IKEA Rast Hack!

I am so excited to share my IKEA Rast Hack with you today.  I was asked by Hickory Hardware to compete in a contest that they will be hosting on their Facebook Page. In case you don’t know about the IKEA Rast Dresser Hack, it is where DIY bloggers take a plain Ikea Rast Dresser and turn it into something unique and beautiful compared to the plain jane that she is.  

I follow a lot of my fellow bloggers that have hacked the IKEA Rast dresser and my ideas are limited since I have seen so many different rast makeovers.  I showed a picture to Mr. DD and asked him, what would he do with this Rast dresser.  As you can see above, this is Mr. DD rast dresser hack.  He wanted a baseball bat holder for his Vintage Baseball Team.  I guarantee that you have not seen this IKEA rast hack.  

We started by laying out the pieces and deciding how we were going to change-up the design to make it work for a baseball bat holder.  

Once we decided on the layout, Mr. DD went to work by cutting out the top and middle support for the baseball bats.  

Once the holes were cut, I needed to sand down the openings.  I used my finishing sander for the top and a dremel tool to get the insides of the holes.  

I used Pittsburgh Paints new Trim Door and Furniture paint. Pittsburgh Paints & Stains is one of the sponsors for this Rast Dresser Hack.  

I did not prime my dresser since I knew I was going to distress the piece.  Once everything was completely dry, I sanded it down to remove the gloss sheen and show distressing.  

Mr. DD had to drill new holes since we were moving the location of the third drawer.  He wanted to drop the drawer down, so the bats would sit lower in the dresser.  

We used the extra support pieces at the bottom of the second drawer and used that to attach the base of the baseball bat holder.  

We only needed to purchase 2 additional pieces of wood.  the first piece was used for the baseball bat base and the second was added to the bottom of the dresser.  We also needed the bottom so we could add casters to the dresser.  

We did not put the bottom of the top drawer in and we used the second drawer bottom as the middle guide to hold the bats in place.  Both top drawers are nailed in place and are only used for esthetics.  

I selected rustic hardware from Hickory Hardware.  Since this is a baseball bat holder for Vintage baseball, I knew the rustic hardware would be appropriate with the distressed look of the bat holder.  

We added a new back to the dresser and I painted it with chalk board paint.  In vintage baseball, as the base runner comes in to score, they ring a bell to indicated a run is scored and they tally their score on the board.   Huzzah, is the way that the vintage baseball team cheers.  At the end of each match, they shout “Hip, Hip, Huzzah! to express joy for their opponents.  

I need to add 1 more cup pull(upside down) to the back of the dresser to hold the chalk.  I realized this after I placed the score on the board and thought the players would need a place to hold the chalk.  

I finished the entire dresser with a mix of dark stain and polyurethane.  This darkened the exposed wood and the paint and it also sealed the paint on the dresser.  I made a custom stencil from Mr. DD’s vintage baseball team uniform .    

The Hoover Sweepers ball club performs the game of base ball (originally spelled as two words) as a “gentleman’s game” and honors the 1860s rules, and the teams dress in period attire.  

That is Mr. DD striking(batting).   There is no bunting, sliding or spitting. Balls and strikes are not called.  Foul ticks are not considered strikes.  There for, the hurler(pitcher) can pitch to a striker many times until he swigs and misses 3 times or hits the ball into play.  The striker can also make a gentlemen’s request for the hurler to place the pitch in a certain location.  

Do you notice something about the out field players?  They have no baseball gloves, yes back in 1860’s there were no mitts to catch the ball. 

Vintage baseball had it own terms:   

Aces – Runs 
Leg it – Run to base
Behind – Catcher
Match – Game
Cranks – Fans
Player “Dead” – Put out
Club Nine – Team
Rover – Shortstop
Foul Tick – Foul Ball
Striker – Batter
Hurler/Thrower – Pitcher
Hands Down – Outs

The bottom drawer will hold the bases, balls and the extra supplies needed for the match.  You can read more about vintage baseball my visiting the Hoover Sweepers website.  Thanks to Hickory Hardware and Pittsburgh paints for sponsoring my IKEA Rast hack.  Make sure you follow me on Facebook as I will be sharing the link to the contest to go vote for Mr. DD’s Rast Dresser Hack.