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?
Sarah says
We just bought our first Expedit a few weeks ago with glorious Christmas gift cards. We have the 4×4 one, and I still have a LOT of accessorizing to do!! I think about half of the cubbies are empty… I need to get on that, but my focus is split up all through the house. Office, guest room, rec room…. yowza
Courtney Leigh says
Loving the sunroom! It would be amazing to have one in a home some day. I’m sure it would be the cats’ favorite room and we’d have fights about it when I wanted to do my yoga in there.
This is the first post where I actually noticed the flooring in the sunroom. Is it something you’d like to change down the road in a Phase 2 or Phase 3? Obviously it is perfectly functional but it doesn’t have the pizazz of the flooring in your old sunroom.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, it would be awesome to upgrade someday!
xo
s
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
You guys are so amazing at styling bookshelves….I’ve tried a million different things and it always looks wonky.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, this one I just threw things in. Maybe it’s like painting and it gets easier over time? I used to obsess over it and spend hours, so I totally can relate to you though!
xo
Kate says
No Ikea furniture at the moment; we’ve been assembling baby gear. Our little girl’s room is all set up, but as I’m waiting for her to come (could be any day, but probably still a couple weeks) I’ve been slowly dragging out some of the things I had said ould wait until after she was here. I’m telling you, I think the pack-and-play (with its little extras like the infant napper) was more difficult to put together than a lot of Ikea furniture!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah!
xo
s
liz says
We have that bookcase in black. It is probably one of my favorite pieces, honestly in our house (not sure what that says about our house?). But I love the simplicity… and it’s sturdy! Great choice. Sunroom is looking good.
Sarah Mc says
This might be my favorite room in your house! Why? 1) I love the cost it took to get it looking like this, 2) I love its airy-ness and 3) I’m intrigued with the idea of a “sunroom”, since we don’t have those in Southern California (or else all of our rooms are sunrooms…)
Zoë says
I’m starting to think there are very few houses and apartments left in the US without an Expedit shelf in some form or another. We’ve had the 4×4 shelf in brown/black for years (it is the perfect size for shelving LPs you know), and the person who bought our first house strongly hinted that she would like it to stay, but I was all “No way, sister, that baby is mine!”
We’re now in the process of downsizing from a house to an apartment, and will be turning our 2×4 Expedit into a TV unit, and because we’re moving to Atlanta, I’m pretty sure there will be a lot more IKEA storage in our new place, because we’ll be minutes away instead of hours. IKEA FTW!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s a good theory! We need a journalist to go house to house and survey who has an expedit!
xo
s
Jaimee says
I just bought a couple of unfinished pine dressers from ikea – saw a great “hack” to turn them into really industrial looking pieces. I put them on either side of my 10 year old son’s bed and I am adding a pallet headboard that will go all along the wall, hopefully making it look like a really cool built-in unit. Sad when the easiest part about an ikea purchase is the building of it :)
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds cool!
xo
s
Lauren says
I love the bike on the bookshelf. We have so many of the little ikea bookshelves around our apartment. I love all the different baskets they have that fit their 12×12 squares!
Katie says
Looks great and functional! The shelf would look fab with a diy backing painted the same teal as the bike frame or a hot pink, I think!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s fun!
xo
s
Erica Smith says
We just bought the Karlstad corner sofa. I think it’s actually the same one you guys have! We didn’t know what to expect about putting it together since we’ve never bought IKEA furniture before (the closest store we have is 4 hours away), but I thought it was pretty easy to put together. We had planned on getting the add on chaise, but it wasn’t in stock. Hopefully when we go back to get it next month it won’t be to hard to add on. Fingers crossed.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, it wasn’t too rough for us either. The add on chaise is my favorite part (it’s softer and cushy) so I hope you get one someday!
xo
s
Christina says
Looks great and I love the bike! I clicked on your link to see the shelf at Ikea and was surprised to see that I could order online since it seems like nothing is ever available for shipping. Typed in my zip code and I can get that lovely for a total of $418 so only $349 for shipping! Definitely made me chuckle! If only we had one closer than 5 hours to our home…
YoungHouseLove says
Whaaaaaa?! That shipping fee is intense!
xo
s
Simone says
Where did you get the Bike Poster/Picture above the book case?? They are so awesome!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Those were from a Gap display in the store (we begged for them when they were done using them).
xo
s
NOTyourrunofthemill says
Love what you did with the place!
btw I have a cat that goes nuts for Ikea boxes, not just any box it has to be Ikea. We figure he must have been born in one.
