DIY Ikea Hack with O’verlays

Can you guys believe we are already here at Week 3 of the One Room Challenge?? I cannot! I thought that we would have a sweet baby in this little nursery by now, but all in God’s timing I guess. Today I’m sharing with you guys the most easy and impactful DIY that I’ve done in quite some time now. I completed a DIY Ikea Hack with O’verlays on the Hemnes 8 drawer chest and I cannot believe how much I love the finished product. Not only did this simple hack really up the style of this dresser, but it was as inexpensive as it was easy…which I call a major win!

Catch up on my One Room Challenge Nursery here:

Week 1 | Plans + Design Board

Week 2 | Updating Dated Outlets

DIY IKEA HACK WITH O’VERLAYS

I decided to opt for an inexpensive changing table + dresser in the nursery since I really splurged on other details like fabric and wallpaper. I love the size and versatility of the Ikea Hemnes 8 drawer chest, but really thought that it was too plain for the nursery. Let me introduce you to O’verlays… a company that specializes in taking Ikea pieces from bland to BOOM with super simple kits that you can easily customize. I knew that adding a chic O’verlays kit and updating the hardware that I could have a piece that looks like a million bucks, but really didn’t break the bank. See how easy this Ikea hack was below…

Here’s what the dresser looks like before. It’s a pretty standard feel…clean lines and actually really well made and heavy for being Ikea.

This is how the O’verlays are shipped. They are super light weight and easy to work with. I chose THIS STYLE for my dresser, but there are tons of options for almost any Ikea piece of furniture!

I laid all of the pieces out and prepped them for spray painting.

I knew that I would use my go-to gold spray paint for this Ikea hack, so that it would match the rest of the room. I get SO many questions about which spray paint I use and this one is always my answer, so make sure to pin the image below to save it for your next project.

Design Master Brilliant Gold

I gave the O’verlays two good coats of gold spray paint (letting them dry for 30-40 minutes in between each coat).

To attach the O’verlays, you’ll need:

Liquid Nails | Level | Pencil

The trickiest part of this Ikea hack was getting the positioning right, but even that turned out to be pretty easy. I found the center and made a mark then looked at where I wanted to have each panel hit according to the new hardware. I then measured in from each side and top to bottom, making marks for each. Next, I took the level and drew an 8-10′ level line at top center to give me a balanced guide as to where to place the O’verlay when I was ready.

Apply the liquid nails. I soon learned that more was less with this stuff because I didn’t want it to seep out from the seams once attached. I found that a dot every 2-3” worked great.

Apply liquid nails and attach according to your pre-made marks.

Tah-dahhhh! Easy as that!

I ended up scouring the internets for brass ring pulls that wouldn’t send me to the poor house and these fit the bill perfectly. The 1.25” diameter works perfectly and they were under $4 each!

All in all, I am beyond pleased with how this Ikea hacks turned out and feel like we got a fully custom piece for under $500. If you have an Ikea piece that needs updating, definitely consider using O’verlays to spruce it up. I cannot say enough good things about how easy they were to customize and attach and how much style their add to simple Ikea pieces.

Thank you guys for checking in on Week 3! Make sure to stay tuned on Instagram for more sneak peeks!

See what the other guest participants are up to this week HERE.

See all of my other One Room Challenges below:

Calming Master Bedroom (still my favorite) | Bright Guest Room | Moody Half Bath | Living Room + Breakfast Nook | Media Room Shared Space (this one is SO old and embarrassing, but it’s always fun to see how design style evolves)