Well hey there! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. We’ve been busy around here just trying to get this place organized once and for all! Maybe by the end of 2012 I’ll feel like everything is in it’s place.
Last week I showed you my 7 year old daughters room makeover progress. I had just hung some floating shelves (IKEA Lack shelves) above a little sofa table. Eventually this area will be for all her jewelry, (play) makeup, nick-knacks, and desk area.
Unfortunately, all this switching around in her room has left quite a huge mess of toys on her floor.
The solution?
Another trip to IKEA.
This time for IKEA Expedit Shelves.
I decided to go with two of the 2×4 squares Expedit shelves.
I wanted to have a lower shelf that K could reach the top of to act as a table top, but I also wanted one that was taller to maximize the amount of storage she has. The solution was two shelves, one placed horizontally and one placed vertically.
And just as a quick tip, if you are going to be putting together IKEA furniture it is MUCH EASIER if you purchase a Hex Bit Tip set for your electric drill from the hardware store instead of using the manual “Z” shaped Hex bit that comes with the furniture.
I also decided to splurge and get her four IKEA Knipsa baskets. They had cheaper baskets, but I really love the look of these and feel that the overall look of her room will benefit from them (once I finish the room).
The Knipsa baskets are $16.99 per basket, so I could only justify four at the time. Eventually I plan on snagging a few more of these baskets before all is said and done.
Want a closer look at how I’ve sorted out her toys? This is by no means finished or final. Her room is still VERY MUCH a work-in-progress.
On the tall shelf, one of her new baskets holds all her baby doll stuff, while the other is her new barbie doll storage.
The wide shelf holds her music (she LOVES music)…
…and all her American Girl stuff…
I’m really torn on her huge pink Disney Princess framed poster (on top of the shelf). On the one hand she likes it. A lot. In fact, she’s totally in love with Belle.
But on the other hand, it REALLY is NOT the look I’m trying to obtain while decorating her room. I’ve been planning on hanging the poster above these new shelves, but I just can’t stomach it! I am NOT a Disney Princess type of person. In fact, I am opposed to pretty much any character decor of any type.
She loves the poster though, so I will probably end up sucking it up and hanging it for her (I mean, it is her room after all!).
Here’s what her room looks like with her new Lack floating shelves and Expedit shelves.
And from the hall when you are walking into her room, this is what you now see….
Instead of this huge disaster: 😉
Ah, much better already!
My next big goal with her room is to get her a new bed.
(If you want to know why you can read all about it in this post.)
I know this isn’t as exciting as a huge “reveal” and before and afters. But at the rate I get things done around here (really slow) if I waited until her room was finished to blog about it, I’d probably never blog ever again. lol
I figure I’ll just share the progress of my house as I go along the way. This is real life after all, and in real life, things don’t move as quickly as they do on a 30 minute reality show.
One last thing I want to mention…
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I was Belle at a kid birthday party last year 🙂 ha! Holla at me if you need one… I still have my yellow dress!
It looks really cute! I feel the same way you do about the character decorations. I also don’t care for character clothes. My mother-in-law put together a 2×3 Mickey Mouse puzzle, glued it together and put it in a poster frame and gave it to my son. That thing is huge so there is no hiding it. Framed puzzles are NOT home decor, but she seems to think otherwise because she has them in her own home. I waited a long time before I finally hung that darn Mickey up. I used those 3M removable hangers so I can take it down anytime I want and no holes in my walls. Maybe you could give those a try?
Love the Expedit shelves! My husband has them in his Man Cave!!
As for the Princess poster — just think that it COULD be a lot worse. She’s not asking for Disney princess bedding (character themed bedding makes me itch — UNLESS it’s from Pottery Barn Kids). And she loves Belle — who everyone knows is the smartest of the Disney princesses (she loves to read, afterall!) unlike, say, Aurora! 😉
Love her bedroom makeover!!! 🙂
I love the new organization. I was just at Ikea – love!! I am trying to decide on some shelves too. Saw those baskets that you picked up. They do look great…wish they were cheaper. I totally feel you on the Disney princess thing. Ah well, I think you are making a good compromise 😉
Definitely second the vote for the hex driver bit for assembling the Expedit shelves. The other thing that’s well worth doing is smearing a little Elmer’s Carpenter’s Glue on each of the dowels to really lock it all together. You hafta move kinda quickly so the glue doesn’t start setting up before you add another shelf, but it’s really worth the little extra effort.
We had those same shelves in our toy room. I totally regret getting rid of them when we moved! They were so handy.
Looks awesome Alison! LOVE IT! I wish I didn’t have to go to Canada (literally) for the closest ikea! I moved from AZ to Buffalo NY and no IKEA is sad! haha! Can’t wait to see her new bed! I’ve gotta get my rear in gear and paint my boys twin beds now that my little guy is out of his crib!
xoxo Have a great week!
Can you hang the poster in her closet? Win-Win?
Have you seen the Disney princess silhouette art? They are really sweet and could be a great DIY compromise between characters without the big poster. I tried to find a link but I’m on my phone and challenged at that kind of stuff 🙂
Try a quick pinterest search.
The room looks adorable!
It looks wonderful! Perhaps you can paint the frame and make it more subtle?
thanks for the d lawless hook-up….fabulous line and prices!
I love the organization! This is right up my alley.
As for the princess poster-well, as my dad once said, “It’s your room, not mine and I don’t have to live in it.” But, we were given a piece of candy if we passed the “Clean Room Inspector” once a week. That didn’t sway me from wanting cat posters and garfield, however. I mean-those posters were “cool”. I’d keep it clean for the candy’s sake, but Garfield was not coming down-or the duck poster with sunglasses that said, “My future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”
So, hm… I dunno….
Gotta love the Expedit shelves, so versatile. Looks great 🙂
Love the new shelving! I definitely want some kind of large square shelving in our new place! It looks so good!
As far as the princess stuff goes, I’d just put it up for now and then as she grows out of it you can some other nicer art in it’s place. She may not grow out of it though… I still have a bunch of Disney stuff from my childhood that I refuse to part with, not sure where I’ll put it in the new house though! 🙂
Allison,
About the poster; what if you painted the frame white to match the rest of her furniture? Maybe then it wouldn’t stand out as much like it does with the black fame. I know that may not change your opinion of the poster but it may blend in better.
Maureen
Love how the room is coming together! Have you thought of hanging the Disney poster in the closet? You could decorate that space with all of the character stuff and make that a separate, special place! I redirected my daughters attention from disney by letting her browse art.com and let her create a gallery of real art she liked. You can search by color and it turned out that she had a thing for abstract art!
I was thinking the same thing as the other commenter, what about changing up the frame in some way to make it work better with the room? You could also add a mat to make it look a bit more refined. I found out I could get cheapo mats at Aaron Brothers by shopping their bin of mis-cuts.
I’m totally with you on the princess poster. My daughter LOVES the Disney princesses and she can have all the games, arts and crafts, dress up, etc. that she wants, but her room is not going to look like a shrine to the princesses.
Great storage updates with the expedit. I am eyeing a 4×4 unit for our playroom, but haven’t bitten the bullet yet.
I agree with you on disliking Disney princess (or any other character) type decor. Thought of a possible solution–hang it behind her door! That way she can see it when she closes the door but you don’t really have to look at it 😉
Looks awesome Alison! LOVE IT! I wish I didn’t have to go to Canada (literally) for the closest ikea! I moved from AZ to Buffalo NY and no IKEA is sad! haha! Can’t wait to see her new bed! I’ve gotta get my rear in gear and paint my boys twin beds now that my little guy is out of his crib!