Scavenger Chic

IKEA Moppe Cabinet with Wine Crate Drawer Fronts

• By Joan
• February 12, 2025
• 2 Comments

IKEA Moppe Cabinet with Wine Crate Drawer Fronts

Welcome back friends.  I’d like to introduce you to my latest thrift store find.  An  IKEA Moppe cabinet that someone has lovingly painted with labels for all their art supplies.

While I always like the idea of art supply storage, this one is not quite my style.

The top of the cabinet did not escape the touch of this budding artist.

If you find a cabinet like this and like the original birch finish consider just taking a sander to the wood.  The finished product will be almost good as new.

The sides on this Moppe box bowed out ever so slightly.  Just enough that the shelves were no longer glued in place.

Just add a bead of wood glue to both ends of the shelf, reinsert the shelves and clamp to hold.

Several years ago, my middle son, Kevin, gave me a stack of these embossed wine crate sides that the previous owner of his home had decorated his walls with.  Apparently he drank a lot of wine.

I’m going to use these crates to cover over the current  pencil, marker , crayon artwork.

I had previously used a few of the crates to make this storage box.

A few more of the wine crate sides became these gift card boxes.

For this project you’ll need to cut the wine crates  to fit exactly over the existing drawer fronts.  Try to use the part of the crate with the best picture or best wording centered on your drawer.

Glue the wine crates securely to your IKEA drawer fronts.  Let dry overnight.

Sand all your rough edges.

If you like the lighter wood feel free to leave the drawers as is.  I always like a deep stain, so I’m applying a dark walnut to the drawer fronts.

You may want to use your cut off crates to test the color of your stain before you commit to the whole piece.

For handles I’m using strips of leather from an old jacket.    They are about 3/4″ by 3″ with rounded ends.  

Cut or drill  holes in the ends making sure they match up when folded.  Predrill a hole in the top of each drawer.  Insert your bolt thru both ends of the folded handle and attach to your drawer.

If desired, spray paint the Moppe base cabinet.

I should have sanded off the sun and butterfly before painting because those areas took the spray paint differently than the rest of the cabinet.  Since I didn’t, I just turned the cabinet upside down.  Yes, it is reversible.

A little better picture of my leather handle if I didn’t explain that quite so well.

I love a good storage container!

Until next time, stay inspired.

You’ll have to go all the way back to 2016 to find the last time I transformed a Moppe IKEA cabinet with paint and soda can labels.  At that time IKEA had stopped selling the boxes and you could only find them in thrift stores.  I’m glad to see they’re being sold again as they are really a nice little catchall.

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