design – What it is and what to shop

And that’s it! I was able to do this project throughout my day in between running errands and doing things around the house. Because the unit is smaller it goes very quickly. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing this little project and if you did don’t forget to pin it!