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?
Brady says
Love Expedit! Probably one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our apartment. We bought two of those and I use them side by side as craft shelves. Thanks for the tip about checking Craigslist – I hadn’t thought about that before!
The sunroom is looking amazing!
Adina says
I love your expedit there! I have a few around my house. Do you guys like plants? I feel a sunroom could use a nice tall plant-brings a more natural touch. Ikea has a good (and inexpensive) selection, at least mine does. I don’t know about dogs and plants but I have 4 kids and all my plants survive.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah that would be fun! The sunroom isn’t heated in the winter, so we’d need plants that would live outside and not house plants so they wouldn’t freeze :)
xo
s
Brenda says
It looks great! I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many book cases, especially ones like these with deeper shelves!
Sara T. says
Love the Expedit! We have the 4×4 in white and the1x4 in the dark brown and they hold SO much…not looking forward to moving them one day when we move on to a bigger house because they are REALLY heavy, but I still love them. I’ve also see them used in nursery’s with the legs (about 4″ tall) for some added height. Maybe for the next one… :)
Jess says
Love it!
We have expedit shelves in several rooms in our house, in different colors and sizes and we LOVE THEM. They’re so useful and they cubbies are big! Enjoy!
Emma says
Ah I love the Expedit. Such a functional furniture family. Have you considered jazzing up your new Expedit with legs? As you know, Ikea sells them. It looks good sans legs but it’s good know that’s always an option.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s a fun idea!
xo
s
Bettina says
Even in Switzerland we buy Expedit book cases. We are planning of buying 6 of these (same size, same colours as yours), three for each kid’s room. And then you can also buy coloured plastic boxes that match the book cases to store the toys and add some bright colours to the kids’ rooms.
YoungHouseLove says
LOVE that!
xo
s
Elisa says
Love it! We’ve got a massive Expedit upstairs and it’s fantastic.
You should do a floor pillow like the one you made Clara! It would look fantastic hanging out with all those square corners. :)
Man, in my next life (aka house) I am sooo making sure we have a sunroom.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that would be fun!
xo
s
Shirley says
Love those expedits. I picked up 2 of them for 5 or 10 EACH at a yard sale that I went to spur of the moment (saw a sign in my neighborhood), it was last pickings of the sale (it was a Sunday or Monday) and the sellers just wanted to get rid of it. I had to disassemble both of them on the spot in order to fit in the station wagon, and at 70+ lbs each, it was not fun for me to do. They had the large one as well which I also would have taken except that I would have had to take that apart as well and am sure that would have weighed 100 lbs. We have them in our playroom as well and they are so great, they hold and organize everything. My husband was thinking of getting rid of one and replacing with something else, I told him forget it. The expedit is an organizing genius!
Chelsea says
LOVE the Expedit, and that looks great. I’m impressed you can get Clara to put together IKEA furniture. I get so confused and annoyed by the lack of any actual WORDS on the instructions that I get frustrated and whiny after about five minutes and my husband bans me from “helping”, ha. So yup, your toddler is better behaved than me, an adult. Oh well.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh believe me we’ve had Ikea assembly meltdowns (adult meltdowns) too!
xo
s
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
It looks absolutely gorgeous! I’d love to have a cute room like that…and for that price? Girrrrl please!!!
Renee says
Where is the bike art from?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s from a Gap store display (we begged for someone to give them to us after the display was over).
xo
s
Renee says
we have the exact same one for toy storage too! and FYI- these Target baskets (which come in tons of cute colors!) slide in perfectly into the squares…..no gaps and not too tight!
http://www.target.com/p/itso-large-fabric-storage-bin-khaki/-/A-10817640#prodSlot=medium_1_5
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh good to know!
xo
s
Deb says
looks great!!! thanks for adding a little sunshine to this dreary day in the river city!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Deb!
xo
s
Lindsey says
I have several of the Expedit cases and love them. Just a reminder, if you haven’t already, to anchor it to the wall. Even though it has a low center of gravity, I recently read an article that the majority of furniture tipping incidents are with furniture under 36″. Especially with something like cube storage where there’s enticing shelves to climb. We have pronounced moulding with shoe moulding so the L brackets don’t work for us. We basically used furniture straps on the thick top part and, if they hung down into the cube part where you could see the straps, we hid them with bins in those sections. Just a helpful safety reminder for everyone out there with kids!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, great tip! We love those anti-tip systems from amazon.com!
xo
s
Shirley says
Oh, and I was able to find great clear plastic storage bins with lids at Walmart for $3 or $4 each. They are sterilite 15×11.5×6. You can fit 2 per cube almost perfectly and they great for organizing blocks, art and craft supplies, almost anything. I bought several of those.
