Time for an Ikea hack!
Admittedly, my home office is more often than not in need of organization, so any chance I get to tame the clutter I’ll take. And because there’s no time like the present, I pulled together a few things from my craft closet to dream up an Ikea hack (that’s actually worth doing imo) to help keep my desk organized and looking cute.
I made the DIY drawer pulls from scratch and the end result is an elevated addition to Ikea’s extremely popular MOPPE mini storage chest (that costs less than $20)! Click through for the tutorial.
To bring this DIY desk organizer to life, you really only need a handful of items…along with a few tools.
How to Make a DIY Drawer Pulls for MOPPE Ikea Hack
- MOPPE mini storage chest from Ikea
- 3/4 in x 36 in wood round dowel*
- leather straps (or leather scraps)
- sandpaper
- multi purpose glue (to be used on wood and leather)
- wood glue OR screws and a drill
- 1-2 bar or trigger clamps (like these)
*Look for a wood that is similar in color to the MOPPE storage chest (like poplar or pine). You can opt for a 48 in length instead if it’s easier to find.
Quick note before getting started: I actually have two MOPPE storage chests, so I swapped out the smallest drawers from one with another big long drawer because it was more practical for the things I want to store on my desk (paperwork, etc). And then the other chest now has more of the smaller drawers, which I use for paints and string, etc in my craft closet. Totally not required, but I wanted to throw that out there as another option for switching things up.
Step 1: Cut the wood dowel down to size.
Start by cutting down the dowel rods to the size you want (and sanding the edges if applicable). If you need a size guide, here are the exact measurements I ended up used…
- 10 inch long dowel pieces for the full length drawers
- 3.5 inch long dowel pieces for the medium size drawers
Step 2: Sand the wood dowel.
This is a pretty minor step, but I wanted to include it. It’s nice to sand the edges and smooth out any areas that are otherwise uneven.
Step 3: Cut, wrap, and attach leather accent strips.
Next, cut small leather strips that will wrap around each end of the dowel and serve as decoration. I cut my pieces to be roughly a 1/4 inch wide and made the length slightly smaller than what it would be wrap fully around the dowel. I did that to create a flat(ish) area in the back, for the screws and/or wood glue to hold onto.
Wrap the leather strip around the center point of the dowel rod (like the small dowel rods I used) OR toward each end on the left and right (like the larger DIY drawer pulls I created) and glue to the surface of the dowel rod using an all purpose, strong hold glue that works on both leather and wood. Some people use wood glue to attach leather and wood, so you could try that. I used a super glue instead. Wait for the glue to completely dry / cure before moving onto the next step.
Step 4: Attach finished dowels to each drawer.
Remove the drawers and flip them around, so the back of each drawer is now the front. The back of the drawers surprisingly (for Ikea anyway) have a finished look as well, only without the notch at the top of each drawer. So you’ll get a much cleaner look with the DIY drawer pulls this way.
Secure the completed dowel rod drawer pulls directly to the top of each drawer using either wood glue and trigger clamps, screws and a drill, or a combination of both. I went with screws for this one, but I think wood glue is a good option too – just a bit messier. If using wood glue, be sure to use clamps to hold the drawer pulls in place until fully cured according to the label.
And that’s it!
Don’t have a MOPPE storage chest to put this Ikea hack to use? No worries! You can try this DIY drawer pulls idea on loads of different storage solutions. No Ikea pieces required.
So what do you think? Are you yay or nay on this minimal modern Ikea hack?
7 comments | Click here to reply
Continue your great work!! You are an inspiration
NipponHaha. Thanks Jenn! 🙂
BrittniYay! This DIY really speaks to me. Great idea 🙂
JennSo many possibilities with this, right Verveine? Thanks for commenting.
BrittniAw thanks Karlijn. Love that want to make this with your sis. 🙂
Brittni-Brittni
I love this idea!
mine is customized with flower papers stuck on the sides of the drawers.
I also like your idea of mixing the drawers between two storages
have a nice day,
Muriel la Française
Verveine&LinYAY x 1000! This is such an awesome idea! Forwarding this to my sister, something to make together this summer. X
Karlijn