I don’t know about you, but I grew up having the IKEA HEMNES dresser and its simplistic yet instantly recognisable design is burnt into my mind and memory forever. But if you too happen to have one (or more) of these chests of drawers around the house, there are actually some creative IKEA HEMNES dresser hacks you can utilise to give the popular flatpack piece of furniture a makeover.
I’ve come across three content creators on Instagram who have taken on these particular IKEA hacks, remaking the HEMNES chest of drawers into something beyond recognition.
According to Google Trends’ reporting, searches for ‘IKEA HEMNES 8 drawer dresser’ rose by over 5000% in the last month and compared to this time last year, ‘IKEA HEMNES’ searches also increased by 5000%. So it seems that the interest for this classic IKEA design hasn’t faded over the years. But if you want to really make it your own and personalise it for your home, these three ways are among the best I’ve seen.
1. Give the HEMNES a vintage look
If you prefer vintage pieces and like furniture with more character than most of the new IKEA pieces manage to offer then this hack is for you. Courtesy of Emma Earley of @pagesofemma on Instagram, this makeover makes the humble IKEA HEMNES dresser look like an expensive antique.
‘I always make sure to look for the HEMNES finish that is a wood stain where you can see the grain of the wood underneath rather than the opaque shinier finish because it gives much more flexibility in upcycling options due to its wood base construction and not chipboard/particleboard,’ Emma says.
‘The hardest bit about this upcycle is getting that IKEA coating off, it has some sort of polyurethane protective layer on it that is an arm-ache to scrape and sand but so worth it to reveal the wood underneath,’ Emma explains, and which you’ll know all about if you’ve ever tried to paint any IKEA furniture.
After stripping the paint with the help of a carbide scraper, like this one from B&Q, and wood stripper solution, also available at B&Q, Emma sanded the surface for a smooth finish, attached a bobbin trim and stained the dresser with a dark oak wood stain before switching out the handles for ones that are a little more elevated.
‘Although a beautiful detail, routing out the front of the drawers to create a recessed bobbin trim finish is not entirely necessary as you could save yourself that effort and attach the bobbin trim to the existing frontage, but I do really like it being recessed like old vintage furniture,’ Emma says.
What you'll need
- Carbide scraper like this B&Q one
- Wood stripper like the Liberon fine wood stripper at B&Q
- Electric sander like this Black + Decker one at Argos
- Wood glue like this Gorilla one from Amazon
- Bobbin trim like this design from Etsy
- Wood stain like this Furniture Clinic dark oak wood stain from Amazon
- A set of scalloped handles like these from Amazon
2. Create a built-in look
IKEA furniture is great for creating built-in looking styles on a budget, whether it’s a dreamy library made with BILLY bookcases or living room storage from three HEMNES dressers just like Abi Hugo of @thewhitethistle on Instagram, who’s also Frenchic Paint’s neutrals stylist, has done.
‘We desperately needed more storage, but I didn’t want to splash out on something fully custom,’ Abi says. ‘I already had a couple of HEMNES units lying around and had this lightbulb moment – what if I mashed them together and built around them to fake a fancy built-in? It gave us that high-end look without the terrifying price tag. It was surprisingly doable!
'There’s a bit of faffing with trims and spacing, but nothing wild. If you can handle a saw and a tube of No More Nails, you’re golden. 100% would recommend it if you want to level up your space without blowing the budget. I painted it in this gorgeous true black shade, Loof from Frenchic Paint. It’s strange to describe it as silky but it just looks silky! I love it!’
Abi started by chopping off the legs of all of the dressers for that built-in look, level with the windowsill and after adding some trim to the bottom, also flush with the floor. Then, she cut the worktops and used filler, like this wood filler from B&Q, so that the dressers can sit flush against one another, too.
In the caption of her reel, Abi says that she’s going through something of a pole wrap phase, which is why she’s added it to some parts of the dresser for a bit of panelling-style texture. But including it is not completely necessary.
What you'll need
- Wood filler like this one from B&Q
- Jig saw like this Hychika one from Amazon
- DIY Her Way pole wrap from Amazon
- Wood batons like this B&Q stripwood
- Blackjack furniture paint from Frenchic's Lazy Range, formerly known as Loof
- Brass-effect handles like these round ones and these bar pull handles, both from B&Q
3. Utilise what you already have
For her IKEA HEMNES hack, Melissa Ritchie of @littleterracedhouse on Instagram used leftovers from a previous renovation project that she had spare, specifically some parquet flooring. Not only that she gave these leftovers some purpose but she also brought some interesting texture to a traditionally extremely smooth and glossy HEMNES dresser.
‘This is a pretty straightforward hack if you can get your hands on some reclaimed parquet and have the tools to remove the backs,’ Melissa says. ‘If not though, you can make your own parquet style blocks using pine stripwood which is readily available at DIY shops and cut it to size with a chop saw.’
Melissa started the process by gluing on the parquet flooring on the front part of each drawer using Gorilla wood glue, available at Amazon. She then used a jig saw to cut off any overhanging pieces of the parquet. Then with an electric sander, she sanded down the surface for a smooth finish.
She then turned her attention to the base which she painted in Preference Red by Farrow & Ball. And she added stripwood around the drawers which she also painted the same dark red shade to further ‘frame’ the drawers.
The original handles also got a makeover as Melissa used the Amaco Rub ‘n Buff wax metallic finish, available from Amazon, in the antique gold shade for a vintage-style look.
What you'll need
- Reclaimed parquet flooring or pine stripwood like this from B&Q
- Wood glue like this Gorilla one from Amazon
- Jig saw like this Hychika one from Amazon
- Electric sander like this Black + Decker one at Argos
- Farrow & Ball Preference Red paint
- Amaco Rub 'n Buff metallic finish in antique gold from Amazon
- Wood protection oil like this transparent one from Osmo at Amazon
IKEA HEMNES alternatives
The HEMNES dresser is so popular that many other brands have come out with their own versions. This Habitat take on the look in sophisticated dark green will save you the trouble of having to paint it.
Since eight-drawer IKEA HEMNES dressers are trending, I've included Dunelm's take on the look in a natural-looking oak finish. So chic!
One of my biggest pet peeves about the IKEA HEMNES are those classic handles. And by eliminating those and matching the handles to the rest of the dresser instead, John Lewis has instantly elevated its reinterpretation.
Abi concludes, 'They’re super affordable and everywhere. Facebook Marketplace is my go-to for second-hand finds, and HEMNES always pops up. They’re solid, classic, and basically the blank canvas of the flatpack world. Ideal for giving a second life with a bit of imagination.'
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