The Ikea Hemnes
The Hemnes is an excellent choice when you are looking for a dresser that is good quality, but you don’t want to break the bank. I love it’s classic lines, too. When we bought ours about a year ago, I went with “safe” and chose the “white stain” option. Ideally, I would have found a real wood, stained dresser within my budget, but that just wasn’t a possibility at the time. So, we brought home the Hemnes, and I spent a year trying to love it in our bedroom, which happens to have white walls (that I love and don’t want to change).
The Before:
Changing it up:
Finally, more recently, I made the decision to strip away the white finish and stain it so that I could have my wooden dresser after all! It worked out, and was a fairly simple (if not a bit tedious) project!
Important note: In order to do this project, you MUST have the stained version of the dresser. Some of the options are not real wood, so double- check that your dresser is in fact real wood before you go sanding it down! One way to do this would be to look on the insides of the drawers. Ours are clearly wood (not covered in the finish), so I knew we were good to go!
First, Sanding:
First, I tried to strip the finish using CitriStrip, but it didn’t budge (darn!). I was discouraged, but decided to just start sanding the drawers little by little, and eventually I would have it all complete. At times like these, it’s important to remind ourselves that our homes don’t have to be made overnight! They can happen slowly over time. Ahem. Ok, stepping off my soapbox now – ha!
I sanded it with my orbital sander, using 120g paper. Although it took some elbow grease/several pass-overs, I think a lower (ie rougher) grit would have eaten up the wood too much.
Important to remember: Do not leave behind ANY of the finish if you try this out yourself. My dresser ended up quite splotchy because I overlooked a few spots where the finish *looked* removed but was still there. So when I went to stain these places, the old finish didn’t allow the stain to penetrate. Just take the extra few minutes to make sure that ALL the finish is removed – trust me 🙂
Then, Condition + Stain:
Next up, I used wood conditioner. I highly recommend this step, as it makes for a very even finish once you apply your stain! If you skip the conditioner, you may end up with splotchiness.
Finally, the stain: I mixed up my own custom color, using a few Minwax stains that I had on hand. I didn’t measure, but I can tell you that I used roughly this ratio:
- 2 parts Jacobean
- 1 part Weathered Oak
- 1 part Puritan Pine
I only needed one coat to achieve the warm, mid-tone look I was going for, so you could definitely buy the tiny cans of these and then combine! I did not seal it, but I plan to at least seal the top to protect it from the inevitable coffee mug I will set on it. When I get around to that, I will likely use my favorite go- to sealer.
Lastly, a quick hardware update:
Finally, I sprayed the hardware with this spray paint (my new favorite brass color), and called it a day!
The Finished Product:
This turnout was SO worth the effort, even after I had to fix some of my mistakes with the splotchiness. I have a beautiful wooden dresser that is decent quality, and I didn’t spend anywhere near what I would have for my inspiration piece that I had eyeballed for so long!
What do you think? Will you give this a try with your Hemnes? So many of you have told me that you have this dresser! Be sure to share it with me if you do, and tag me if you post it on Instagram!
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