apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Just decide on a height that will be comfortable for you, and then search for something that is the right height. The "right height" is very subjective -- 36" may or may not be ideal for you.

I'd check in vintage stores for something, and have it painted a glossy white or ivory.

We used a Hemnes 3 drawer chest from Ikea with a countoured changing pad from Babies r us on top. Plenty of space for changing supplies too.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20067829

Perfect height for both husband (6'1") and me (5'6").

The drawers are spacious and the top 2 hold all his current clothes. Clothes to grow into and all the other stuff that accumulates fit in the deeper bottom drawer.

I really like this one from BRU:

http://tinyurl.com/5mcvq8

Clean lines, great quality and an excellent price. And, it comes assembled!

My parents had an old desk at their house that I just painted and it works perfect. Just strap on the changing pad and there is room for some supplies as well. I can send you a picture if you would like!

I bought an Ikea Hemnes 8-drawer from Craigslist to use for this very purpose... but the baby isn't born yet so I don't know how comfortable it is going to be to use for changing!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00067830

We have a Pottery Barn Kids extra-wide Kendall dresser (nearly identical to the Land of Nod one shown above) and I couldn't be any happier. We got the changing table topper as well, and so when we're done w/ the diapers, we'll have a great dresser for our peanut. It has a ton of storage space, too.

The Good Will or Salvation Army in our town always has nice, heavy duty dressers for a good price. We were on our way to find one before our son was born and saw one in someone's yard with a "FREE" sign on it. We gave it two coats of non-toxic paint and it has worked great. It's surprising how much better some paint can make an ugly dresser look great.

Just a note about the IKEA Malm: we have some of the 3-drawer units that we are re-purposing for the nursery and planned to use as a changing table. However these drawer units actually tip over if the drawer contents are too heavy and the drawer is pulled out too far. The solution is to ensure that the unit is secured to the wall. This became an issue for us because we cannot secure them against a wall (slanted ceilings too low for my tall husband to use a changing table against the wall). Please be careful with these units.

Yay for Ikea Hemnes! We just got an 8 drawer Hemnes, and it is fantastic. So much storage for a great price, and it's very very sturdy. My girl is a toddler, too be changed up so high, but were she a baby it would be perfect.

LOVE love love my IKEA Hemnes 3 drawer chests!! I used them in both my girls nurseries and just changed the knobs to make them a little different. I too used a contoured changing pad on top from BRU and used a piece of foam pad shelf liner to prevent the pad from slipping. The height is perfect for my husband 6'4 and myself 5'7 and you can't beat the price!!

We bought antique and vintage dressers for each of our sons. If you give yourself enough time, you can find wonderful pieces. I think we spent $400 and $300, respectively. They work(ed) perfectly as change tables with the addition of conventional change pads, and will transition beautifully into "big kid" rooms. And if the kids get tired of them, my husband and I will gladly take them!

I just finished my dresser/ changing table project this past weekend and it turned out fantastic! I found an old and down right ugly dresser at Habitat for Humanity Re-store for $65. Sanded it all down, filled in the holes and chipped veneer and added a few coats of paint. Even the hardware sparkled after a good cleaning with steel wool. It's great to recycle a perfectly usable piece of furniture and customize it to your style. One warning though...prepare yourself for a killer backache the next day if you happen to be 7 months pregnant like me!;)

check out the final result here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26316357@N03/2474523729/in/set-72157604943027453/

We've also used the Ikea Hemnes 8-drawer and put our own store bought changing pad on top. The dresser holds so much. We use two of the top drawers for diapers so they're always easily within reach, allowing me to keep one hand on my daughter while getting supplies with the other hand.
It's also great that it is such a long dresser. My daughter (16 months) is very squirmy during diaper changes, and I can't imagine having a true "diaper changing station" that is much shorter. She'd squirm right off, or her legs would be hanging over the edge (or her head in the other direction).
I'm 5' 2", and my only complaint is that it's a bit high for me and lifting my daughter takes a bit more muscle. Otherwise we're very happy with it, and it'll look nice as just a dresser when she no longer wears diapers.

ookimoo, the dresser looks phenomenal! I love your colour choices. And did you say that was the original hardware? Awesome.

I love the map wall, too. And you're going to keep the cat on the ladder, right? ;)

We found an antique wash stand that we're going to use as a changing table. It's the perfect height and as an added bonus we'll be able to use it as a small dresser when the baby no longer needs a changing table (it has three drawers). Right now I'm using it as a night-stand in our bedroom until we get the nursery set up.