YoungHouseLove says
So cool!
xo
s
Rachel says
I always check craigslist for ikea stuff. I bought 4 chairs and a glass dining table for $40 instead of new from ikea of about $280!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes I mentioned that in this post too! We looked but nothing in the right color and size was there.
xo
s
Natalie Royall says
Can I just say that I love the fact that Clara is just so fly in her PJ’s :) She’s like… I know I’m an internet sensation… that’s why I don’t even have to look at the camera. Haha! Love you guys! And the room makeover is awesome!
YoungHouseLove says
Hhahah! Saturday morning’s are lazy like that.
xo
s
ale norris says
the room looks great so far! my husband & i are actually those people selling the Ikea stuff on Craigslist right now. we just bought our dream home (officially as of this past sunday!) and are changing our style up a bit, as a lot of our current/old stuff is dark and heavy, and the new house is super airy and open. so, we’re cleaning house and austin, tx craigslisters are reaping the (cheap!) benefits!
Tammy says
Hey Guys!
Love this piece…tell me, did the box fit in the trunk of your car? I have a Toyota Corolla, and my main IKEA issue is many of the boxes don’t fit in my car :-( This would be perfect for our just remodeled mudroom!
xo
T
YoungHouseLove says
It wouldn’t fit in the trunk, but it did fit slotted from the front seat with the seat back into the back seat. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Sarah says
Love the Sunroom!
Question, off topic: About your framed hallway, how do you know what color frames to use? Do you always use a matte? Do you try to keep the frames somewhat centered in the wall and work out? Do you try to use similar styled frames? I live in a house with wood stained woodwork and debating on what color frames and how to place them.
YoungHouseLove says
We just use white frames (some are matte, some are shiny, some are more cream, some are whiter) – it’s all about the mix! They look nice in a bunch of different styles but a similar tone if that makes sense. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Christina Miller says
Looks great!
I have the same bookcase with the corresponding desk still in the boxes waiting to be assembled.
Shannon says
Great choice going with the storage over another seating area! :)
I’m currently scouring craigslist for a new desk! Must.Find.Perfect.Desk.NOW!! :) I have no patience, hehe!
Crazy how your sunroom has made a 180 without leaving a huge dent in your wallet! Yay!
Shannon
Shannon Loves Design
Fabulously Vintage
Shannon says
P.s. I just bought my Haven ticket! Please make my life complete and tell me you guys will be there! 0:)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, Haven is so much fun! We’re doing tons of travel for book tour stuff so we’re not sure yet but we’d love to end up there!
xo
s
Cheerful Homemaker says
We just went to IKEA this weekend and bought the 3-drawer Hemnes dresser. We’re using it in our living room. It fits perfectly under our mounted television. It hides the electrical components and provides ample storage for blankets and toys!
I have to say, I love the instructions that come with IKEA furniture. They’re easy to follow and the little men are adorable!
Sarah says
I spent New Years putting together IKEA furniture.
This one:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00117024/#/00182316
I use it as my media console. I hated everything else they had (media console-wise) until I happened upon this fellow in the dining section.
It’s true love.
And we opted to leave one of the doors off for our devices..
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh pretty!
xo
s
bridget b. says
ooh! i’ve never seen that piece before. love it!
Cara says
I want to get one of the IKEA storage daybeds for our guest room/soon to be play room next.
Madeline says
LOVE the sunroom! I would die for one… or at least windows that bring in light anywhere in our apartment.
