Tarva Trumps Expedit

I've been wanting to replace the TV 'stand' in our living room since the day we bought it. It's no longer available from Ikea, but it's from the Expedit series. I thought the shelves were adjustable, but sadly, I was wrong. I tried to make the best of it by filling the bottom row with magazine storage (which I made from cardboard shipping boxes) which looked ok, but I never really loved the piece.

 So the search began (and continued for TWO years) for a replacement. I searched high and low on Craigslist but never had any real luck in finding a piece that fit our needs and budget. I stumbled across Ikea's new-ish customizable dresser called Tarva one day while I was there shopping for something completely different. 

The Tarva is basically the big brother to the Rast, which I'm more than sure you've seen painted every color under the sun on blogs and Pinterest. Even my sister in law customized a pair for her bedroom to use as night stands and they came out so cute! I'll have to take some pictures of them next time I'm over at her house.

I you follow me on Instagram (IG name : bontempsbeignet), you might have seen a photo I posted of my dresser in the making. 

The beer was my therapy. It was just two days before Mardi Gras (which we couldn't be in New Orleans for) AND the dang instruction booklet for the dresser was THIRTY NINE pages long.  Which was only 7 pages longer than the dresser I built for Charlie's room while I was 8 months preggo with a giant belly getting in the way. This time I had a little nugget who wanted to be in the center of all the construction. I needed a drink. 

Pictures via HERE, and HERE

Using the pictures above as my inspiration, I've been working for about a week on it and can't wait to show y'all what I've done. I need to do a little bit more work still, so this post won't have the 'after' pics. Sorry! Bad blogger! So far, I've built it, filled the old drawer pull holes, stained, and painted it, but I still need to add some trim to the drawers, drill new holes for the pulls, add the new pulls, and cut the legs down a little so that the TV will sit lower and the cords below won't be so visible.    

Hopefully I'll have everything ready to show to you by Friday! Have any of y'all refinished any furniture lately? Anyone customize a Rast? Share it in the comments! 

I've been wanting to replace the TV 'stand' in our living room since the day we bought it. It's no longer available from Ikea, but it's from the Expedit series. I thought the shelves were adjustable, but sadly, I was wrong. I tried to make the best of it by filling the bottom row with magazine storage (which I made from cardboard shipping boxes) which looked ok, but I never really loved the piece.

 So the search began (and continued for TWO years) for a replacement. I searched high and low on Craigslist but never had any real luck in finding a piece that fit our needs and budget. I stumbled across Ikea's new-ish customizable dresser called Tarva one day while I was there shopping for something completely different. 

The Tarva is basically the big brother to the Rast, which I'm more than sure you've seen painted every color under the sun on blogs and Pinterest. Even my sister in law customized a pair for her bedroom to use as night stands and they came out so cute! I'll have to take some pictures of them next time I'm over at her house.

I you follow me on Instagram (IG name : bontempsbeignet), you might have seen a photo I posted of my dresser in the making. 

The beer was my therapy. It was just two days before Mardi Gras (which we couldn't be in New Orleans for) AND the dang instruction booklet for the dresser was THIRTY NINE pages long.  Which was only 7 pages longer than the dresser I built for Charlie's room while I was 8 months preggo with a giant belly getting in the way. This time I had a little nugget who wanted to be in the center of all the construction. I needed a drink. 

Pictures via HERE, and HERE

Using the pictures above as my inspiration, I've been working for about a week on it and can't wait to show y'all what I've done. I need to do a little bit more work still, so this post won't have the 'after' pics. Sorry! Bad blogger! So far, I've built it, filled the old drawer pull holes, stained, and painted it, but I still need to add some trim to the drawers, drill new holes for the pulls, add the new pulls, and cut the legs down a little so that the TV will sit lower and the cords below won't be so visible.    

Hopefully I'll have everything ready to show to you by Friday! Have any of y'all refinished any furniture lately? Anyone customize a Rast? Share it in the comments!