Ikea Malm Dresser Hack

  /  
September 17, 2015

Ikea Malm Dresser Hack

Thank you to Look In The Attic for providing product for this post.
As always, all opinions are my own. For more information see my disclosures here.

When Bryan and I moved into our first apartment together out of college, we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on furniture. So what did we do? We went to Ikea and bought everything we needed there. Don’t you love Ikea?! We walked around their showroom and took notes on what we wanted in our living room, bedroom and office. Then, we went down to the warehouse and picked it all up. Easy as that. No waiting around for shipments in the mail – win!

I won’t lie, after four years I needed a refresh. I became obsessed with researching Ikea hacks, and decided that the Malm dressers in our bedroom would be easy to spruce up a bit. I searched online for ring pulls and came across great options on a website called Look in the Attic. They have a bunch of ring pulls to choose from, but I went with their 3 inch Mission Style Solid Brass Ring Pulls in the brushed nickel finish. 

Thank you to my father-in-law for helping us with this DIY project. If you’re interested in this quick Ikea Malm dresser hack, keep reading. 

Ikea Malm Dresser Hack

Items Needed

  • Drill
  • Drill bits
  • Ring pulls (6)
  • 1 1/4″ screws (6) – the screws that came with the pulls are too long for the Ikea Malm dressers
  • Small piece of plywood
  • Measuring tape
  • Pencil

Instructions

Empty your dresser drawers. You don’t want dust all over your clothes. 

Using measuring tape, make two diagonal lines from one end of the drawer to the other. Mark with a pencil the intersection of these two lines. Although this is the center of the drawer, this isn’t where we drilled the hole for the pulls. Since the pulls I used hung down, I wanted the center of the ring to align with the middle of the drawer. Draw a dot approximately an inch and a half above the center of the drawer. This is where you will drill. Measure and mark all drawers before you start drilling. 

Clamp a small piece of plywood to the inside of your drawer. Drill all the way through both the drawer and the wood piece. This will prevent the drill bit from splintering and damaging your dresser drawer. 

Line up the pull with the hole you made. Drill the screw into the hole from the inside of the drawer. The screw will connect with the inside of the pull. 

ikea malm dresser hack

ikea malm dresser hack

Talk to Me

  • Have you ever done an Ikea hack?
  • What’s your favorite piece from Ikea?

[Tweet “Ikea Malm Hack #ikeahack #DIY”]

Thank you for reading my post!
Don’t forget to follow me on: Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Comments ▼

Hi Nicole, does the dresser come with the glossy top or is that a piece of glass that you placed on there (if so, how/where did you get one)?

Hi Kim! Ikea sells the glass top for this dresser separately. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading!

Hi there !! Can you please send me the IKEA leak or perhaps a screenshot of the top acrylic pieces that brings the two together

Where did you get your lamp from? I love the way it compliments the dresser!

Hi were these white malm or white lacquer ?

Hi Barbara! On the Ikea website it’s just listed as “white.” I hope that helps!

This is awesome. Seems simple enough, I’m definitely going to do this bc I need storage and a tv stand.

It was really easy! Good luck on your hack!