A Big Solution for a Little Problem..Ikea Hack

So last week, I revealed our Little Man's nursery. I hoped you enjoyed seeing a peek into the design style and the way it all came together. This week, I am focusing on creating a closet when there really isn't one.

 Jaxon's room as you know, is located in a loft style room in our home. Off this room is an "attic closet." Attic closet you say to yourself - what is she talking about?? Well, I call it an attic closet because it is a room that sits off the loft with a door but kinda of reminds you of an attic space. Either way, when we bought the house they sold us on the fact that it was considered a third bedroom because of this closet space. It could have functioned as a great walk-in if this was the master.  The space was virtually a blank canvas except that we had begun to store items in this space. Since I haven't gotten around to creating a craft room, this place partially functioned as storage for my craft supplies. Our clothes in one section, comforters and bedding in another, and then the far back space functioned as storage for special items. Or things we didn't want to store in the basement. Since I am crazy about organization, I figured that we did not have enough storage in the nursery for extra blankets, extra clothes - basically all the extra stuff you need with a little one. I am a "prepper" so I like to have the next phase of stuff and the phase after if possible. In other words, I like having more than I probably need for this little guy.

So combining the fact that we were already storing things in the closet and the fact that we needed space for extras and a "real" closet to hang Little Man's stuff - I needed to design something that was both functional and absolutely adorable. Considering the nursery had set the bar kinda of high. The other challenge here - I wanted to reuse two bookshelves from the office that would be going to the basement to collect dust.

In my searches for nursery closets had seen a few posts where people had used Ikea shelves in there closets and from that the plan was derived. I figured I could make a closet out of the two shelves we had. I mean like a real closet with rods. Plus, I already had bins for each space. And they don't make the five bin shelves anymore, this has been replaced with the Kallax Shelf now. I think you could do the same with them. So I said goodbye to what I thought were going to be window seats w/ bookshelves below for the office/craft room. And hello to a closet!

What we used -

• 2 Ikea Expedit Shelves (Kallax replacement)
• 10 Drona Boxes 
• 2 Closet Rods 
• Drill
• Level
• Label Maker
• Cute Little Dividers
• Muscles (Hubbs)
• Shoe Shelves 

In a matter of 45 minutes we had the system together. And in a matter of a couple of hours, I had already washed up some stuff and started organizing the closet space. But the best part, we only had to spend $20 to create this closet for our Little Man. Yay!!!! I absolutely love when I re-purpose existing items and save money on a project. The only new items purchased were the closet rods and the cute little dividers. I got them at BuyBuyBaby with a 20% coupon. Score!

While the black bins don't match the rest of the nursery, I figured since the door to the closet will be closed they sort of function as two different spaces. Perhaps, I will get the urge to cover the bins with matching fabric from the nursery. But until, then I think not bad for our first Ikea hack!

Don't you agree you can never have enough storage? 

Nursery Fit for a Little Man

So buying a home wasn't the only thing that kept me away from the blogsphere for a while. Last August, Jay and I welcomed our first born - Jaxon. A healthy littleman, who weighed in at 9lbs 6oz. Yep, you read that correctly. No wonder, I felt like I was carrying such a load.

Upon discovering we were pregnant, my mind began wondering at the speed of lighting about designing a special space for my little person. At the time, I didn't know the sex of the baby and wasn't sure if we were going to find out. So many inspiration nurseries filled my searches daily. The one thing I knew for sure is that I was not repainting the color of the walls. I had just painted them a little over a 6 months ago, I pretty shade of gray. So my whole design element had to go around this color as one the main colors.

Early on I had thought about yellow and gray for either a boy or a girl. Then I came across different color schemes with gray and showed them to Jay. We both thought... we really need to know what we were having.

Photo Credit - This Is Our Bliss

We soon discovered that we were having a littleman. And then the races were on. That is the race to create the coolest nursery ever. Since I didn't want to impose on Jaxon a themed nursery. I mean afterall, he needed to experience the world a bit to discover his favorite cartoon hero or superhero. I knew I needed to create a lot of little elements that made the space grow with him.

We decided on a nursery with a color scheme of aquamarine, grey, white, and navy blue. We absolutely loved all these colors together. The way the color schemed got sealed was when I designed his bedding. After that we were hooked.

Don't you just love the way that looks. Cuteness meets modern Baby Boy nursery. BTW - Carousel Designs is the best place to order custom design linens for your child. They have a really neat design builder that lets you pick every detail from the piping on the comforter to the two tone detail of the crib skirt. They offer discounts a few times a year and pretty much come out in price to what you would pay for a store bought set.

The nursery was previously our office so we had to clear out the furniture. I began by drawing up a design board. I do that. I am sad to say, I couldn't find it for this post. I am sure I kept it. Oh well. We would be working with a few design road blocks. First, two large picture windows, an open spot that looks down into our great room, a ceiling that has various heights, and an open doorway to the steps. Oh and a TV that was mounted to the wall with the primary cable box and the WiFi stuff.

I knew right away that the crib would be placed where you see my craft table. And that the rocker and a side table would block the Router and other stuff. I knew I needed storage and a changing table. I figured a changing table between the two windows and a storage shelf on the wall looking down to the great room. (Sorry I have no before picture of that wall).

With the basic layout determined, it was now time to begin layering the space with the pieces, textures, and warmth it needed. I lucked up when my good friend gave me her crib, changing table, and rocker & ottoman. 😁 Yay! For good friends. This was such a blessing to us. I gave the crib & changing table a modern update by painting them both grey with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint  (Paris Grey). Once we moved them in to the room, it really began to take shape.

The nice thing about Carousel Designs, is that you can order curtains and additional fabric in the prints you select for the bedding. Since we chose Navy Blue, Aquamarine, and the Gray Embrace Print - I ordered navy and Gray Embrace fabric to use on the curtains. I decided to create a Pelmet Box for this room with two long panels on each side for both windows. The Pelmet Boxes were done in the Gray Embrace print and the panels were done in the Navy Blue print. The nice thing about this project is that it cost a little bit of nothing to make both. I made the Pelmet Boxes out of Foamboard, Duct Tape, and my Hot Glue Gun. I added some batting to give them a bit more substance, which I had on hand, and TaDa - I had two custom Pelmet Boxes. Considering that the windows were 62" wide, I know that was a considerable savings. In addition, I whipped out my sewing machine and made four basic curtain panels, using Shabby Creek Cottage's tutorial. I just didn't add the grommets. It was actually easy breezy. So all in all, I just had the cost of the fabric. I hung the panels on picture hooks (something else I had on hand) and clipped rings from Ikea. They are only $3.99 for a pack of Ten and it took 2 packs to hang the panels on both windows. I recommend them for hanging curtains with no tabs that will covered up. Or you could spray paint them to match any finish you need.

Next up was adding little bits of pizzazz. I had been crushing on handmade mobiles. And I came across the one seen below.

Photo Courtesy - evieandsarah.com

It was so cute and just what I was looking for - abstract! Check out the complete tutorial on how to make this. I followed the instructions to a tee and came up with one pretty incredible mobile. Only difference, I went to Michael's and was able to score a pack of paper that matched the nursery color scheme. Bonus - I used a 40% off coupon and got the pack for $5. What do you think? Pretty stinken cute isn't it.

With everything taking shape, I added a monogram to the wall. If you are wondering why I settled on a monogram over putting up his name - it is because we didn't tell anyone what we were going to name him until he arrived. Plus, I absolutely was fascinated with his initials. I purchased three wood letters from Hobby Lobby at 50%. So total was $7.00. And then I scored a deal on 12x12 canvas from Michaels. During their big Spring art sale. I purchased 10 sheets of scrapbook cardstock in various prints and solid colors but keeping to the color scheme. I used Modge Podge to adhere the cardstock to the letters and my exacto knife to trace the letters and remove the extra paper. Next, I added cardstock to the canvas with Modge Podge and then adhered the letters to the Canvas. So it created a 2D type monogram for the wall above his crib.

Oh I forgot to mention, I purchased a regular metal trashcan to convert into a laundry hamper and spray painted it the aquamarine color to match the scheme and then I sewed together a liner. I wanted it to have a cute little Grey Embrace border.

During my trip to Ikea for the curtain rings, I purchased a Kallax shelf to fix my need for storage. Along with 8 Drona Boxes. I had no intention of filling each bin with a Drona box but thought I should get at least 8, considering the color that matched the nursery was on clearance for $3.99 a box. That way I would have them should I need them in the future. In addition, I purchased an end table & lamp to sit next to the rocker.

For the final piece to complete the nursery, I made the inspiration piece. I followed This is Our Bliss' tutorial on how to make this. She even includes a download to the cute word art she has displayed on the board. I made a few minor differences. For one, I added some Ikea cups that I already had for storing little things. And I painted mine a crisp white to go with the grey walls. And I couldn't have been more thrilled with the way it turned out.

Jaxon has moved in and the room is functioning just I had thought. And I ❤ my LitteMan's Nursery.

Are you working on a nursery? Share with me your design for your little person's space.