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:
Craft-O-Maniac * Crystal & Co. * DIY Dreamer * Feeding Big * Fluster Buster * Home Stories From A to Z * How Do You Do It * The Idea Room * Just Us Four * Kiddie Foodies * Krafty Cards, Etc. * Moonlight & Mason Jars Link Party * Practically Functional * Romance on a Dime * Sew Can Do * Sew Many Ways * Tatertots & Jello * Val's Quilting Studio * Will Cook For Smiles

Gallery Goals

My name is Jen and I am a gallery-aholic.

With two weeks until our exchange student arrives and adjust to be a mom to both a pre-schooler AND a high schooler, I'm on a mission to get (most of) our gallery walls completed.

Up until now, I've been waiting for new family photos to be done. Niels arranged for us to have them done by Andrew Glenn Photography and we are so pleased with how they turned out. This photo will be blown up to 24" x 36" and hung above our fireplace.

The frame (which I found at Goodwill for $9!) fits inside the grid:

The next priority was our anniversary wall, which I went up this week.

Last night, Niels and I put up the little gallery under the stairs (post to come):

I really like how these two galleries look together.

The gallery we're currently working on is the big great room gallery. So far, we've decided on a layout:

The big job for this one is deciding on photos. The four 8x10s in the center will have our parents' wedding photos, a photo of us from the recent shoot, and a photo of D from the shoot. The theme will be favorite photos.

The next galleries after that are the "guest gallery" in the in-law suite and the "family" gallery along our upstairs hallway.

The guest gallery will have photos of everyone who has stayed in our guest suite...so far! We have some vinyl art to put on the wall as well, that reads, "Good company is always welcome. I think we will use Ikea Ribba shelves for this gallery.

The family gallery right outside D's door will feature photos of all our family around the world.

Still in the brainstorming stage are the following galleries.

The foyer hallway will have photos from our build, and maybe a big blueprint.

We'll have an inspiration gallery in the in-law bathroom. There's a big blank wall there to allow for wheelchair accessibility so we need flat decor there.

In Niels' office, we'll display large black and white photos.

In our bedroom, we'll have 2 large photos and our marriage motto (no returns, no exchanges) in vinyl. I'm also considering a "our story" gallery using Ribba photo shelves.

After our next Ikea run, I'll finish D's book nook with cute blue and red framed photos of family members.

The idea is to have frames like this for all the grands, aunts, uncles, and cousins, plus a big family photo above his name.

Lastly--I think!--is a good clean fun gallery along the big blank wall in the laundry room.

I found a vinyl I like--I really NEED a Silhouette!--and will include photos like this one:

I don't think I'll be done in three weeks!

Linked to:

Tip Junkie

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.