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?
The burger portrait is still my favorite part, the whole room looks awesome though!
Molly
I love the Expedit series! I have the 5×5 grid in my craft room but I cut a few of the slats out when I put it together so I can store wrapping paper on tension rods. I wish I had a picture posted. It’s awesome sauce.
The one thing that I always forget and always disappoints me is IKEA’s “white” finish. Maybe the Swedes have seen too much dirty snow to remember what white really is…
This looks so great! I love those bookcases from Ikea and have been dying for an excuse to use them in my own home – no luck yet. The room is coming together so nicely!
That looks incredible!! Love me some Ikea. We’re cheap (plus most of our furniture is from our post-college single/poor days and we moved a lot) so pretty much everything we own is Ikea. Besides living basically down the street from Ikea Woodbridge is rather dangerous. :)
Love those bike prints! Great score!! You’ve inspired me to check out the hangings in shops to see if I can get a score of my own. ;)
I love these bookcases. We put legs on ours (we use the capita legs for base kitchen cabinets), it really elevates the look. I was just in Ikea today and saw something I loved that I hadn’t seen before – the Stockholm TV bench in golden brown
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/10103795/
So pretty!
xo
s
Hi guys! A random question – I know that you are all “use what you got” people, which I love. But, why a day bed vs. a couch? I’ve never owned one, so I am completely unfamiliar with using them as part of my furniture arrangement. I guess I always associate them with NYC studio apartments. Is at as functional as a couch? I ask because it seems much deeper than a typical couch seat. Do guests ever sleep out there? I’m just very intrigued and would love to learn why you guys picked out and have stuck with your sofa bed. Thanks!
I think we just had two in our first sunroom and lounged on them all the time (we already own it and it’s comfy and works really well in a sunroom). No one sleeps on this one, but we brought the other one into the house in Clara’s big girl room so she’ll sleep on it someday! Wahoo, I can’t wait.
xo
s
Love it! How on earth do you keep Clara off of the knick-knacks? My son would have all that on the ground in 30 seconds!
It’s just books and not-breakables and her own toys, so she seems to go for her own toys and occasionally reads a design book which cracks me up! Haha!
xo
s
We recently added the Besta storage combination to our den/office space, and I’m really happy with it. It’s a little more expensive with the doors and all, but it’s such a clean look with so many design options….and it’s one of those items that’s a lower price now at IKEA, so that works!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39896696/
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
L.O.V.E. Expedit. And the sunroom makeover. And everything else. We’re looking forward to seeing you in Portlandia next week! My little Peanut (almost two) loves Miss Clara and we have to watch her videos x10 every time you post. Good thing Clara is so cute. We also have a little DIYer on our hands!
Hi for the last couple of days I can’t read any of the text on your site because the habitat for humanity logos are everywhere covering the text. Perhaps you already know this? Perhaps just a problem on iPads ?
Oh yes, it’s a smart phone glitch. If you clear your cache/cookies/data it should clear up! Wish we could do something on our end to fix it :)
xo
s
we have two expedits in our house and we LOVE them and use the heck out of them! they work hard in our home. looks great, guys!
Boxes are the best part. And ha, I’m loving all of the bike stuff! John is a true fan.
I like gray in general. In fact, my living room is light gray. I really like the pop of colors on the book case. But overall I think there’s an overwhelming gray in the room, making it feels a bit too cold.
Today I finished making a shelf of sorts… I used spare pine from Home Depot and built a bathtub caddy… for only $6.00!
That’s awesome Jon! Congrats!
xo
s
I love your blog and visit almost every day. I, however have a complaint. Do you realize there are only 35 ikea stores in the US and they are only on 12 states? Only 15% of the population live within an hours drive to ikea.and ikea doesn’t have online shopping unless you live in a city with an ikea. It is so disappointing that so many blogs rely on ikea products there by leaving the rest of us out.
So sorry Jane! We drive four hours round trip to get to our Ikea, so it’s certainly not close and we do it very sparingly – maybe once or twice a year?! You can also get Ikea stuff on craigslist as we mentioned in this post (as well as order it online from them for some products) so I hope that helps!
xo
s
Hi Sherry,
I was curious about the daybed in the sunroom. Where did you get that? Is it full or queen size? So, do you use this room as a guest room sometimes, since it has a bed?
It’s a twin sized mattress on the daybed. It’s just a cozy way to lounge, so we got it for our first house’s sunroom and loved it there (no one sleeps out there, it’s just fun for sprawling out and reading on, since it’s much deeper than a sofa, so we can both lie on it next to each other and read).
xo
s
Does Clara have John’s feet? I just noticed in one of the pictures she also has some space between her toes and this was mentioned about John in the Christmas posts as well.
Looks good the sunroon, makes we want to have one too!
She seems to have my feet for the most part except with longer toes since she’s the tall one. So there no space when she’s sitting on the couch and stuff, it’s just sometimes there when she’s in motion, etc (in which case I have one too because I think the way a foot flexes we all get one – haha!).
xo
s
Sigh…I really can’t get behind that gray. It makes the whole room look like a dungeon. I think maybe a gray on the ceiling, and a yellow on the walls would have worked better.
Not surprised that Clara’s favorite part is the box! My youngest cried when I finally put ours into the recycling bin. I have the same bookcase, and on my list is a plan to make a pillow for the top of it, so that it can double as a bench.
I can’t believe it is the same room! I want to do our sun room this summer, and this is very inspriring. I was debating painting the brick on the house, this kind of clinches it. Cool.
Random question, where did you get Clara’s PJ’s??? My Maiden name was Fox and I love all things Fox! Must have!
