Completely Transform An IKEA ALEX Drawer With A Pallet Wood DIY

Do you a few spare wood pallets lying around your house after your latest renovation or rebuilding project? There are many unique ways you can upcycle this material, from assembling a new set of patio furniture to constructing a stylish wooden wine rack with built-in storage. The versatility and vintage aesthetic that old pallets have make them easy to work with for all manner of building projects. Plus, they're also great for transforming your existing furnishings. If you have an old IKEA ALEX drawer, you can use pallet wood to turn what was once a simple storage unit into a fashionable new desk for your home office. This DIY will add a simple yet stunning furnishing to your space that can easily fit with both modern or traditional interior decor styles.

DIYer Do It Yourself Mum on TikTok shared on her channel how she transformed her IKEA ALEX drawer. She pieced together a brand-new desktop surface and replaced her drawer fronts using pallet scraps. The end result of her project is a desk that looks classy thanks to her smart choice of matte paint and a richly-colored wood stain. Building a similar furnishing in your home is a neat way to give your home office a makeover and add practical value to the space without having to spend a fortune.

A good first step in any project that involves reusing pallet wood is to inspect your boards, and throw out any with signs of rot or an MB stamp. Once you've selected your panels, lay out the longest planks and sand them down thoroughly with a palm sander or orbital sander. Add edge joints to each of your boards along one of their sides before attaching them together with wood glue. Once you've added the glue, use bar clamps to hold the wood together, and leave the project to dry overnight. If you don't have bar clamps at home, then Jorgensen medium duty 24-inch bar clamps aren't a bad addition to your tool shed.

Next, replace the drawer fronts of your IKEA ALEX unit with pallet wood. You'll likely need to glue together two different planks in order to get fronts that are large enough for the bigger drawers. Paint all the other components of the dresser to give them a dark matte finish. Rust-Oleum charcoal chalked paint should work perfectly. Choose four pieces of square hardwood to support the desk on the side opposite the drawers. Join these pieces together in a picture frame formation using pocket screws. Avoid using thin pieces of pallet wood here. You want your final product to be nice and sturdy. Finally, stain the desk top and drawer fronts for a rustic look or use a high-gloss paint for fun, durable, and water resistant finish. Use wood screws to join everything together.

To make the edges of the pallet panels less visually apparent, you should frame the desk top with a couple lengths of wood that can serve as a trim and match the desk top's color. You can do this by upcycling more pallet wood, but since just a thin strip around the sides of the desk is necessary, normal plywood will likely prove to be a bit more durable. Don't forget to drill pilot holes before joining these pieces, or you'll run the risk of splitting the wood. You'll also need to pick a few matching hardware pieces for the drawers. The knobs on Kayleigh's desk at the end of her video are just one of your options. Edge pulls are a sleek alternative that suits most modern interior aesthetics, but classic drawer handles or simple metal cup pulls can be equally chic.

If you have leftover pallet wood, you can also upgrade this project by adding dividers within your new desk drawers. This will make it easier to sort spare pens, electronics, and cables, so that the surface of the desk stays free from clutter and looks neat. Building a small desk stand for your computer monitor is another option for upcycling your spare building materials, and may help make the workstation more ergonomic. You can also reuse wood pallets with creative DIY wall decor ideas to further upgrade the visual appeal of your home office space.