Expedit Ideas for Every Room

Like many Ikea fans, I was shocked to hear that the iconic Swedish retailer was discontinuing the uber-popular Expedit. Fortunately, all is not lost. The Expedit 2.0, aka Kallax will roll out in April.

Expedit on the left, Kallax on the right.

The two systems are very similar. The main differences are that the Kallax does away with the distinctive chunky border, has slightly rounder corners, and is supposed to be more scratch resistant. The interior size of the cubes are the same and all the boxes and accessories for the Expedit will still fit the Kallax.

The nice thing about the change is that it that the slightly smaller trim will significantly cut down on the number of trees Ikea uses produces the units. This tree-hugger loves that. But my slighly-OCD tendencies drove me to Ikea this weekend to buy the last two Expedits I wanted for my craft room. I'm sure we will purchase a few Kallaxes (Kallaxi?) in the future, but at least my craft room closet will have Expedits to match my Expedit craft table.

I love how perfectly the Sterilite bins fit in the Expedits.

Here's a quick peek at my craft room closet organization in progress.

We also have a large Expedit in our master bedroom. 

I've started a Pinterest board with some of my favorite Expedit uses and hacks. Take a look at some of my favorite ideas for using Ikea Expedits around the house.

Nursery

I wish we would have thought of using an Expedit in our son's room when he was a baby. What a creative, versatile changing table!

Expedit changing table via Little Lovely

Child's Bedroom

I could see our son loving this Expedit storage bed. What a great way to store all his books!

Expedit Storage Bed via Meredith at Ikea Hackers

Any Bedroom

We actually have Ikea Hopen drawers for nightstands in our master bedroom, but I love the idea of using the Expedits and saving a lot of money!

Affordable Night Stands via Free Sylin Beth (Update: the site has since been deactivated)

Closet

Make the most of your closets with an Expedit and a few bars. 

DIY Custom Closet via I Heart Organizing

The same idea works in a walk in closet, too. 

Kevin Wilson via Ikea Hackers

Kitchen

Make your own kitchen island or bar with an Expedit and a table top of your choice. 

Kitchen island via Decorating Insanity

This command center is a creative way to make a corner work for you. 

Family Command Center via Iron & Twine

Pantry

I just love the look of this walk-in pantry, especially how the Expedit makes a shelf.  I would use that for my appliances.

Pantry via Mel 'N' Rob's Knockdown Rebuild

Speaking of appliances, how cute is this appliance storage idea?

Appliance storage via BHG

Dining Room

Add legs to an Expedit for a simple home bar or sideboard

Home bar via Live Creating Yourself

Living Room

Technically, I don't think this example uses Expedits, but I have my eye on a variation of this idea in our basement living area. Instead of books, we'll use the shelves for DVDs and board games.

Sofas with Shelving via Apartment Therapy

Bathroom

Did you know you could use an Expedit as a linen closet? Why, yes you can!

Expedit linen closet by Live Creating Yourself

Foyer/Mudroom

Expedits have long been uses as room dividers, but I this rendition is really creative. 

Expedit as foyer via Apartment Therapy

If you have a little more room, Expedits can create an organized mudroom.

Photo credit: IKEA catalog

Laundry Room

Find more storage room in your laundry room by hanging an Expedit above the counter.

Expedit laundry shelves from Achieving Creative Order

Here's another way to organize the laundry area. I actually have this idea pinned for our son's book nook when we are ready to turn it into a desk area.

Laundry Room Revamp by Six 2 Eleven

Exercise Room

Expedit TV stand for a treadmill via I Heart Organizing (Note: the original post with this photo seems to have been taken down)

Craft Room/Office

Of course, I'm partial to my craft room, but lots of people have found creative way to use Expedits in their work spaces. I just love this desk.

Desk by Rambling Renovators

And here's a smaller version of my craft table with space for a chair. 

Craft table via Mama.ie

Playroom

This is one of the first images I ever pinned on Pinterest. I love this idea for a play area. And if you don't have an Ikea in your area, you're in luck, because these shelves were made at home, courtesy of Ana White's tutorial. 

Console height cubbies by Ana White

My little guy prefers dogs to dolls, but this Expedit doll house is adorable.

Dollhouse by Land of Nod

Do you share my love of Expedit? How do you use Expedits in your home?

Linked to:
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Family Photo Above the Mantle

 

Finally! Our family photo is up! It took almost year, but we did it. Here's the story.

One thing we have learned from building our home is that there are things you can anticipate and plan for, there are things that will surprise you, and there are things you should plan for, but don't. When we were planning our new house, one of the few disagreements Niels and I had was over the height of our great room. Being the practical person he is, Niels wanted the ceiling to be an even 10' with the rest of the main level. It's easier for heating, and also makes that space available on the second floor for another room. I had a two-story ceiling in my previous house, which I loved specifically for the reason that it saved my life when I left my gas stove on...for a DAY. (Ah, the early days of my brain injury. Don't miss 'em a bit!) Safety and sentimentally won out over practicality, and we compromised with a 14' ceiling. 

The challenge of a tall ceiling is how to decorate the room so it doesn't look like a big cave. Here's what the great room looked like under construction. See that HUGE space above the mantle? To give you some perspective, that piece of wood laying on top is 6' tall. 

 

Last Christmas, we came over for a little bit. There was no heat, so we didn't stay long! Part of our plan was to stare at that wall until we figured out what we wanted to do with it. We knew we wanted a family photo, but we really didn't want a 8' family photo!

Inspiration struck! We would put up a wood grid mimicking the prairie grid of the windows. Not only did us buy us time in getting a photo for the middle, but it made said photo much less expensive!

It took a few tries, but our carpenter got it.

The fireplace and trim was painted first.

And then the rest of the walls were painted. (Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray, if you're curious).

This is when we decided to stain the top of the mantle to match the top of the stairway.

That turned out to be a great idea.

This is what it looked like the night before we moved in. 

And this is the way it stayed for almost eight months.

This past June, we had family photos taken for the first time. I bought coordinating outfits in purple and gray to match the room's colors. We loved how they turned out. We did not love our photographer's price for the 24" x 36" photo we needed. (He didn't either). We did some research and got our photo as a poster from Walgreens for $20 when we took advantage of a coupon. 

I found the poster frame at Goodwill. It was originally from Target, but I got it for $9!

We were thrilled with the quality of the poster. No pixelation at all.

We set it up on the mantle. Saw that it fit. And then left it on the mantle for a few...weeks.

Due to my brain injury, I'm not allowed up high. I tend to fall. So Niels got the lucky job of hanging the frame. 

First he did some measuring to make sure the frame would be centered.

Then he measured and marked where the frame should go. Doesn't he look freakishly tall?

Our brilliant idea was to mark with sticky notes where the frame hangers were so he could just slide it down.

Worked like a charm.

I did a lot of running up and down the stairs eyeballing the frame to make sure it was level. It was. 

And done!  I love being greeting by this photo as I come downstairs each morning.

I thought the picture looked especially gezellig, or cozy, this Christmas.

I can't tell you how good it feels to have this project finally done! What project do you have on your to do list that never seems to get done?

Linked to:

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