Old Navy! Love those things.
xo
s
Looks so good! You always inspire me to get crackin’! That daybed is dreamy! What’s the 411 on it?
Thanks! That’s from West Elm a while back. It used to live in our first house’s sunroom too. Very comfy.
xo
s
As a fellow Richmonder, I would love to know if you have any tips for getting to Ikea stress free! The Northern Virginia traffic is awful! Btw, I saw your book at U-fab and your fabrics are right in front when you walk in! So, much love from them for you guys!
No way! That’s so cool! As for Ikea, we try to go at off hours, (usually if you go there by around 10am – no earlier – and leave by about 2:30/3 – no later – you can usually miss rush hour craziness. If you can’t leave by 3, we try to stay around until 7pm or so to miss the rush be leaving after it’s over instead of before it.
xo
s
Just out of curiosity, what are some of the design books that you guys love?
We should do a post on that! We did one a while back (search “Lucky Seven” on our search bar) but need to update it!
xo
s
Hello,
Everything is so pretty and innovative. Where did you get the rug from? I am from India and my parents have some just like this but I am not sure where to get them here, in the US.
Thanks SD! The rug is from World Market a while ago! Hope it helps.
xo
s
Seeing that bookcase really helps with the scale of the room for me (because compared to our tiny, English houses you guys have so much more space!) as we have it in our lounge. Above ours we have 4 of our favourite Vinyl Records covers, to kind of mimic the 4 openings in a row. Ours acts as heavy duty record and dvd storage, so it’s nice to see one used differently – they’re so versatile!
It looks like a really cosy space in there now :-)
I love this room and how cheaply you managed to do it! I found your blog through Trusty Chucks blog and I love it, I am trying to sort our house out so I am now following you on bloglovin and will be reading through some posts to get some inspiration :)
Janine xx
BakeGlueandTrend
Aw thanks Janine!
xo
s
I’m surprised you didn’t buy the shelving from Target! They have one very similar (and a little cheaper). I have one in our spare room with canvas totes. LOVE it and they are so easy to put together.
Great tip!
xo
s
I recently purchased an Ikea crib on Craig’s List for half the price of a new one (to use when our grand daughter sleeps over). It was partially assembled as a toddler bed so we had to get some of those little wooden pegs out and were having trouble. They were really stuck! I went online and found a solution: Use a blow dryer on hot for a bit…this dries out and shrinks the peg and the wood around it. Voila!!!…the pegs slipped right out.
No way! So smart!
xo
s
LOVE the EXPEDIT line, I just put the 4×4 cubby one together for my daughter’s playroom, the cubbies are the perfect size for Barbies/Monster High doll rooms ;)
It looks fantastic! So crisp, clean and fresh! I love it.
Thanks so much for referring Chop Suey books! They were so lovely and accommodating. I just ordered my fabulous “signed” copy of the book and I am so thrilled. I live in California and cannot wait to read it. You all are the best and I so enjoy your blog! Thanks for all you do!
Happy New Year!
Aw that’s so sweet! I’m so glad Dayna! They’re such nice folks there.
xo
s
Hey- can’t believe how different this room looks already! Here’s a question for ya because I know you guys have had these in rooms in both your last and current home: do people (you or guests) really sit on floor pillows? They are cute but wondering if they really get used…
Xx
We’re weirdos, so yes! Haha. We’ve played many heated games of scrabble on floor pillows at that little square table. It got tons of use in our first house’s sunroom!
xo
s
The room looks fantastic! I think you’ve given me a great idea for my office/walk in. I’m going to get one of those ikea units in black, my shoes in baskets in it and make a cushion for the top and use it like a bench! :)
Clara is so lucky to have you guys, not just cause of your overall awesomeness but think how much she’s learning. She’s going to be a super fab independent lady who can fix just about anything better then a silly boy (no offence John :) ) I always appreciate the handy things that my dad has taught me over the years :)
John- Found this and think that you need to have Sherry make you a pillow out of it: http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/mary_lake/everyday_favorites/cruiser_in_yellow
Ahh, it’s so cute! I’d gladly whip out the sewing machine for that!
xo
s
Thanks for the tip about Chop Suey. Mongrel was out last time I checked and I am glad I got to support a local business!
So glad!
xo
s
Absolutely Gorgeous sums it up. I do have one question though – is the bike art (two pictures) Ikea?
Thanks
Those are actually posters that were displayed in The Gap (we begged for them when they were done with them).
xo
s
Love the framed bike art. Where did you find those prints? Thanks.
They were displayed in Gap and we begged for them when they were done with the store display!
xo,
s
So cool. My wife and I made a buffet by adding a hardwood top and matching ‘x’ shelves. Here is the DIY post:
http://www.foxandhammer.com/diy/ikea-hack-buffet/
Looks awesome! I love that wood top!
xo
s
I have been Google-image-stalking the white Expedit for months and was so excited to go get it today for my one year old daughter’s playroom, but when I got to the store I was very surprised that the color looked a bit like the “before” shot in a tooth whitening commercial. I was expecting the “after.” Am I being too matchy-matchy and anal worrying that it will look weird with other whiter-white elements like trim and doors and furniture? Once you have it in the space, does it just blend with the other tones of white? It looks so WHITE in all the pictures online!
Ours seems to blend well with white (we had white white molding in the sunroom, and now that it’s in our office we have a white West Elm desk that seems to only be a shade lighter which is hardly noticeable (I’m staring hard at them right now due to your question and it’s the only reason I’ve noticed a difference). I’d say to go for it and once you load it up with stuff, some things will be whiter and some will be darker and it’ll hopefully layer right in.
xo
s