Mitz says
Hi…I’ve been checking your website on a daily basis for the past couple of months. I love all the improvements you do for your home. Everything looks fresh. You guys are such a great team!
I am a big Ikea fan. I just love Scandinavian style-themed decorating (I found out that this is my style when I started my board on Pinterest).
I am hoping to be at your next book (yay!) signing in Toronto.
And regarding boxes…yes…it’s always the boxes. The one that came free! This only proves a point made by many…that happiness for kids usually come free.
All the best to you Sherry, John, Clara & Burger!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Mitz!
xo
s
Dawn says
Looking good! I built an Ikea “Hemnes” entertainment center last Fall – two of the narrower bookcases, the bridge between them and the TV stand. I painted the back pieces of the bookcase a dark gray which looks great in our blue family room. I love Ikea! We were trying to figure out how to screw on the bridge to the bookcases, and puzzled til our puzzlers were sore until we realized in the picture that the original screws were twisting OUT before the bridging hardware was then screwed on. That may not make sense but Ikea furniture always goes together so well!
Jenn says
I’m always so impressed by the speed you guys finish projects. I find it a little embarrassing that I’ve been living in my apartment for about 7 months now and not one room is finished? I need some of your “get going and finish this!” motivation. (A little extra dose of cute style wouldn’t hurt either!)
Jenn
With Luck
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jen! We’re the same way! I think a year and a half into living here nothing was done at all! It takes a nice long time :)
xo
s
Heather says
I was just thinking about this bookcase this morning before I read your post, and wondering if I could pull off the horizontal look in my living room. You know what they say about great minds…
Brooke says
I am insanely jealous of anyone who has an Ikea within 3 hours driving distance. Our closest store is 7 hours away! I recently begged my husband to make a stop there when we drove through Denver on a vacation. He agreed and I sat at my desk jumping up and down for the rest of the day. Love me some Ikea! We pull up to the ginormous store and he’s dreading going in. The complaining starts before we even get to the escalators! We go inside and within 10 min he is hooked. We were a little tight on time and I ended up dragging him from “room” to “room” saying “Honey! We are not here to buy a kitchen! It won’t fit in the Juke!” We were there to buy a fab rug, which was 6’7″ and came within 3″ of touching the front dash in my small car. He’s now in love with the store and even mentioned renting a UHaul for our next trip! We are anxiously awaiting the opening of the store in KC, which is a short 3 hour drive away and I’m about to have a new home to play with.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man, that sounds awesome!!
xo
s
Allison says
The sunroom is looking great! You’ve styled the new shelving beautifully! I echo the previous commenter who said the dark wood end table adds some nice rich contrast – it really does! I think if you brought a little more of that in (so the rest of the furniture isn’t all white) it would feel right at home in the space. Maybe swap out the coffee table? Or do a darker finish on the frame of the egg chair? Anyway, I’m sure whatever you do, it will look awesome!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, that’s totally the plan (bringing in some more dark wood)! Haha. Have to see if I can pull it off and then I’ll blog about it! Woot!
xo
s
Carmeon Hamilton says
Love it! I actually went the building route! I even blogged about it, so if you ever get a spare moment (do you ever???) you can see it here http://www.cohesiverandomness.blogspot.com/2012/10/diy-campaign-inspired-parsons-style.html
Thanks for all of the inspiration!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, it looks awesome! Love the campaign details!
xo
s
Heather says
I feel like stalking CL has become my second job. I’m looking for some very specific items and I’ve had amazing luck in the past so I’m not giving up! I might just DIY a leaning floor mirror at this point- gotta price it out!
Bethany says
Hey! Love the expedits… we have 3 in our home.
Question, where is the painting/picture of Burger on the brick wall from? I LOVE IT!!! Also, where is that lamp in the corner that looks like it is on a tripod from? Love it too (just not as much as the picture of Burger!).
Also, love what you did to the brick wall. It looks amazing!
