We’re trying to redo the sunroom on a budget using as much that we already have as we can (since we have other projects like Clara’s big girl room, a guest bathroom, and a porch & carport overhaul that we’re saving our pennies for). But there’s a delicate balance between function and saving money. Sometimes you can use 100% of what you already have and achieve 70% function in a room, or you can spend a little money along with using 90% of the things you already have and end up with 100% function. So as you might guess, we’re going for 100% function on a small budget.
So far all we’ve bought is one gallon of paint for the walls & ceiling of the sunroom and everything else has been furniture, accessories, and art that we already have (except for these $7 frames we built here). But the time recently came to buy one more thing. The room needs storage, so instead of adding more seating or another table that we already have, we decided that a bookcase with eight whole grids of storage space was the way to go.
And thanks to Ikea’s not-too-bad prices, we scored this bad boy for $69. It’s this one (in the “white” finish, since the “gloss white” one was $20 more) and John and Clara had some bonding time on Saturday morning putting it together.
Looks like we have a little DIY lover on our hands…
As for how long it took to assemble, it wasn’t too bad. Maybe half an hour? Here it is all put together in the sunroom:
We opted to store items that would be the most functional for us, so it just made sense to use it to store board games, books, and a few toys for Clara since she plays in there sometimes and we play the occasional board game at the table in front of the daybed. And as for the books… well… we just love storing books in bookcases. Ha. And while there are some on the built-ins in our dining room, those are actually really narrow shelves, so our bigger design books don’t fit up there. Now those can live here in the sunroom. Cha-ching.
As for the things on top, I just thought adding color with some vases that John got me for Mother’s Day last year and tossing down a secondhand bike that Clara picked out a few years back would be fun. Does two pieces of bike art + a 3D bike = the bike trifecta? I think it does for John. Also, he’s wearing a bike shirt in this post. He’s gone off the deep end guys.
So here’s where the room is now:
And as for a little budget breakdown, everything in here was already owned except for the paint on the walls, those $7 frames, and this new bookcase, so we’ve spent under $135 to upgrade a room that used to look like this:
But we still have an empty corner to attend to, as well as adding some finishing touches to help polish things off (for example, that wooden side table still feels a little unbalanced to us, but we have a plan). You know we’ll keep you posted!
What Ikea furniture are you guys assembling these days? Or are you hunting things down on Craigslist? One tip: before you buy anything from Ikea, check if it’s on Craigslist (in this case the right size/color wasn’t available, but sometimes it is and you can save some money). Are you building bookcases instead? We thought about building something, but for this much chunky wood, it actually would have been more than $69! Hootie hoo for affordable shortcuts.
Oh and before I stop rambling, guess what Clara’s favorite part is?
Yup, the box. Who’s surprised?
I love the expedit bookcases…they are clean and simple. The sun room is really coming together nicely.
We are IN LOVE with our Expedit shelving. It’s been great in our family room with cute baskets to hide our son’s myriad of toys. :)
Looks awesome! (But could you DIY a floor pillow? The one you have there looks a bit like a pillow in a sham.)
Oh yes, just tossed what we had on the floor. As we mentioned we still have a lot of finishing touches to attend to :)
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Just to reiterate — it looks fantastic. Not trying to criticize. I love your style and your work-with-whatcha-got attitude.
Oh yes, no worries Julie! We didn’t think it was criticism at all. We can’t wait to get to that! Haha.
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We went to Ikea sooooo many times when we moved into our flat last year (it was our first unfurnished rental so we needed lots of furniture pretty quick smart) so he banned any more trips for a while…. so I just got friends to pick me up things when they went! The most recent was a tiddly chest of drawers to sort out our bedroom storage disaster: http://www.annabelvita.com/2012/10/25/rast-saves-the-day/
I love expedits, they’re so versatile and I love that they’re finished on every side so you can move them around and even turn them on their end.
So cute! Love the rast!
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Rast is awesome! We stained ours, and it actually looks pretty high end now. It’s in my office to corral all my office supplies.
