IKEA Furniture in Nursery

Once my husband and I started our baby registry, we started seriously looking at furniture for the nursery. We LOVED everything at Babies R' Us but unfortunately had a tough swallow when we looked at the pricetag. They fit all the requirements we had: slats spaced appropriately (mmost are these days), side did not move up and down (this was before the big recall), sturdy, and could be conerted to a toddler bed and to add to all of that the would was very thick and would be perfect for our baby!! After realizing we could not pay $1500 for a bedroom set, we began to look elsewhere. Yard sales and consignment shops brought mismatched pieces; maybe I am a bit selfish, I wanted a matching furniture for the room...
This led me to look online at IKEA for their baby furniture and I came across some wonderful pieces! After a bit of coaxing, I finally got my husband to make the 1 1/2 trip with me (it's amazing what he will do if there is a geocache involved). Let me just say that I fell in LOVE with the store as soon as we entered; beautiful furniture for every room in the house. Then onto the children's section and I wanted to buy one of everything for our little one. We found the pieces that we liked and they also fit our criteria; even though they are simple, they are sleek and very sturdy. Calculating everything that we would get for the nursery, we knew it was a good deal when we could walk out of there and pay less than $900 for the essentials and more! We didn't buy them on the first trip but went back before Thanksgiving and picked it all up.

I want to share a little with you about each of the pieces-

Leksvik crib

Features:

~The bed base can be placed at two different heights.

~Converts into a toddler bed.

$159

Not only do I love the price on this piece, but it looks so simple which reminds me how how laid back they are in other countries (exactly where this is made).

The toddler bed is also adorable, I'm not sure if we will use it as we plan on having more than one child.

Leksvik chest with 2 drawers

Features:

~Solid wood, a hardwearing natural material.

~Drawer with drawer stop prevents the drawer from being extended fully and falling out.

$149

We also bought the changing table for the top for an extra $40. This is easy to attach and when we are out of the diaper stage we can remove it and use the dresser. I can honestly say that with the changing table attached it is hard to get into the shelves or the top drawer as the changing table sticks out too far. However, I am really big on how things look and I really want everything to go together, I am willing to put up with the slight frustration in this case.

Leksvik Wardrobe

Features:

~Solid wood, a hardwearing natural material.

~Deep enough to hold adult size hangers.

~2 adjustable shelves and clothes rail: easy to adjust according to need.
$229

This wardrobe will hold all of our little one's clothes for years to come!! It actually has 2 clothes rails, I might remove one though as it sat rather low. This will definitely need to be secureed to the wall as it is rather tall and am afraid it could possibly tip over.

Leksvik High Cabinet

Features:

~Solid wood, a hardwearing natural material.

~Drawer includes drawer stop.

$179

This piece will sit right next to the changing table and hold the cloth diapers, wipe warmer, and possibly a nice lamp.

Leksvik Wall Shelf
Features:

~Solid wood, a hardwearing natural material.

$39.99

This will not hold any necessities, most likely just a baseball cap and some trinkets.

We have not finished painting the bedroom yet, but we had to get the furniture set up as the boxes were just witting on our bedroom floor. Imagine these pushed against the wall with everything ready for the little one to come home in April.

My husband did all of the woodwork in the room, a very nice look that is mature enough for the baby to grow with it.

What I love about IKEA is that you walk in and they have the rooms set up so you can really imagine all of this being used in your home. We wish we knew about IKEA earlier but swear we will go there whenever we redo a room in our house.

I absolutely loved all of the simple, wooden toys they sold at IKEA, here are a couple that I really want to get in the future.

Mula Push Along Toy
Features:

~The small figures jump up and down when the toy rolls forward/backward.
$7.99

I think of the modern 'popcorn popper' when I see this, but I love this so much more. It's not that I don't like noise; it has more to do with being an educator and understanding that children can learn without

Mula Stacking Rings

Features:

~A soft stick helps prevent injury.

~Develops fine motor skills and logical thinking.

$5.99

Not only is the price incredible, but this toy will allow your child to think with the unnecessary bells and whistles that the newer toys have.

I should mention that I love toys like this and it has nothing to do with the noise bothering me. It actually comes from being an educator and knowing that children can learn without the music and noise. Yes, it is good to learn to music and many things can be taught this way. However, these days many children cannot sit still without being entertained; I really want our child to be able to entertain himself learn at the same time!