"Living in a 700 square foot, 1 bedroom condo, did not stop us from creating a cute and functional "room" for our 4-month-old baby girl. We converted our dining room nook into her room from Ikea stuff, and created tons of storage for all the things babies entail, with room to grow through her crawling and tolddling years.
Total cost: $250
Ikea Expedit bookcases, 2 ($130)
Ikea Crib: Used (Free)
Ikea Malm Dresser ($35 on Craigslist)
Ikea Komplement Boxes, 6 ($40)
Ikea Branas Basket, 2 ($16)Paint, 3 colors: ($4 each for little samples from Home Depot)Frames: ($10 on Craigslist)
Frame mats: ($5 on Craigslist)
Pictures: Free (Walmart screwed up and had to give me my money back!)
I built a box out of spare plywood and secured it to the bottom of the Malm dresser for two reasons:
-To create a storage area for toys that the baby could get to herself when she started crawling
-To raise it up to proper changing table height
I painted the bookcases to match the walls and flipped them on their side to utilize all the vertical space of our 9-foot ceilings. The wall hangers that come with these bookcases are a joke, so I secured them with 8 L-brackets screwed into the studs, and a 2x4 underneath the shelves to act as a bottom support. The baby seems to love it, as she slept through the night in her new room. What else can you ask of a 4-month-old?"
wow she's very creative ha, i think its not hack it is creativity. :)
ReplyDeletecathy young
http://sexybabesportal.blogspot.com/
what i love most about it is that its in neutral colors rather than some gross culturally-assigned "pink is for girls" crap. nice work!
ReplyDeletenice use of space, but with all that stuff (books and various knick knacks) above the crib, i would worry about stuff falling onto the baby or just into the crib and the baby putting it in his/her mouth and swallowing it. sleep deprived parents often miss stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great but I would be really afraid of stuff/the shelves themselves coming down on baby! :o Better make sure they are extremely secure, then double the brackets again!
ReplyDeleteGood job, it does look great and with so little pending.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
That is the smartest, most creative thing ever!!! I love pink, but the color is perfect for tying in all the spaces together.
ReplyDeleteWell done!!!
What kind of paint/process do you use to paint over Ikea stuff (ie. finished in a veneer or melamien, etc.)?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
WOW! Good job in creating something in such a small space. What will you guys do when the baby starts crawling all over??? :) You'll need more space.
ReplyDeleteVery good space planning!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! Wonderful use of space.
ReplyDeleteI hope you live in an earthquake-free area, with all that stuff hanging over your baby..
ReplyDeleteInteresting use of space. I love the idea of putting those shelves up on the wall.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a safety freak by any means but it's a good idea to attach the dresser to the wall if you haven't already. When all of the drawers are opened (by an interested baby/toddler) the center of balance is off. We just learned the hard way with our two year old this weekend (he wasn't hurt).
Your idea is fantastic, and I love that you're making your place work for you. However, in addition to the safety concerns with the dresser, I have to add my concern about the pictures that are hung near the crib. Not to be a safety freak, but in general you don't want anything hung within arms reach of the crib, because babies will grab at it as soon as they learn to pull themselves up.
ReplyDeleteNot to compare babies to drunken revelers, but our local bar has their picture frames screwed to the wall. Secure or move them BEFORE she can pull herself up, or she may try to use them to pull herself up. We lost a picture frame to the kids swinging it from its perch above the crib. And we had the dresser tip over. No broken bottle fights, though!
ReplyDeleteBut the nook looks great! We took the "easy" way out and moved out of our 1-bedroom when the child was almost crawling. Way to make it work!
Genius, it really looks great and so functional and still cosy! Great job!
ReplyDelete