Ikea RAST hack: Greek Key with a zinc twist

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (well, OK, it wasn’t that long ago and it was in Ikea), there was a simple pine cabinet named RAST.


He was a shy and unassuming cabinet, a lot like his friends LACK and HEMNES and BILLY and MALM. They all hung out in their flat packs together, playing poker and drinking root beer floats and wishing that one day, they would get unpacked and become something super spectacular. Like these lucky RAST cousins:

Top row: Kelly at refresheddesigns, Jacob via Hodge:Podge | Middle row: Livet Hemma, Nancy at Marcus Design, Barbara at Hodge:Podge | Bottom row: Lindsay at Little House Blog, My O’verlays

RAST wasn’t sure what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he thought he might look rather fetching dressed up in zinc and brass with some Greek Key thrown in for good measure.

He wasn’t sure why he thought that, because he was Swedish, not Greek. Anyway, just when RAST was about to play his first ever official royal flush and win the poker pot, Kelly snapped him up and stuffed him into a little smart car and stuck him in her basement. Luckily, LACK came along to keep him company.


RAST sat there in the basement till what felt like forever {because Kelly is really, really good at procrastinating}. And then, finally, his big day arrived – Kelly unpacked him and rearranged all his parts by following the very clear & concise instructions that came in his box.


Kelly was confused. Did this mean that if you put RAST together with your hands behind your back you'll break him, but if use one hand he'll be OK? Her friend Rona thought it meant if you don't touch him, RAST will crack, but if you pat him reassuringly with one hand and lie him on a magic carpet, RAST will be content. And her friend Shelly thought it meant don't pee inside the RAST frame. {YES! That’s the one! Don’t pee!} Kelly didn’t have a magic carpet handy, but she did manage to get RAST put together with minimal injuries and only two-do-overs when she put some of his parts together backwards.


After all that work, RAST looked and felt… well, kind of ordinary.

Nope, this really wasn’t doing it for him. He needed something more. He definitely wasn’t feeling stylin’ and sexy, being all naked and plain like that. But never fear, Kelly had a plan. First, she stained his outer bits with a dark walnut stain. But his pine really soaked it up, and he came out almost black. So she hunted through her stash of stains and came across a medium brown gel stain that she hoped would lighten him up a bit. It did, plus it gave him a nice satiny finish.


Not a bad start – at least he was feeling a bit less naked. Next, Kelly laid out his drawers on the floor {does that sound rude?} and drew lines on them 1” in from the edges all the way around.

Hey, come on, that tickles!

And then RAST couldn’t believe what happened next – Kelly used Krazy Glue to attach a Greek Key Double O’verlay to each of his drawers! It was like she’d read his Swedish mind and knew that he secretly wanted to be Greek!


Next, Kelly covered his drawers with two coats of Zinnser Bin primer and two coats of black paint. He was feeling sexier already!


But that was just the beginning, because next it was time for some zincification. OMG! RAST thought he’d died and gone to heaven! Except the zincification process made him tickle, because there was a lot rubbing and pouncing and more rubbing and pouncing as Kelly layered on pewter Rub N Buff followed by silver metallic acrylic paint. But it was worth all the tickling, because now RAST was zincified, just like he’d dreamed.


Then the cherry landed smack dab on top of the sundae – Kelly attached pretty brass pulls from Lee Valley to RAST’s drawers. He thought they looked rather terrific, the way they contrasted against his handsome zinc self.


And with that, RAST’s makeover was complete and he was a boring naked pine cabinet no longer!


RAST felt like a star, getting all fancied up for his photo shoot…








And now RAST is impossible to live with because he’s sexy and he knows it. To paraphrase KeriAnne at Thistlewood Farm, he thinks he’s all that and the kind of chips that come in a fancy bag made from recycled materials and call themselves potato thins. But that’s OK, because Kelly loves him anyway :-)

Project details

Click here for my tutorial on how to create faux zinc. I used Rub N Buff on RAST, but actually prefer the technique in my tutorial, which uses silver paint on its own. Also, I didn’t use clear paste wax on RAST.

Supplies & cost breakdown

• 1 RAST three drawer cabinet from Ikea – $39.99
• Zinsser Bin primer (I had tinted grey primer left over from another project) – $0
• Black paint (I had Tremclad flat black paint, but would recommend latex) – $0
• DecorArt Elegant Finish Metallic Paint in Shimmering Silver (already had it) – $0
• Rub N Buff in pewter – $4.00
• Paint brushes (already had) – $0
• Pouncer brush (already had) – $0
• Three lattice & bead brass drawer pulls from Lee Valley – $8.60 x 3 = $25.80
• Krazy Glue (already had) – $0
• Three Greek Key Double  O’verlays (generously provided by Cheryle & Danika for my RAST hack project. THANKS LADIES!) – $0

TOTAL COST: ~$70.00 + taxes

But ask RAST, and he’ll tell you he’s worth a million bucks :-)



I’ll be linking up to various parties – be sure to check them out, there’s always lots of great inspiration :-)