IKEA Vrijdag: Rast Nightstand

We decided that since our house is about 90% filled by IKEA furniture we might as well review the IKEA furniture we have since you, dear reader, are also able to purchase the same item at your local IKEA. And by local IKEA we mean the 45 minute-minimum trip to IKEA, since it never seems like there is actually a location "convenient" to your residence. Our IKEA of choice has been the Breda location. Breda is only a 10-15 minute train ride, but the IKEA is another 20 minute bus ride. To date, we've made 3 trips to IKEA and benefitted from the rather reasonably priced delivery service they offer since we do not own a car.

Our first review item is the Rast series nightstand. The Rast series is unfinished wood (probably pine?) and sold as a let-your-teen/kid-do-whatever-they-want-to-it-to-keep-them-happy-without-breaking-the-bank kind of furniture. The IKEA website shows a nightstand and a dresser, but it seems like the stores have other unfinished items as well. We bought two Rast nightstands - one to hold and hide our pile of random electric junk (modem, power strip, etc.) in the living room, and one to hold toilet paper and other related items in our main floor toilet room (so called because it only has a toilet).

The nightstand was easyto put together. IKEA furniture always comes with picture-based directions to make putting items together as idiot-proof as possible... except the Rast nightstand - it's so simple, you don't even get directions for it - just 4 pieces of wood, 12 screws, and an allen wrench all shrink-wrapped together. The allen wrench gets the job done, but we recommend using a power drill just for the sake of making the process move a little faster. And when you put together so much furniture that you start having nightmares and develop the shakes, speed is everything in limiting your exposure. The stands went together easily and there was minimal muttering under the breath during the process.

We decided to paint the stand for the bathroom. The bathroom is boring - grey tile, white toilet, white walls - and desperately needed a splash of color. We went bold with a dark purple and a lime green so the room feels a little less like a cardboard box. The painting was easy enough, but a little annoying because of some deep knots in the wood. Now the room looks more like a cardboard box with a blindingly bright nightstand in the corner - we're taking baby steps.

Post-paint job Rast nightstand for the toilet room

The Rast for electric junk we left unfinished. It seemed like a good way to camouflage everything if there wasn't any color to call it out. This picture was taken from the over the back of the couch, for a better frontal view, but you really can't see the junk from the side.

Neutral Rast nightstand with electric junk

For the ease of construction and the added bonus of personalization, the Rast nightstand receives a review rating of 4.5 Swedish meatballs on a 5 meatball scale. Half a meatball is removed for the unsightly knots left on the wood. Otherwise, we recommend the product should you look to make your home a little more European.

Living Dutch Rating for Rast Nightstand: