Ikea Trip and some Projects

Yesterday my friend and I drove out to Ikea.  It's over an hour and half drive so we really meant business.  Ok I meant business and she came along to keep me company.  The trip really started last Saturday.  I went to a mother of twins sale with my girlfriends and left Dr. J in charge of getting the kids up.  When I got home a couple of hours later he said, "Look I know we are trying to save money and all but we have got to do something about the furniture situation.  We need shelves, a desk for the Captain E's room, some cubbies, some night stands for our room, and a dresser for Sweetie Petities' clothes.  I was trying to clean up but there is just no place to put things."  And the man is right.  We started out with nothing in a 300 square foot apartment, not even a bed to our name.  We've picked up some odds and ends here and there but we really don't own a ton of furniture.  Furniture cost money, something we rarely have any of :)


So this weekend we started major efforts at getting together a place to put things.  It started with a few runs to local furniture stores.  In the end I decided that I have zero interest in modern desks.  If I want particle board I'll just go to Walmart (Ashley Furniture I'm talking to you).  I'm now on the look out for a nice used secretary style desk for E's room.  It will more closely match the current style of furniture he has, it will be solid wood, and it will close so we can hide his crazy messes!

We also ended up with a miter saw and some wood to make shelves in the some of the closets.  Originally I was not completely on the miter saw train.  I was worried about someone cutting their fingers off and with the expense we'd have to lay out this month for the 1/4 of the cow we bought and the freezer we need to store it, I wasn't entirely happy about spending the money.  Then I said to Dr. J, "Wait does this mean we'll be able to frame the mirrors?"  "Heck yeah it does, and it will be a cinch," he said.  "Sold," I said.  I pinned that idea months ago and have been pining over ever since.

                                                                Source: impatientlyprayingforpatience.blogspot.com via Crystal on Pinterest

Then he said, "Well I guess people shouldn't be surprised when we give them picture frames for Christmas this year."  And then I said, "Double sold!"

                                                                    Source: landeeseelandeedo.com via Crystal on Pinterest

So now you know my dirty little secret.  If you want to buy power tools and you are my husband, tell me which of the projects I've be really wanting to do that you can now do with said tool.  When the miter saw got home Dr. J went straight to work on putting some shelves in E's closet.  I mean after all he does only get one day off a week.  A couple hours later E had three new shelves.  I plan on eventually painting them white but right now they are doing a stand up job of helping to hold shoes, games and toys that I confiscated off his dresser.  I also used the opportunity while he was at school today to clean off his dresser and bedroom shelf.  I threw away a bag of garbage and put some things on that middle shelf in the closet and for the first time in months he has a clean room.

I plan on painting that shelf in the corner, putting blinds in the window and then adding the desk.  

Something like this:

  or this 

Then I'll be done with his room.

The girls major problem is not having enough places to put their toys, which really when you consider they have two shelves and a toy box in their room borderlines on insanity.  They also have a problem with room for their shoes.  I bought this little white shelf for them to put shoes on but was so low to the ground the bottom shelf was pretty much worthless.  Often their closet is a total danger zone.  I took this picture after I'd cleaned about half of it up.  It is seriously scary.  To help them out I bought a trofast cubby at IKEA.  Dr. J is a fan because it is actually made out of wood.  I'm a huge fan because it is adorable.  I was also able to put the shoe shelf on top making the bottom shelf and the space under usable.  We plan to label the bins with pictures and words of what actually belongs there.  It was one of the main reasons I went to Ikea.

The other main reason was this Rast chest.  Before Dr. J had mentioned the night stands I'd been thinking about them.  We spend a lot of nights reading in bed and lamps on a night stand would be more convenient.  I also tend to be a horder of small things.  Usually I toss them on the floor by my beside.  You'll will often find my kindle, my phone, a couple of hair things, a book or three, and some headphones haphazardly tossed on the ground.  Seriously not me at my best.  Dr. J will have his laptop, a medical book or five, his phone, a few bills, etc.  We needed someplace to put this stuff that isn't so obvious or so messy.     I've looked at nightstands and haven't been overly impressed.  They are pretty expensive for not much bang.  Then I came across this IKEA hack.

                                                                        Source: acharmingnest.com via Crystal on Pinterest

Hello gorgeous, A Charming Nest is amazing!  And guess who now has the tools she needs to do this hack?  Yup, that's right, me!  So while I was at Ikea I picked up two of these little dressers and with a couple of days off, this gorgeous nightstand will be mine :)

While we were there we also looked for some spice racks.

                                                                 Source: ikeahackers.net via Crystal on Pinterest

But you know what, they don't have them.  They never have them.  Apparently when they come in, people come and clear them out.  When Erin was in Utah last week she went to Ikea there as well to see if she could get her hands on some.  The guy there told her that they sell out in just a few days because people buy them to spray paint and sell.  You know what I found out with a quick internet search yesterday, people don't even both to spray paint them.  They just put them up on ebay.  A four dollar shelf and a great idea have now become a money making cash cow for a select few who live close enough to get there fast and buy them out quick.  If you want one of these little shelves you can pay some person on ebay 13.99 plus $7.00 s/h.  Um I don't think so.  So that got me to thinking, why can't you just make them.  And if I thought of this, a person who has zero original ideas when it comes to crafting and projects them someone else must have as well.  A quick internet search and I found her.  Bless her heart she even gave you measurements.  So thanks to Adventures In Creating, I'll probably be making some of these little babies in the next few weeks.

And then as a final note to my project seeking mind I found this great site with all sorts of diy projects including a bunch of different ways to make a headboard with instructions and cost.  I predict a headboard may eventually be in my future.  I also suspect Dr. J may start to regret getting that new saw :)

Source: diynetwork.com via Crystal on Pinterest