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?

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Last day of staycation

Sigh...tomorrow Niels will return to work and our staycation will be over. But at least it was a productive one. Here's what we did today.

We put the shelves in, and started to fill them up.

We were too tired to start putting books up. And we learned that we need a few more shelves. Guess we'll be headed back to Ikea eventually.

We installed my cook book shelves (2 long Ribba photo shelves) and dust buster.  I also have my appliance shelf all pretty and organized.

More Ribba shelves for the contribution charts.

We hung a cool wire frame that I'm using for project lists and photos. 

We hung the rack for our central vac hose in the mudroom closet.

We also hung the hose in the garage.

We found and put up a clock in D and Marissa's bathroom.

We put up a mirror in D and Marissa's bathroom. 

We hung up the photo shelf in the powder room to hold our verjaardagkalendar (Dutch birthday calender).

 And lastly...

We hung up the key hook for guests in our foyer.

We made one last run to Target for the next round of projects, but for now, we will enjoy the process we made and relax for a few days.

Mudroom door message board

Last week, I added a magnetic cafe rod to the steel door between our garage and mudroom as an easy place to store sunglasses and keys. And happily, I haven't had to search around for them even once!

I started to think about what other magnetic opportunities the door might hold. I thought about a mirror, but we have one installed on the mudroom cabinet door. Then, my husband inadvertently provided inspiration. By forgetting his lunch on the mudroom bench.

We needed a message board on the door!

I was trying to think how to put a message board on the door. I already learned that dry erase marker on the door does not  work. Trust me. 

I was at Big Lots today when I found these three magnetic dry erase boards for $4 each. At first I thought it meant just that the board itself was magnetic and dry erase, which it was, but, it also came with magnets to use on metal surfaces. Sweet!

To keep things straight, we color coordinate. Niels' color is blue. Mine is purple. D's is yellow. Big Lots had purple and blue, but no yellow, so D has to settle for silver.

Once I removed the packaging, the boards were very easy to assemble. There was a small bag with magnets (clearly marked) and stickies. 

I pulled all eight pieces apart.

Attached the stickies to the four corners of the board.

Then I removed the paper from the top side of each sticky:

And attached the marked side of the magnets to the sticky.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

When all three were done, I stuck them up on the mudroom door.

The magnets are nice for remembering papers and checks and lists.

I'm not sure what we'll use D's board for at this point. He's only three, so this is always a good reminder.

I was left with these nice little baggies, which I'm sure I can put to good use.

So far, D is very impressed with his board. He just started to read (he's a rock star reader...but has yet to master drinking out of a cup), so he wants to put a word of the day. Niels think he'll still forget his lunch on occasion. Good thing he's cute!



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