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that amazing!? A reader’s husband painted that for us and gave it to us (we got to meet here when we were at a book tour stop and sing his praises!).
xo
s
KatieLou says
Does it really cost that much per year to heat/cool the space to make it useable? The cost vs benefit isn’t worth it?
Seems sad :( not to use such a pretty space!
YoungHouseLove says
Well it’s been a storage room for over two years and we haven’t used it at all, so to us we’re glad we weren’t paying to heat and cool it! Haha. Now we’ll have to see if we use it a lot, and if so I’m sure we’ll heat and cool it more. It’s nice that we can just turn it on with the flip of a switch :)
xo
s
Louise says
the stripey duck made it onto the new shelves – yay! it’s looking great in there, excellent job :)
ps – does duck have a name? if he were mine he would be called Clive ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, he needs a name. Clive it is!
xo
s
Stacey says
A question…would it be possible (fairly easy w/ good results) to paint an expedit piece? Just wondering in case I came across one on Craigslist that needed a little surface tlc ;) Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s always somewhat of a challenge to paint laminate (it can scratch or peel off a lot easier than wood if you don’t use a really good primer). But if you degloss and prime it I think it could work! I’d just google for a tutorial (Katie Bower has done it with success). Hope it helps!
xo
s
bridget b. says
you gotta love the expedit shelf. i plan on using one for storage when we move our 4 month old in with our 2 year old pretty soon.
love the box picture! yesterday, i had flattened out the box from the baby’s humidifier so that i could toss it in the trash, but my toddler had so much fun playing with it and climbing in it, that i ended up letting her keep it. :)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s always somewhat of a challenge to paint laminate (it can scratch or peel off a lot easier than wood if you don’t use a really good primer). But if you degloss and prime it I think it could work! I’d just google for a tutorial (Katie Bower has done it with success). Hope it helps!
xo
s
Kari says
Please, please, please! Before you throw out that cardboard box make a house out of it for Clara. I’ve seen cardboard box houses floating around the internets. I have a huge box I’m saving for She Hulk and I would loooove to see y’alls spin on it.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we did that with a box at John’s parents house (their fridge box) and she loved it!
xo
s
Karen F says
Love the expedit, and the sunroom is just getting better and better! If I could, I’d have an expedit in every room of my house!
Don’t hate me, but I live 5 minutes away from an Ikea (and about 30 minutes away from another one) – I have to limit my trips there or I’ll spend too much time and money! Also, my kids love to have breakfast there :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s amazing!
xo
s
Leah says
We just built a two-drawer Hemnes media stand. It’s pretty awesome and really makes our room look amazingly better. I wish I’d done before pics so I could blog about this, but our living room was so bad before all the changes we’ve been making.
The Hemnes was interesting. I must say, it’s the most difficult IKEA piece of furniture I’ve put together, but that’s mostly because of the drawers. They also had these weird clips for putting the back on, and there was no perceivable way to get the clips on. We went with tiny finishing nails instead.
Abby Marie says
We’re in the process of building a farmhouse dinning room table, but we needed chairs. We just scored 6 very simple, solid wood chairs on Craigslist for $200 thanks to a restaurant that closed. Our plan is to paint them a soft sage/celery green like the ones at Crate and Barrel plus possibly add two wicker ones for the “heads” of the table.
Samantha says
The room looks great! We just purchased our first home and it has an attached sunroom similar to yours, however, we are just trying to unpack before beginning any new projects! :)
However, I do have one question. Have you guys ever thought of doing a DIY app for the iphone with tidbits and facts on your website, just on a smaller version?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, that would be awesome! We wish we were savvy enough. Maybe someday!
xo
s
Jennifer Laura says
Ahhh it’s the saw bike!!! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahh! Totally is.
xo
s
Norma says
great job as usual but I find the 3 pics on the left a tad too heavy a large white would suite my taste better or just one of the 3………..for what it is worth
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Norma! In person we like them as-is, but who knows where we’ll end up down the line :)
xo
s
Kate says
I just bought two of the exact same bookcases last weekend (in the black-brown finish) to help wrangle all of my craft supplies. It makes storing/organizing so much more attractive!