We are redoing our living room on a budget with some cheap furniture finds- & even some grellow! Hoping to tackle one of your book projects for the space soon!
http://createbakecelebrate.blogspot.com/2013/01/celebrate-yellow-fever-living.html
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Have fun- and definitely send us book project pics!
xo
s
Autumn says
I am just loving how you’re decorating this house! Your last house was gorgeous, obviously, but not really my style. I LOVE all the color you are using these days! Thank you for being such an inspiration!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Autumn!
xo
s
Claudie says
I bought that same piece a while ago because I wanted to put all of our DVDs and games in closed storage instead of out in the open like they were in the bookcase we used to have. We bought some of those boxes you put together yourself (also from Ikea) and now everything is hidden away! I have to say it was the second easiest thing we’ve ever assembled from there. The first was the sofa, surprisingly!
heather says
I have a secret.
I’ve never stepped foot in an Ikea.
Not that I haven’t wanted to, but it’s a few hours away. I did admittedly *try* to go to it once, but my iPhone took me to an corporate building in an entirely different town. So, that did’t work. When I figured out what the heck was going on (thankfully it was only 5 minutes off the highway of where I was going) I realized the actual Ikea would be another two hours away and I had places to be that night.
Needless to say, Ikea evades me once again. Or I guess, the only one time I tried to go.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, you’re going to go crazy there someday!
xo
s
Caitlin says
Does that room have any heating? It looks like a great place to hang out but I wonder if it’s really cold in the wintertime.
YoungHouseLove says
It has a window unit that heats and cools when we put it on (we do occasionally, but we definitely don’t heat and cool it all the time, to save energy).
xo
s
Reanna says
Have you thought about maybe sticking an easel in the empty corner? It could be such a bright beautiful space to create in. You could always get a Clara sized easel as well for family art time.
YoungHouseLove says
That would be awesome!!
xo
s
Jennifer M says
We have the same bookshelf in our sunroom addition! Unfortunately it still has packed boxes in it because we’re redoing the house we bought 3 months ago and it’s still a disaster! ha! I’m loving watching your sunroom come together, and my husband would LOVE John’s bike prints! Seriously wish I could find some for him!
KENDRA says
Is your sunroom heated? Also does it have a locking door other than a storm (I think that’s what they are called) door? We have a little sunroom off the back of our house (MUCH smaller than yours), but it’s not heated, has one storm door and windows that would be fairly easy to break into if someone really wanted. So I hesitate to put anything really cute or valuable in there because #1 it’s too cold to use it in the winter being non-heated, and #2 afraid someone could potentially break in if they wanted and steal the stuff! What are your thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
The sunroom isn’t heated (well it has a window until that heats and cools but we don’t leave it on, so most of the time it’s cold in the winter and hot in the summer). We do have a locking slider leading into the sunroom and leading into the house as well as an alarm system so both sliders as well as the windows are armed, so that gives us peace of mind. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Kristen @ LoveK says
The space is really coming together! My first thought when you showed the updated photos at the end of the post was “wow, they work quick!”. It’s amazing to me how fast you guys can upgrade a space into something beautiful.
As for bookcases, I actually have my eye on a black-brown Expedit bookcase right now but I can’t find it on the website. It’s got a few different sized cubbies on it instead of just eight squares.
Amanda says
Did EXACTLY the same thing last weekend! Just trade out the white for glossy grey, and the sunroom for our living room. Currently, it holds my husband’s record collection but it is still in need of some styling (LOVE what how you styled yours!). Pretty sure it will end up being the perfect home for my (signed) copy of your book ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Amanda!
xo
s
EHS says
I find it interesting that John is so into bikes, but yet, I don’t get the sense from any blog entries that there is much riding of said bikes happening. John, are you a biker/cyclist as well as a runner? I think the blog needs a pic of you in the whole cycling getup if you are. That will be proof that you really have “gone off the deep end.”
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, here’s a post about a ride we’ve done. We do it more as a casual family activity than anything else (maybe a few times a month in good weather), but Richmond has some pretty amazing trails if John decides to get hardcore and leave me and Clara at home!
xo
s
Caren says
Could you give recommendations on where to find the white seating/loveseat/futon that you guys have?
