Playroom Ikea Havsta built-in hack
TURNING THE FORMAL DINING INTO A FUNCTIONAL PLAYROOM
Every parent knows that when you have kids, you can never have enough storage. Toys, books, and crafts seem to multiply overnight, creating chaos in every corner of the house. So, we decided to tackle the problem head-on and turn our underutilized dining room into a playroom with plenty of storage options.
First we had to paint the walls and the ceiling
The walls needed a fresh coat of paint. Lord only knows why everything in this house was brown when we bought it. Even the ceilings were a light brown.. I digress, I painted it the same color as the rest of my house which is aesthetic white and then painted the ceiling in pure white by Sherwin William’s. So much brighter!!! The light fixture is from Hunter fans, it is the Grove Isle 5 light Chandelier. We had already changed out the flooring, so that was one aspect I was happy I already had good to go!
This room had chair railing all around it and when taking it down it damaged the walls so I decided to do a wall treatment so I could avoid patching it at all costs. The wall treatment that I put around the room are sheets of MDF shiplap that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes. They come in 8 x 4 sheets, and I cut them down with my circular saw ( I would have used my table saw but with big sheets like that it would not be smart to try and do alone). I used a brad nailer and a pin nailer to install them into the studs. Here is the start of changing it all up!
The Havsta built-ins
After some brainstorming with some friends that have used IKEA cabinets for home projects, I decided to use the versatile Havsta cabinets from IKEA. These cabinets are stylish and offer a practical solution for storing toys, games, and all the essentials of having young kids and will really help organize the playroom.
Putting together the Havsta units from IKEA was relatively easy for IKEA if you know what I mean, Of course I had some mistakes along the way but that’s a given. The backs are week so I needed to reinforce them so they’re strong enough, I cut down a half-inch plywood into 4-inch strips and then nailed and glued those into the back to screw them into wall studs. Did you know that wood glue is stronger than screws? Now you know.
Then I added two-by-fours between the bottom cabinet and the top cabinet. I screwed both cabinets into the two-by-fours and then screwed the 2 x 4 into the studs on the back of the wall. Then I did the same thing at the very top of the cabinets. THESE SUCKERS AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE! I followed Annie’s tutorial since she did the same process for her coffee nook! After I did that, I also realized that I forgot to add some pieces to the back of every single IKEA unit, but you know what? It’s going to be fine.
And after I was standing back and admiring all of my hard work, I thought to myself dang, how did I get those cabinets up on the second one all by myself?! I was pretty proud of myself – We can do hard things but then I also realized I didn’t cut out the outlet on the left cabinet, so now I have to find it from memory. It’s always something. Oh and I have to add a piece of trim that goes in between the cabinets, and that finishes off the shiplap.
Custom shelving for the toy storage
The next step was to build a custom montessori shelf unit that fit perfectly between the two built ins for easy toy access. This one took a little trial and error for the perfect outlet placement, but I decided on the spacing of shelves and got it done! I used 1/2 inch birch ply wood and cut it down with a circular saw. Getting all the cuts right was the hardest part but I was able to piece them together with pocket holes and glue. This unit is really cool because it looks “built in” but its not. I just added the baseboard at the bottom to give that look but I can pull this out when they out grow it and put desks there maybe? Idk but right now It creates the perfect spot for toy rotation and keeping my kids interested but also being a spot they can learn to put things away. But I’m not getting my hopes up too high with that one!
Wrapping up this first stage…
Alright, let’s take a moment to appreciate the progress we’ve made so far. I’ve removed the chair railing, painted the room from floor to ceiling, transformed the lighting situation with a stylish new fixture, added some gorgeous shiplap paneling, and even installed those trusty IKEA Havsta cabinets for all those toddler treasures and custom built a Montessori shelf!
The kids love this ball pit and the reversible climbing rainbow rocker. The rug adds a soft play space for us all but I’m not convinced i’ll keep it, and some of my favorite toys to incorporate on the shelves are the lovevery montessori ones!
The finish line is in sight, and I have no doubt that the end result will be absolutely epic. The kids will be having fun, and I’ll be the ultimate playroom hero.
