26.2.13

Hacking Ikea - Drona and Expedit Come Home

I've had issues with organization in my bedroom closet since, well, the beginning of time really.  It's compounded by the fact that I lack the skills to install a closet organizer because my walls have two inches of plaster on them instead of the normal one inch.  Without one of these I was forced to try other methods of keeping the clothing chaos in check.  I had the cheap plastic bins for a while, followed by me having a dresser and then not having a dresser (that was an Ikea product fail).  My latest attempt at sanity was those drawers that hang over the rod in my closet.  It was a good idea for a minute and then it all went wrong.

 
The problem is the drawers don't really slide in and out, and the ones above/below the one I'm using can fall out or be awkward.  And then Ikea stopped making the drawers for those things all together.  Suck it.  I liked that I could change out the items in the bins relatively easily so I could go from long underwear to shorts in a flash, and that was the one feature of the system I really wanted to preserve.  I did some 'research' on the internet and around town, made a plan, and then planned out a shopping trip.  I had decided on Expedit shelves and Drona boxes.  I also looked at Lekman boxes but opted against them for bad colors and because they're more than twice the price of the others.  I also found this great suggestion and thought I'd try something along those lines.

 
My Pooky Bear and I headed over to Ikea on Saturday afternoon.  Mall of America traffic was backed up onto the freeway.  I overheard a worker saying it's not bad until they have to close down 494.  What?!?  I was switfly reminded why we don't go near Ikea or Mall of America on a Saturday afternoon.  Because I had my shopping list ahead of time, it was a relatively short trip.  We had to head over to a fabric store as well because my Pooky Bear was not satisfied with the selection at Ikea.  Pooky Bear told me she loves shopping with me because I just let her pick everything out.  True story - she's picked out the paint for every room in my apartment too.  Whatever.  She's earned it.

Assembly - Pooky Bear has a system for Ikea furniture assembly and walked me through the process nicely.  The Expedit goes together pretty easily.  Two people are required for the bigger pieces, even if they say you can do it with one.  Once the pieces were together, she instructed me on how to use the fabric and left me to it.  After all the running around I'd done (literally and figuratively) I decided to sleep and tackle fabric the next day.





Fabric - holy buckets.  I'd looked at the above hack as well as this one and talked to Pooky Bear.  Ultimately I didn't feel equal to the task of gluing the fabric straight on the boxes.  There was supposed to be a whole thing about folding the edges under and preventing fraying and I just couldn't handle it.  (I'm not really super crafty.)  I decided the best thing to do was cut out poster board the size of the face of the box.  Then I wrapped the fabric around the little poster board, and taped it down with duct tape.  Yes. Duct tape.  I was able to take my time and roll the edges neatly, etc.  Then I glued the poster board and fabric onto the front of the box where it can rest happily.  Once I was sure I'd gotten one right, I started to mass produce the process.  My fabric measurements got a little off by the end.  It's really hard to measure right angles on that stuff.  I was able to compensate and I don't think anyone but me will ever know.  I even had some extra fabric left over to de-ugly the door.  The plan now is to get an extra yard or two of fabric and finish the door.  Apparently pillows are also a possibility.



Extra fabric - put to good use
   

When I went to dinner, Qat Lady was disappointed to hear I hadn't actually straightened out my closet yet.  I'm putting that project aside 'till next weekend since cutting posterboard, cutting fabric and taping and gluing took up so much of my life today.

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