The sunroom is really coming along! It’s looking so cozy and inviting, I kind of want to curl up with a book in there. :-)
Yay! Check off the Clara-love on the sunroom list! Sherry = pillows. John = bike candy. Clara = toys and game! Burger = whatchagonnado, whatchagonnado when he comes for you?
I just bought put together two large pieces of IKEA furniture – a Besta TV bench and a Malm desk, both in that same white finish. That quote about IKEA furniture from “New Girl” is now a classic in my book now: “It’s like high-stakes Legos!” So much fun!
Haha!
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Hm, obviously my comment that I just typed is more of a stream of thought with no editing. The proof-editor chick in me is now going ballistic with the errors. Sorry, after the third error I had to speak up… oh well, it’s not a big deal.
Haha, no worries! I do it all the time!
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I love Ikea! We’re planning on making a trip this weekend! Last weekend we assembled and “installed” a third bookcase (similar to the Billy bookcases from Ikea) in our living room to create a faux built in look. Our cats favorite part was the box too!
Oh, we also used the no-tip brackets y’all recommend and are a big fan so far!
So glad! They’re great, right?
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I love Expedit! They’re so versatile! We created an entire built in desk space in our tiny office around them (inspired by your desk, of course) and we love it! There’s so much storage!
Such a cool idea!
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Oh girl, we’ve been IKEA-ing our asses off around here lately. 2 Trips in the last month. The most recent we went pretty much exclusively for shoe storage and lights, but over Christmas Nate built me a whole new jewelry studio! It’s absolutely beautiful and I’m getting so much use out of it. I love how Ikea makes things in so many sizes so you can basically customize an area of your home- http://bit.ly/YbvzZl
I hope you like it! I know I do!
Adorable! Such a cozy little spot.
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Wow, $135 is kind of amazing. Nice job! What happened to the PB rug? That isn’t it in the pics is it? I bet if you added another piece or two of wood in the room that side table would fit right in! I love the contrast it provides!
Oh yes, we have a post about that for you soon. We’ve had a few rug switcheroos around here!
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Love it! I would totally hang in there, it’s so bright and airy. Great job!
Bike trifecta? I’d call it a “trike-fecta”. (Sorry, I can’t resist a pun and the worse they are, the more I like ’em!)
Hahahahahahaa. You win.
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Love the Expedit series! It looks great in the sunroom and function is always good! We have the small white cube expedit in our home as well as an expedit entertainment center the they stopped making last year. They are definitely functional for the small amount of moola they cost.
When all is said and done can we have a panoramic viewing of the sunroom?
Oh yes, we’ll definitely hook you up with way more photos. It’s a hard room to shoot because of all the sun/shadows but we’ll make it happen!
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Expedit! They are the best ever! Looks perfect in the sunroom.
I’m so happy you guys bought the expedit book case because I have one and I always felt weird about what I put in the cubbies because it looked weird. Now I have a great example on how to dress them thanks to you guys!
Aw, you’re welcome Cora!
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Looking awesome!! I know you said you have some finishing touches, but have you guys thought about stringing some globe lights?
That would be fun!
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I’ve got to get myself to an Ikea!! The sunroom looks awesome btw :)
Oh that looks so fresh and cozy. I love that you guys worked with what you had. I may need to get my daughter one of those 8-cube storage things when we move her up to “big girl room” status. We’re going to DIY this bed from Ana White (love her): http://ana-white.com/2012/02/plans/daybed except we’re tweaking it to twin size and may only do head/foot board rather than daybed. It will be posted on the blog whenever it’s done! I think the cube-y storage thingy would look good with the geometric bed.
That’s going to be so cute! Definitely send a link when you get ‘er done!
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Looking good! My mom and dad were big time diy-ers, and I’m so thankful for what they taught me. I have no doubt Clara will follow in your footsteps.
Can you tell me about the orange on white pillow in the back right corner of the day bed?
That’s from HomeGoods and I think ZGallery sells it too!
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I’m kinda shocked you bought new. I shark Craigslist for Ikea stuff like expedits. Those are like clist essentials.
Looks good in the space though.
Oh yes, check out the post. I called that out (I stalked CL but couldn’t get the right color and size since there are so many options!).
