Transform your ordinary Ikea dresser into a stylish statement piece with these DIY leather drawer pulls for an easy and affordable Ikea dresser hack!
We love the Ikea Malm dresser. But don’t you ever wish it had drawer pulls? Technically, the dresser is purposely designed without the need for pulls. But we always find it easier for dressers to have handles.
So when we saw Improvised Life’s blog tutorial for cabinet pulls, we took the same concept and applied it to an Ikea Malm dresser in our guest room.
Creating DIY leather pulls for your Ikea Malm dresser is an easy way to add a touch of rustic elegance to this popular piece of furniture.
The Malm line is very basic and simple, which allows for a nice blank canvas to apply your own touches. There are lots of creative dresser hacks for this particular line, but we’ve found these DIY leather pulls to be the most affordable and functional.
And the great thing about this hack is that it can be applied to any dresser brand or any furniture piece with cabinets. Here’s how you can recreate this look:
Materials and Tools Needed Materials for a DIY Ikea Dresser Hack
Leather square — Amount needed is dependent on how many drawers you have and how long and wide you want the handles to be. If you have leftover leather scraps, there are so many other DIY projects that you can use them for, like making your own bar tags or luggage tags.
Nails — We opted for gold nails for that subtle pizzazz and bling. The frame of the Malm dresser is made of sturdy particleboard, while the drawers are crafted from solid wood. So make sure you opt for a nail meant for wood projects.
Hammer
Sharp scissors or an Exacto knife — To cut your leather.
How to Make Leather Drawer Pulls
1 — Cut the desired length for your leather pulls. Ours measured 2″ wide.
2 — Fold the leather strip in half to create your leather pull.
3 — Position the leather pull to the top portion of the draw. To secure it in place, hammer in 2 nails. Repeat the process for each drawer.
Optional: Condition the Leather
If desired, apply a leather conditioner or wax to protect and enhance the appearance of the pulls. This step is especially important if you’re using vintage or untreated leather. Give the pulls some time to set and for any leather conditioner or wax to be absorbed.
Easy Ways to Prep Your Guest Bedroom
We love this DIY project since it is not only cost-effective but also allows you to infuse your personal style into your furniture.
Creating a warm and inviting guest bedroom is a thoughtful way to make your guests feel comfortable and welcome in your home. Here are some tips to help you achieve this —
Set up a snack and beverage station:
Treat them to cookies and refreshments because who doesn’t love homemade chocolate chip cookies?!?
Create a relaxing ambience:
Leave out your favorite candle for guests to light up. Indoor plants are perfect for creating a relaxing tranquil ambiance while also functioning as a natural air filter.
Provide lots of storage:
Your guests will appreciate an empty dresser for their clothes. If you don’t have an empty closet, hang hooks in the bedroom. We actually use our guest bedroom closet for storage so we purchased a full length mirror with hooks in the back.
Document those memories:
Have a polaroid mini camera for them to snap their favorite memories!
More Easy Ikea Hacks
- How to add rattan to dressers
- Ikea Vanity DIY
- Our Kids Playroom Idea With Faux Built Ins
- Ikea Stikwood DIY Headboard
DIY Leather Drawer Pulls for an Ikea Dresser Hack
Equipment
- Hammer
- Xacto knife or scissors for cutting the leather
Materials
- 1 leather square
- 6 nail or more depending on your number of drawers
Instructions
- Cut the desired length for your leather pulls. Ours measured 2 1/2" wide.
- Fold the leather strip in half to create your leather pull.
- Position the leather pull to the top portion of the draw. To secure it in place, hammer in 2 nails. Repeat the process for each drawer.
Be sure to share your DIY Ikea Hack Dresser with us on Instagram using the hashtag #sugarandclothloves, so we can follow along, too! We always love seeing all of your creations!
loved this piece on ikea dressers. Considering getting one and this helped. I found some other info at happycozyhouse.com for other DIY projects you may want to check out too. Thanks for this piece!
This product has since been recalled. To learn more about the recall visit: https://bonnie.ai/blog/2018/01/21/ikea-reannounces-recall-malm-models-chests-dresser/
Love this idea! Im just wondering how long the pulls are? I want to do this to my Ikea malm dresser too and am wondering how much leather I will need. Thanks!
Thanks so much, Joanna! We made ours about 2.5 inches. Would love to hear how it turns out! :)
Agreed – this is so beautiful! Would a 12 x 12 in piece of leather be large enough to make pulls for six drawers?
We would recommend 2 pieces. We used 12×12 for our 3-drawer dresser. There were scraps but it was ideal to give us room for any mistakes and to cut correctly. You could always try one first, especially since Amazon delivers so quickly!
Hi!
I recently published a blogpost with 5 simple DIY-projects for my readers to try out. This DIY was one of the projects I mentioned. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed one of the pictures in this post for my post? Ofcourse I gave you credits and a link to this post.
http://sandramarias.com/2016/february/enkla-diy-tips-till-ditt-hem.html
Thank you for an inspiring IKEA-hack!
Have a nice one!
Prepping for the in-laws just got a whole lot cooler with this simple DIY ikea dresser hack and clever guest room ideas.
This is a great idea. Simple, interesting and most of all it looks so good!
I will try this, thank you!
lovely ideas
I love your leather pulls. Now that it has been 9 months, how are they holding up to wear and tear? I am considering doing those on a little bigger dresser and make two per drawer. I am only concerned that the nails might give out from pulling. How’s your experience?
I’d love to know too!
I would love to know too! I’m worried that the wood would crack if I nailed or drilled it, but I’ve seen so many hacks of other people doing similar things so maybe not! Also I’m worried the wear and tear might crack the wood as well. Please provide us updates if you can! Don’t want to ruin a new dresser for no reason :)
It depends on what type of leather you use. If you use something sturdy instead of a soft leather, it will hold up just as well as any pair of nice leather shoes do. Hope this helps! xo
Fantastiske tips og herlig blogg:))
So beautiful! Thank you very much for sharing this, I have featured it on my blog and linked back here, hope that is okay!! I may be doing this in my own home shortly :)
an easy way to get a really big change
Very simple and elegant idea. Also love your glitter cake stand.
So cute! What a great idea!
The leather straps are very cute, and cookies are such a lovely welcome!
Love the leather pull. I would be careful where you leave the camera…you may end up with shots you weren’t expecting! ;)
It looks so beautiful. I think I have some pink leather lying around somewhere. Would love to try it.
The leather looks great against the white unit. We have a couple of these drawers for the kids bedrooms – I may look at doing something similar in their rooms with webbing or strong fabric tape to coordinate with their colour schemes.
Your room looks very inviting….I would be worried guests never want to leave!!
Such a good idea. :) It would definitely come in handy for absent-minded *read: ditzy* people like myself. I’d go crazy trying to figure out how to open a drawer without visible handles.
Loved this post! That dresser is so pretty!
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