Perfect Storage Solution
Even though we've been in our home for two years, we're still not completely settled, and one area of the house that troubled me for a long time was our dining room. We have one big wall and I had no idea what to do with it. A single sideboard seemed pricey while not filling the space and what I really needed was a lot of storage to accommodate the contents of Laurel's open bookcase (that was exploding with art supplies), and other platters and vases and things. I recently hit on the perfect storage solution and several visitors have since asked me for the specifics about our setup so I thought I would share it here.
What I especially love about this solution is that it's kid-friendly (perfect height, perfect depth!) but not kid-specific. I admittedly drag my heels when it comes to investing in furniture and have resisted buying Laurel kid-specific storage because I didn't like the permanence factor. So this system works beautifully because it is grown-up furniture that will last us but Laurel loves it because her stuff can live in a central, easy to access space. The height is perfect to create a sideboard/buffet space for when you're entertaining (and it proved the perfect area to lay out jewelry for Paige's Stella & Dot party) and otherwise we currently have a super minimal gallery type effect with one of my amazingly talented friend Heather's oil paintings at the center flanked by Laurel's art. (At some point we may put some pottery and/or framed pictures on top of the cabinets but I love how clean it is right now.) And the storage is the perfect depth to accommodate books, crafts, toys, vases, serving platters, etc.
For each two-door unit, you will need:
So, each unit was about $164 + tax. To create a wall to wall storage effect, we bought four units worth, and had just enough free inches to keep clear of our floor vent and accommodate a standing lamp.
Isn't that just beautiful? And I love that all of this stuff is living behind doors now. And the cleanness of the lines inspires me to keep the house tidier too.
Note: I hired a runner from Task Rabbit to pick up the bookcases for me. Actually, I needed to hire two runners because the stock numbers online were wrong and one item was not in stock as it said it was on the first run. But overall, it was still less expensive than IKEA shipping would be. Whether you go yourself or hire an errand runner, I recommend looking up the aisle and bin numbers for each item and -- more importantly -- noting the item number (last 8 digits of each URL). On the boxes, the item number is grouped in a 3/3/2 pattern (e.g., 200.747.78). These numbers are easily visible on IKEA boxes and will prevent confusion on pick up.