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Oh dear. #readerfail. !
Haha, no worries!
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i’ve always loved the expedit bookcase. like another commenter said, it’s clean and simple…and affordable! i recently decided i need to pick one up for my sons’ room to replace another bookcase i’ve been using in between their beds. the expedit will help to break up the wall a bit (i’m going to use it vertically) and give them a ton more storage for their tablets, headphones, video game controllers, etc.
Didn’t you guys have the same one in the basement of your old house? Did that one stay with the house or get sold when you moved?
That one was different (the standing one with the desk attached) but similar! We conveyed that (sold it with the house) so that’s still there.
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Um. We LOVE putting together Ikea furniture. Love it! When we were building our built-ins that consist of 7 bookcases, Chris and I would race to see who could get one together the fastest–we were clocked under 5 minutes.
http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/11/the-reveal-family-room-before-and-afters.html
And it was similar when we built our fauxdenza.
http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/09/our-styled-credenza-industrial-chic.html
Can’t get enough of the thrill. (Officially pathetic. Hahaha.)
Haha, that’s hilarious and adorable.
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The sunroom is really turning out great. No surprise there.
We moved to Germany into a flat with ZERO storage so we bought a HUGE Pax/Komplement closet system for our master bedroom. It wasn’t cheap but worth every penny as we have room for everything plus some breathing room. It was a sound investment.
I really miss my closet space from the good ole US of A
That sounds awesome!
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We have three expedit bookshelves. We love them. One is used to store all of our son’s diapers, burp cloths, next size up clothing, bath stuff, and yes, even books.
Popping in to share the IKEA love! I could spend a whole day there…99 cents for breakfast, browse around the life-sized doll houses, back for delicious meatballs for lunch, roll around in the fabrics, and then a soft serve for dessert on my way out.
Oh, and thanks for preaching the Bible of “live with it for a bit.” I just moved into a new house and while I’m tempted to CHANGE ALL THE THINGS I’m taking a page from your book and stopping to decide what I really want, save my pennies, and only buy things that I really love.
Haha, oh yes, the temptation to CHANGE ALL THE THINGS is strong! So glad you’re living with it and buying stuff you love :)
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My husband just started his Doctorate and we are expecting identical twin boys in June….So we added two of those IKEA pieces to our finished basement to make an office since he is getting kicked out of the guest room that will quickly become a nursery. We used the birch expedite (sp) as a new place for a tv and then the tall work station version next to it for all of his studies :)
Sounds so charming!
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I absolutely love all the bright splashes of color in the room! Looks great!
It’s pretty much a given that Clara will be a DIY lover, isn’t it? :)
Also – the room looks fantastic! It just keeps getting better! Are you thinking about some sort of table&chairs situation in that empty corner?
We’re not sure since we have a lot of seating with the chair and the daybed, but we’ll have to see what works in that corner. The big windows are awesome but they also sort of limit what can go where. Haha!
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I think something like a great arts and crafts desk would be great. There’s so much light in there, so an artist’s studio would be ideal, it seems!
That would be fun!
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This room looks so awesome now!! When you first painted I remember thinking, that’s pretty good, but didn’t think it was so amazing (I really kind of like the look of brick) but now when I see the before pics and how it is now it just reminds me how it wasn’t so great as I was thinking it was, haha! Great job!
Thanks Rachael!
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That shelving unit looks perfect there! Great choice. Love the color scheme you’ve got going on, too.
My 3 boys ages 2,4,6 helped me to put an Expedit together for their playroom last week while my husband was at work. They had so much fun with it.
Haha, that’s awesome!
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Where are the baskets from that you have on the bottom shelves? The room looks great!
Those are from Michael’s a while ago (they do 50% off basket sales all the time in that aisle!).
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You can’t beat an Ikea bookcase in my opinion. I’m check craigslist everyday and looking at the Ikea catalog because i want to redo my mother’s house. She’s had some rough times lately and I think I bit or organization and refreshing would help her have a new perspective…literally
Aw that’s so sweet! Lots of love to you and your mom!
