Our almost 3 year old wants to do more things "by myself" including getting dressed. A lot of her clothes were out of reach in the closet but that never stopped her. I've found P scaling the shelving to get to the thing she wanted at the very top. Needless to say it was time to buy a new dresser.
I wanted a white, low dresser with drawers in the $100 range. Even with Ikea's new Stuva kids line there was nothing that worked. Everything went more vertical than horizontal. Knowing how kids play I wanted something low enough for P to put her doll house or whatever on top. Plus the space called for a horizontal piece. Do spaces in the house ever speak to you? "I want this and nothing else" they say to me all the time and it's usually something I can't afford. The nerve of this house!
I searched from DWR (inspiration) to Craig's List (redo-makeover project). Crate and Barrel has the True Low Dresser that looked really good for $200 down from $500 but it's almost discontinued. I could only get it from the warehouse and shipping ($80) would have made it too much. So, I got creative.
The piece from Ikea that I liked was the set of drawers from the Stolmen Series. The drawers are meant to be used with the entire rack and not self-standing. However, they were exactly what I wanted so I got them and added legs. They do have two small holes on the top that I'll need to cover or put a cool screw in....or leave alone. The drawers are the perfect height for P, the perfect width for her room and the perfect amount of storage for her clothes.
The coolest part about building this thing was doing it with P. It was a great learning experience for her. She counted screws. She helped me "read" instructions. We separated each different kind of screws and pegs and put them in little piles. She helped me hold the pieces to make them fit. She lasted for the assembly of the box but not the drawers and I thought that was really, really good. Then she sat close by with her dollhouse and played while I continued. Who knew a piece of Ikea furniture could be so educational?
This little nook of her room is my favorite place. A friend of mine gave me this letter abacus. Before bed we go through it together...sometimes she'll know a letter and sometimes she won't but who cares. It's fun to just sing the letters and spin them. Then she picks a book from her little pile beside her bed. I read it and she goes to sleep. This is our "together" space. The frame I bought is still empty. I'm trying to take the perfect picture of the three of us....again, the frame told me what kind of picture it wants and nothing else will do.
Labels: furniture, kid space