Heather says
Hi, I have a question for the pros. I am getting ready to move into a newly built house and I get to pick out the color of the countertops. The cabinets are a natural wood color and most all light fixtures and decorations have oil rubbed bronze, so the feel is on the tan/ brown side of things. I just can’t decide if it would be better to go with a light neutral color so the pendant lighting and such pops or if a dark counter color would be better. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I think either could work! If you go darker it will be a more high contrast look and something lighter will be more airy. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Adrienne says
Yay! I love the expedit book cases. They’ve actually become something of a design crutch for me – need some storage? Expedit! I have the big 5×5 one in my dining room as a bookcase and the same 2×4 one in this post literally across the room serving as a bar/board game storage. There are 33 expedit cubes in one room. It’s a little absurd, but it works for us :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s awesome!
xo
s
Angela says
It looks soooo gooood! I definitely second checking craigslist first. I was able to purchase two of the Ikea photo ledges for only $20! One was the super crazy long one and the other was a more smaller one; they were black, but I was able to paint them white super easy! And I think I saved about $50+ (since I would have had to get a zipcar to get to the Ikea out in the Chicago suburbs!)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Janelle says
That looks great. The proportions work really well with the art. Quick question about styling: we have DVDs on our bookshelf. I’ve tried stacking them different ways, but how can I make them look pretty without putting them in a box or elsewhere (not an option)?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I was going to say a box or a bin! Those are my lifesavers. I think otherwise there’s not much of a way to make them pretty, right? I mean they’re just in a stack. Haha!
xo
s
karla says
We store our DVDs in a zipper cd holder and we store it in a basket. we can store up to 120DVDs in one small space! It may be a solution for you!
Candice says
I showed this to my husband as I want to use your bright cheery colors and he said he could never live in a room so girly…*sigh*
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man! If you switch out some of the pillows I bet he’d change his tune… maybe?
xo
s
Sherry says
Looks great! I love our Expedit bookcases. Ever think of putting some sexy legs on it?? I’ve been thinking of that for mine but have been too nervous to try yet :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a fun idea!
xo
s
Sarah W says
Love the Expedit bookcases! So affordable for a nice modern look. We have one of the big ones in our office.
This weekend we’re going to buy a bed frame and two new dressers for our bedroom at Ikea. I’m kind of looking forward to assembling them. I really enjoy that kind of thing.
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds like my idea of a good time! Have fun!
xo
s
Lisa in Seattle says
Love this! As somebody else mentioned, it might be fun to add some feet to it – maybe those big round bun feet – just so it looks more finished. That trike is the perfect touch, and what a fun new home for your painted duck. This corner is now one of my favorite spots (out of many) in the house!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Lisa! We’re definitely open to adding castors or legs someday!
xo
s
Audrey says
I love it. My husband is jealous and he doesn’t even know it!
Have you thought about using castors to raise it and make it rollable around the room (like for parties)? Either way, you did ikea very well – mixed with non-ikea stuff and the antique bike!
YoungHouseLove says
That would be fun!
xo
s
Wrenaria says
I like the warmth of the wood end table amongst all the white furniture. I bet if you brought in a similar wood tone elsewhere (like maybe the coffee table?) it wouldn’t look out of place anymore. But you said you have a plan, so I should just be patient, wait, and see, eh?
Loving that you place your little bike in front of the bike art. Such a nice touch.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, it involves bringing in another wood tone somewhere!
xo
s
Mary | lemongroveblog.com says
Funny how Clara goes right for the box! Our kitty does the same thing :) Love the new shelf, looks great with the baskets for storage.
Carley says
I love the color scheme you have going on in that room! Are you sure you don’t want to come and make over my playroom?? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, sure! Be right over!
xo
s
Katrina says
I added castor wheels to my ikea bookcase, it adds just the right amount of “industrial” vibe that we were going for!
YoungHouseLove says
So cool!
xo
s
Tori Greaves says
Hi there,
I notice John using a drill to put this together – we have a drill there’s no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that it would ever be able to assist in putting together an Ikea beaut… What drill do you guys have and would you recommend it?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s a Black & Decker one from Home Depot a few years ago. Love it!
xo
s
Megan says
We have the larger 5×5 Expedit unit (with some fabric containers from Target) as toy storage. We just recently moved and the Expedit unit disassembled and reassembled perfectly! And it keeps all their toy clutter off the floor :)