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I love the Expedit! We use them for closet/office storage and toy organization. We use a white one for toys and the finish has held up well!
The Expedit is my most-favoritist piece in the world. We have three of them in our house.
Putting them together? That’s a whole other story…
Haha. A kid’s favorite toy is always the box. Why do we even spend money on the things inside the box for them? Anyways, love the update, however I am still drooling over the bike artwork. I haven’t been to Ikea in a while (it’s a three hour drive for me) but I am so antsy so go!
The room is coming together beautifully! I wish I could find the bike posters for my bike activist husband – he would love them, but I don’t see them listed on the website John linked.
We are currently giving our kitchen a “freshening” up – we’re at a different stage of life – one child through college but one left to pay for – so a total remodel of the kitchen is not in the cards. What we are attempting is to replace the nonfunctional cabinets in our peninsula with rubric stainless steel cabinets from Ikea and then replace the doors and reface the other cabinets. We found a website to order real wood – maple – doors that are less expensive than Ikea’s doors. They come unfinished but hubby is going to finish them in salad bowl oil that is zero VOC. I’ve got my eye on your white corian countertops and your penny tile backsplash – thanks for the inspiration!
LOVE my expedit! When I re-did my room (it was a converted one-car-garage shape, long and skinny, with angular cielings that were only about 6 ft tall on the short end…) I needed a new book case, and I purchased a Billy, realized it was too tall and did NOTHING to split up the room, went back and came home with an expedit in the birch color. So, I used it to go down the center of my room horizontally, and section it into a “bedroom” area and a “seating” area, and put the TV on top of the expedit so that I could see it from both areas simply by turnging it -perfection! And even better, it has room for 2 rows of books, so I could put books facing out on both sides. It looked SO nice that I was actually sad about having to dismantle the set-up to move into my first apartment. Now it’s our TV stand in our living room. My roommate is super lucky and got a free sectional, so the L wraps right around it perfectly. It holds most of my books and all of our DVDS. Couldn’t ask for a better, more useful piece of furniture, and so CHEAP!
That’s awesome!
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I love those Ikea book cases, we used ours as a buffet in our dining room – so versatile! Great job on scoring the free bike pics too, I’ll be stalking my local Gap to see if they have any graphic posters I can poach!
Coincidence that the bike trifecta falls on the day of the Lance Armstrong confession interview?
Hahah, total accident!
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The room looks great! Seeing the shelf laid on its back behind the Clara/box picture made me want to make a huge coffee table with a hinged lid + added backing+ legs. Hmmm…
Ooh that would be hot!
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We are in LOVE with expedits. We just re-did our basement (in 6 days I might add..) and have a few expedits down there.
Here’s the post: http://bit.ly/Vqt3eb
We’re planning on doing our closet next with the tall skinny expedits!
Ooh!
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Could you believe that I have NEVER been to an Ikea!? NEVER! We just don’t have one that is close to where we live, unfortunately. I’ve never been to a HomeGoods or World Market, either. My wallet is probably for the better because of that, haha!
That’s crazy! You’d be like a kid in a candy shop!
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Looks great! I have that same bookcase in my son’s nursery. Well, it’s the gloss white one because grandma “splurged”!
We have the same expedit in our living room and I LOVE it. It’s been such a life saver when it comes to storage, and you really can’t beat that price! You can check it out here (with all our Christmas decor http://www.popcornonthestove.com/2012/12/theres-no-place-like-home-for-the-holidays/)
Looks awesome Kristen!
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I’m loving the color scheme you have going on! I want to hang out in there!
The sunroom looks great!
I have my eye on a couple of Expedits, too. I found an idea on Pinterest to make them into benches. I’m going to put them in the playroom. I picked up a gateleg table from Ikea the other day. It will fit perfect in a small hallway we have, and folds out for extra seating when we have people over. Currently it is sitting in the box and I’m trying to decide if I am brave enough to put it together or if I should wait until my husband gets home and let him handle it.
That tiny bike is just precious!!
The room looks wonderful – soft and inviting (if that makes any sense). Great for curling up with a warm cup of tea under a cozy blanky and a good book. :-D
Love it all :)