There will always be a soft spot in my heart for a good Ikea hack. This one isn’t complicated — it’s delightfully simple and accessible to anyone. A few small tweaks to a basic $99 Malm dresser transformed it into a piece that reads like a custom built-in for our beach house. It now sits perfectly in a narrow nook at the top of the back staircase in the beach house’s back bedroom.
rug / striped towel / leather hardware / gold mirror / bathroom table
One of our favorite ways to hack Ikea pieces is to make them appear built-in. Years ago we used Pax wardrobes to create a sleeping nook and more closet space in our first house, simply adding a header and crown molding and swapping doors for curtains. That was an easy, high-impact change. Another project used now-discontinued Fjell dressers to create floor-to-ceiling bookcases in our son’s room — that one required more molding and filler pieces, but it was still doable. These are the kinds of upgrades that make budget-friendly furniture feel custom and cohesive in an older house.
For the beach house dresser, the strategy was the same in spirit: use trim and a few custom details to make the Malm look built-in. We added leather pulls and a thicker wood top to elevate the piece beyond the familiar flat-front dresser it started as.
This dresser is now the main clothing storage for the back bedroom we use at the beach. Previously that room opened directly to the back staircase and, by extension, to the kitchen below, which meant no real privacy. Adding a wall with pocket doors gave us privacy without blocking daylight from the window, and the doors mostly stay open during the day so the space still feels airy. It’s one of our favorite upgrades in the house and we discussed it on a recent podcast.
The new wall created a small nook that felt like it could easily serve as a closet. At first we considered framing it with a door, but that would have made the already-narrow stair landing feel too tight. Fortunately, the space measured almost exactly the width of a Malm dresser, making the decision simple: slide a dresser in, trim it out, and make it look built-in.
We started by removing the baseboard and quarter-round molding from that little nook so the dresser could slide flush against the wall. After assembling the Malm and sliding it into place, we filled the small gaps on each side with narrow painted boards leftover from another project. I aligned those filler pieces with the dresser’s front edge and nailed them through the dresser side into the wall; any remaining gaps were covered later with caulk.
Note: in addition to nailing through the side panels into the filler pieces, we used the manufacturer’s hardware to anchor the back of the dresser to the wall. Like most dressers, the Malm can tip, so mounting it securely is essential.
I reinstalled the baseboard behind those side fillers and then added quarter-round trim around the dresser’s footprint so it butted right up to the front. Extending the quarter-round along the dressers’ front edge is a big part of achieving that built-in look.
We hadn’t planned to add a wood top, but the assembled Malm looked a bit delicate without one. Luckily we had a leftover butcher-block countertop that matched other wood elements in the house. Because the walls aren’t perfectly square in an older home, we made a cardboard template first to ensure a perfect fit before cutting the butcher block.
The thicker wood top made a dramatic difference; the dresser now feels more substantial and visually tied to other warm wood finishes in the house. If you don’t have a large butcher block available, smaller project panels or simple wood planks work just as well for this effect.
Another simple upgrade that makes a big difference: leather pulls. We found inexpensive leather handles at Ikea that added warmth and texture to the plain drawer fronts. Any quality hardware will help a basic Malm read as custom. When drilling for hardware, prevent splintering by applying painter’s tape over the drilling point and clamping scrap wood to the inside of drawers to support the bit’s exit side. That precaution saved the finish and made installation clean.
Caulk was the unsung hero here, smoothing seams around the baseboard and filler pieces and creating a seamless junction between the dresser and the wall. The final styling was simple: a round gold mirror hung above to reflect light and pick up the warm wood tones, and we leave the top mostly clear so it can double as a place to set a suitcase when we stay for short trips.
For scale and peace of mind: there’s plenty of floor space behind the dresser to stand and access drawers comfortably without feeling like you might fall down the stairs. We tested it, and it’s both functional and safe for everyday use.
If you like Ikea hacks, here are a few of our favorites that follow the same idea of making affordable pieces feel custom: built-in Pax wardrobes that created a sleeping nook, a wood-wrapped Expedit turned into a changing table, Fjell dressers repurposed as built-in bookcases, a Pax used as a custom mudroom closet, a painted and papered Vittsjo display shelf, and full built-in cabinets made from Ikea kitchen units.
For paint colors, furniture sources, rugs, and accessories we used around the beach house, we keep a reference page with that information. Whether you want a quick weekend upgrade or a thoughtful custom look on a budget, a few well-chosen trim pieces, a sturdier top, and updated hardware can turn a Malm into a built-in you’ll enjoy for years.
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