apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


#4 - Excellent Expedit

2008-03-30-contestheader.jpg 2008-04-02-expedit1.jpg

Name: Laura
Child's Name and Age: Gwen, 11 months
Location: Orem, Utah
Category: Toys

Items used for the project and favorite part of the storage solution:
I bought the Expedit bookshelf from Ikea. I added casters and painted the drawers with chalkboard
paint.

 
 

I love the chalkboard drawers! I can put the littler & uglier things in them.

2008-04-02-expedit2.jpg

Best storage tip for families with children:
I am just starting out with my own little family but my mom always taught me "A place for
everything, everything in its place."


2008-04-02-expedit3.jpg


Thanks for entering, Laura!

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Storage Solutions 2008 - entries

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Comments (7)

I love this entry... but I would be bias because we have a similar set up! It does a great job of making the room look clean as well it is easy for a little one to reach toys and put them back!! :)

We have the same bookshelf in chocolate brown with 2 white doors. In a few of the other spots I put collapsible cubes I found at target in their closet section. They have little handles on the front, fit perfectly, hide the "other stuff" and come in all colors!

Great Entry!! :)

posted by jjbear25 on April 2nd 2008 at 9:13am
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this is great! does anyone know if you can leave some of the cubbies out? i.e. take out one of the vertical dividers to make a wider cubby for bigger toys? (am i making sense?)

posted by selena on April 2nd 2008 at 9:15am
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Selena, I'm not sure about this size expedit, but I have the large version and was able to remove a few of the dividers to make room for a small TV. They might have changed the products, though, because I bought mine 11 years ago. Sadly, there is no IKEA anywhere near me now, which is a huge bummer.

posted by schnappycat on April 2nd 2008 at 10:02am
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yes, selena, you are making sense and i have the same dilemma. my daughter's favorite toys are her bulky fisher price playsets that are too tall and/or wide to go in bins or shelving like the expedit. does anyone have a solution for these things?

posted by robinp on April 2nd 2008 at 10:02am
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selena - we just got ours a month ago. As the shelf sits in the picture there are 3 vertical dividers (I'm not including the outside) Those are solid pieces. The Horizontal divider down the middle is acutely 4 pieces (if I remember the construction correctly) So technically you could take one of those out. I'm not sure what that would do or not do to the stabilization or safety. It is held together by pressure from the outside (like most Ikea products)

As a side note I know this piece can also stand vertically as we saw it at Ikea (we put it up horizontally also)

posted by jjbear25 on April 2nd 2008 at 2:17pm
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Years ago I took out a divider in the expedit for a client. I added a piece of birch ply, cut to size to the bottom to add stability (the expedit, like many IKEA products, is hollow in the middle and solid only at key support points) 10 years later the piece still holds his stereo components below and is a bench on top.

posted by Shalom on April 2nd 2008 at 5:34pm
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Ummm... get the mommy out of the photo. Kind of funny how she put herself in... and not the kid!

posted by jenzoe on April 29th 2008 at 3:03pm
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