YoungHouseLove says
That loveseat was from West Elm, so maybe try that? We got it a really long time ago as a wedding gift.
xo
s
jessica says
Where are the baskets from? We are looking for some that fit well into our expedit bookcase but don’t want to drive to Ikea right now (can’t believe I just typed that!). Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
They’re from Michaels (they have 50% off basket sales a lot).
xo
s
kara @ launching our life together says
We’re getting ready to tackle some faux-built-in bookcases for our office space. I’ve been crushing on every last built-in-Billy-bookcase tutorial. Hopefully this weekend, we’re assembling those bad boys. Can’t wait to see the instructions!
[email protected] says
One can of paint? Oh my. My husband would have used maybe three or four cans of paint. I’m always curious how those on HGTV can spend so little on paint. Usually the paint cans we buy always cost $25 – $30 a can! And that’s at Lowes.
What kind of paint do you recommend? Where do you prefer to buy your paint at?
YoungHouseLove says
Benjamin Moore Natura. It’s amazing. Lots of coverage (it went over the brick part in two coats while cheaper paint we’ve used has taken five coats). Love it so much! Of course it also helped that there are two giant sliders and big windows so there’s less wall to cover.
xo
s
Sarah says
I’ve had my eye on that baby at Ikea for the longest time for our boys’ toy room! So glad to hear you are happy with it, now I just have to get down there to purchase it!
Ginny@ Goofy Monkeys says
I <3 Expedit shelves! So versatile! We have 2 in the house (one dark in the living room, one white in the big girl's closet).
Jeanna says
The room is looking great :) I was just wondering if you were still planning to use all your bar stools from the kitchen, and if so, are they going in that last corner?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re thinking we don’t need more seating so they won’t be functional (even though they were so pretty against the gray walls). Oh well, function over form. Haha!
xo
s
Kelly says
We have the same bookcase in our living room for kiddy storage! While they function well, I wish the storage looked as neat as yours do.
Ethne @ Wom-Mom says
Excellent – I created myself a sewing nook with an eighter just like that, but from Tarjay. And I stood it vertically. That’s the nice thing about those! So functional! Sunroom is looking great – gray is a great choice and painting that brick – right on.
Chaney says
Ikea Expedits are the best! We’ve got one right now in our bedroom that holds everything from shoes to fabric to my hairdryer, even. Sooo much storage for so little dollars :).
Kim says
Gotta love the Expedit! I have the narrow version of it as my TV stand and it is AWESOME. Cheapest TV stand with lots of storage for my 46″ TV (here’s a grainy picture featuring my cat Mozzarella: http://instagram.com/p/RlxWAlEXKT/.)
As for the other corner of your sunroom, have you thought about just getting a fig tree or something similar? Having a big tree or plant there would really ground the space. (My inspiration is (almost always) from Manhattan Nest: http://manhattan-nest.com/2012/08/31/fiddle/.)
YoungHouseLove says
That would be awesome! Although I don’t think it would live in there (it gets as cold as outside in the winter months, so we’d need an outdoor plant in a pot instead of a house plant).
xo
s
lindsay says
Y’all are amazing! I love what you have done with the space. But I’ve been holding this back for weeks – I hate how the rug looks with everything else.
I finally got it off my chest, now I can breathe again. If you love it that’s all that matters, just want you to know I’m secretly (or not so) hoping for a new rug down the line!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Lindsay! In person we really like the texture it adds (the painted brick and rectangular daybed are warmed up by the nubby textured rug) but who knows where we’ll end up down the line!
xo
s
Lorelei Reed says
great minds think alike…I just got the exact bookcase in the “As Is” section of Ikea near Ft Lauderdale…$50 for the floor model…however you beat me financially as I did stop by Target to get those little soft sided foldable bins…using it as a dresser! In the meantime my “street find” dresser has been promoted/demoted (which? hmmmm) to shoe storage just to get stuff OFF the floor!
again it was FABulous to meet you guys on your recent Ft Lauderdale visit…if winter gets tooooo challenging for you, you know where the door is always open!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Lorelei! It was awesome to meet you too! We had so much fun in Ft Lauderdale!
xo
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