**affiliates present**
This may be my favorite Ikea Hack that I have ever done- my Faux Card Catalog! I had watched, dreamed, hoped, and prayed to find an old library card catalog for about 8 gabillion years.
You see, I had a stint as a middle school librarian and fell in love with all things books. We can revisit my librarian career at a later time as you are probably now picturing me with a bun, glasses, and hunch back.
Anyhoo… the only card catalogs I have found have been super duper expensive and y’all know my CFO is not having that. So what is a girl to do? Duh! Make my own! Now if you want to get all technical, it is not a working card catalog- but it has at least stopped my shakes for having my very own.
We have owned this Ikea Hemnes Shoe holder for about 5 years now and it was a bit beat down as we mainly used it for diapers and baby gear and such in our front hall. I love it because it is so slim and doesn’t take up too much space- but it definitely needed a make-over so it was the perfect piece to give this idea of mine a try.
And because I love peppering in the old with new- I threw in this Target rug to have a fun contrast!
Tutorial:
The tutorial is fairly simple-
Remove drawers and gave them a light sanding.
Buy 4 12×12 thin wood scraps from Hobby Lobby ($12) and cut into 4 6×6’s.
Use liquid nails to glue them to each drawer front.
Two quick coats of paint- I did a mixture of Annie Sloan Chalk Paints- primarily Paris Grey, with a bit of French Linen and Louis Blue.
A coat of Poly (My favorite Poly Used here on a Two Toned Side Table and here on a French Provincial Hutch). I used it instead of wax for time reasons and because it gets a lot of traffic and I wanted to be able to wipe it down easily.
The hardware is where my cost became challenging. I needed 16 pulls so I got creative after doing some research. I found some small ones similar to These from Amazon. I did Gold Rub n Buff on them to make them look a bit more antiqued.
End Scene.
I am just gonna say it… I love it.
Hope you are all having an amazing day!
xoxo
B
Original photos taken:
Linking To:
Love, love love! So clever! Color looks great, btw! Also, love that rug! Terrific. 🙂
Thanks so much Charlotte!
Great job!! I love the color and the gold hardware! I never would have known this was an Ikea piece. Love it 🙂
Thanks Elizabeth!
Love this, it’s pretty genius !
Thank you Mary! It was a fun project:)
Pretttty much obsessed. I love this, B!!
Thanks Michelle! and thanks so much for featuring it!!
I heart this!
Awww! thanks so much!
sooo good!
Thank you so much!
It’s really pretty! What do you store in it?
Thanks Jennifer! We used to keep diapers and baby shoes in it- but we have gotten through that phase and now I put random things like sun tan lotion and stuff in them:)
What a great idea! Do you actually need to use the pulls to open the doors? If so, are the pulls fragile?
Thanks! Yes- so far so good on using the pulls- I did wonder if I would eventually need to use a stronger apoxy glue for them- but I guess time will tell:)
love what you did!
Thank you Cynthia!
U ROCK! This is awesome!
Oh, wow! I so love this, too! Great job! I have one question: what is holding it up? There are no back legs!
Genius!
This is amazing! Did you have to fill the holes from the original drawer pulls? Since they are in the middle of the drawer fronts, I would think the square wood panels wouldn’t cover them.
Thanks so much! And Yes, I did just put a little filler in the holes- but they were actually very small and hard to see regardless!
I found some inexpensive pulls here: http://www.buyknobs.com/black-finger-pull-label-holder-1300.html
Thanks for the great idea! I’m going to do this SOON!
Thanks! I love D Lawless Hardware- so great!!
This is so fantastic! I think I’ll be making two of these for feature walls in my hall outside of my dining room. Do you happen to know the measurements of the pulls/labels? I’m trying to figure out which size I should order!
The answer to my dilemma!!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea!!! I am creating an entryway inside my back door coming into my garage. It is always so junky and it is our main entry into our home here on our farm. It will be awesome!!!
Awesome!! Shoot me a picture when you get it all in!
Wow, this is beautiful! I LOVE the gold pulls and the new color. Great job!
Thanks so much Katie!!
I love this idea! What would you suggest as the drawer pull size, your choice is perfect!
Thanks Rachel! Hard to say since I combined two different things- and would also depend on the size of your drawer. Mine ended up being about 2inches- but could have been bigger- hope that helps!
Should I go with 2.6″ or 3.6″?
So so cute! I am making an Ikea trip soon and may need to consider this piece now! Thanks for the tutorial! Oh, and where did you get the lovely gold “pocket change” dish? I love it!
Thanks Kourtney! I actually found it at a thrift store- my parents had one when I was little and I always loved it, but who knows what happened to it- so when I saw this one I had to grab it up:) Maybe search on Etsy too!
Can you kindly send a link for the bin pulls? I wasn’t able to find them on Staples.
I wish I could Diana but they just recently discontinued that line at Staples:( I will look for a similar replacement and get back to you!
I love the silver tray on the new piece!! Can you tell me where that’s from??
It was actually a find at a thrift store! Sorry I can’t source it for you- but I know Target and Home Goods tends to sell similar things!
Do you think 3.6″ size for label holder will be too large?? Help!
I think either would be fine- but would maybe go with the smaller size because card catalogs usually aren’t too large- hope that helps!
This is an amazing idea and you executed it perfectly! I was just wondering about the paint color? You stated you used a couple different ones. Did you mix all three together. How did you achieve that color? I want to create this as well and your paint colors are perfect for what I am wanting to do.
Thank you!
Thanks so much! I used a mixture of Paris Grey and French Linen- both Annie Sloan chalk paint. I’d love to tell you how much of each but I really just played around with it until I like it!
I’m in the UK huni, we’ve just bought one of these for our front hall. Now I’ve seen the fantastic job you’ve done with you yours (and knowing my SO has always wanted library drawers) I have a perfect plan to make the hall look amazing and make a certain special someone smile. ? Thanks so much for a really cool idea. Well done. Xxx
Did you sand the cabinet first?
Actually no! I used chalk paint so it doesn’t require primer or sanding which I love!
I am looking at doing this cabinet for my entryway. The cabinet I bought (Hemnes, but the taller one with a drawer) has glossy drawer fronts. Did you have any issues with the paint sticking to them? Thank so much for the inspiration – I love this hack!
I’m almost done with mine and love the look so far! What did you use to glue the hardware onto the wood? I want it to hold up…. should I use the liquid nails again or try to get something stronger?
Thanks for the great idea.. very excited about this piece!
What paint did you use for the top piece that is white ?
Hi there! I actually didn’t paint that part and just left it the original Ikea white that the whole piece was- sorry that’s not very helpful!
Hello,
How were you able to conceal where the original hardware was?
Thanks,
jennifer
Hi there! I actually didn’t have to because of the square boards I glued on covered them up:)