IKEA Hack: DIY Vintage Card Catalog Drawers

Recently, I sold the small white desk in my office for a larger, industrial-chic Restoration Hardware desk. I was so excited to find this desk on my neighborhood buy/sell/trade page! For a while now I’d been dreaming of more surface space to work with and this desk was just what I was looking for. But what I gained in surface space, I lost in drawer space. Unfortunately, this new desk has zero drawers. Womp womp.

Of course, losing my desk drawer meant I need to come up with a solution for all the crap my old drawer contained. I wanted something useful and efficient, but also true to my design aesthetic in my office. What I really wanted was vintage card catalog drawers. So I went hunting for some at a few antique stores. What I discovered was that old card catalog drawers are ridiculously expensive! $800 for a tiny set of three drawers?! Did the King of England keep his grandmother’s recipes in these drawers? What the actual heck justifies that price?

Anyway, I clearly was getting nowhere on my hunt for beautiful but practical (and affordable) drawer storage. One day while wandering through the aisles of IKEA, however, I happened upon this cheap, plain, not-so-pretty set of small drawers. I stood there and stared at it for a while formulating a plan for how I could transform these nondescript little cubbies into a card catalog. Then I tossed them in my bag, paid the nice lady, and hightailed it home to put my plan into action. 

Y’all. These drawers turned out so much better than I even thought they would! And they are just what I needed to corral all my office drawer crap! Hooray! Here’s how I transformed these simple IKEA drawers into a knock-off vintage card catalog.

IKEA Hack: Vintage Card Catalog Drawers

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Supplies:

• IKEA Moppe Mini Storage Chest
• Minwax wood stain
• sponge brush
• rag
• vintage drawer pulls
• drill

Instructions:

1. Remove all the drawers from the chest and set each piece on a dropcloth. 
2. Using a sponge brush, stain all sides of the chest and each drawer. I used a combination of Minwax Classic Gray stain and Minwax Provincial stain.
3. Use the rag to wipe off the excess stain after you finish each piece.
4. Let the wood pieces dry completely, preferably overnight.
5. Now it’s time to attach the drawer pulls. What used to be the front of the drawers (with the little notch cut out) will now be the back. I used a tape measure to find the center of each drawer. Screw each pull into place using your drill.
6. Put all the drawers back in the chest, fill ’em up, and admire your handiwork!

Not bad, eh? Of course, I still need to add some labels in the pulls, but I’m still figuring out what the inside of my drawers will contain. 

Doesn’t it resemble a vintage card catalog? I’m in love with this project. It’s easy and super cheap and it give me the vintage drawer look I was hoping for all along!