Changing table today, shelving unit tomorrow

This is a good one. It's space saving, looks great (love the stripes and dots) and can be repurposed when baby grows up.

Ariel shares, "Here's something not quite to purpose I did with the Gorm shelving system. We have very little space for a baby, and all the changing tables I saw seemed both huge and low on actual storage space. So I built this instead--the deeper Gorm shelf is just the right size for the standard foam changing pad. I used Vacker storage bins for drawers, and the Gorm apple crate for storage of bigger items - big packages of diapers and nursing pillows.

I also added wooden dowels from the hardware store to provide quilt storage on the tower, and so I could hang a laundry bag (Vacker, again) and a basket to hold diapers (Bygel kitchen organizer) off the end. To maximize space without sacrificing stability, I notched out the bottom shelf of the tower by removing a couple of boards so it fits around the diaper bin. (There is still enough shelf space behind the bin to hold an industrial-sized box of baby wipes and more). The most time-consuming part of the project was making padded bumpers to protect against sharp bolt edges and splinters, but even that wasn't especially difficult.

It's totally functional, stores a ton, and when the kid outgrows a changing table in a year or two, we will have a perfectly usable shelving unit instead of a useless bulky changing table to get rid of. I'm planning on putting a cabinet top on the lower surface and using it either as additional counter space and storage in the kitchen, or as a sewing table.

There are a few more pictures, of its first stages, here on Flickr."