Inside: DIY Changing Table in one afternoon! My super affordable DIY change table Ikea Hack using the Kallax shelf as a base; plus extra baby change table ideas for your nursery space.

Preparing for a new baby is a daunting task. There are just so many things to consider and think about, not to mention costs start to add up very quickly. I’m all about keeping things simple and inexpensive – and that’s what we’ve done with this DIY Changing Table because it’s an Ikea hack! We are teaming up with Munchkin Canada to help us out with sharing this changing table DIY.

Update! We now have TWO kids and I’ve added to this post to show how we RE-PURPOSED this DIY Changing Table as another Ikea Hack for our second child. Scroll to the bottom of the post for what we kept, what we changed and how we adapted the changing table for baby number two.

If you’re interested in other Ikea Hacks (and I mean, who isn’t??) make sure you check out this post of ALL the Ikea hacks and products I’ve purchased and love. Plus you might also want to have a look at the amazing DIY Alphabet Wall I made for the nursery.

Elements you need on a DIY Changing Table

I’m sure most households have at least one or two pieces that can be easily converted into nursery furniture, which can save hundreds of dollars when planning for Baby. Search your house. Check the garage. I bet you’ve got something you can repurpose!  We are converting a standard Ikea bookshelf into our change table.

Munchkin is a favourite among parents on both sides of the border for all sorts of baby and toddler stuff – and I know I still have NO IDEA what life with a baby will be like, but I have a feeling all of these products will come in very handy.

I’m especially fond of the Sound and Light Machine… *coughs* I may or may not be using it for myself right now … 😉 and this super adorable, I can’t even, owl shaped night light lantern. I’ve got a few of the other things linked throughout this post. Update! My baby is now two-years old and this project is still the BEST EVER and every product I have in this post we STILL use!! 

How to make a DIY Changing Table

Here is our shelf before we touched it. It’s a basic Ikea shelf we’ve had for years.

First, I needed to make sure everything fit. So I placed this Secure Grip  Changing Pad and this Diaper Duty Organizer on top and a lamp to the left. There’s a spot on top of the caddy for a Mist Wipe Warmer too. I’m sure Froggy will appreciate having his/her bum cleaned with a warm wipe 😉

CHECK! Everything fit beautifully on top. Being a brand new Mom, I didn’t even realize we would have to strap the change pad down (duh!) I was pleased the straps on the change pad easily slipped into the shelf and clipped in without creating bulk, and more importantly, the change pad didn’t slip around at all.

Now to spruce it all up! We aren’t finding out the gender of the baby, so I’m decorating the room using tones of white, aquas, greys and metallics, with pops of wood tone here and there.

Off to The Home Depot to pick up six 8-foot lengths of pine 1x6s. The shelf is 59″ long and 31″ high, but we bought 8-foot boards. We cut them down using our  Mitre Saw and sanded them completely smooth. (Nobody wants a butt splinter!!)

Here are the cuts for the DIY changing table:

• six 60 3/8″ lengths

• six 30″ lengths

 

Remember, because this is an Ikea hack, you will want to double check the measurements of your Kallax unit before you make your cuts.

When we did this project, the Kallax was called the Expedit and the measurements were slightly different. So while I’ve given you the cut measurements we used, don’t hold me to them and take new measurements just to be on the safe side!

We stained the boards using Minwax Stain Wipes in Natural Oak. I LOVE these stain wipes The clean-up is a breeze and you don’t need all those harsh mineral spirits, so it’s preggo friendly.  Once dry, we placed the boards along the shelf, making sure to line them up. 

Update: after doing this post, I found a new brand of water based stain that has even better clean up and NO smells! You can read about my experiences with SamaN wood stain here.

We did the long sides first and then the short sides, allowing the longer sides to hang over the exact width of the shorter sides so it was all flush. Secure with a nail gun! Make sure it’s set so the nails sink right into the wood instead of sitting on top.

Voila! Whoa. It’s starting to feel real 🙂 Also, Dan made me pose for this picture. LOL

What if you don’t want to use wood for your Ikea Hack DIY Changing Table?

No problem! You don’t have to use wood for this project. In fact, if you scroll down to the update on this post, you’ll see that we opted to move the wood to the playroom and purchase a new Ikea changing table for our next baby. (Same design though!)

I have taken similar shelves to the Kallax (or Expedit) and used a technique to wrap it in FABRIC instead of in wood! It turned out SO cute.

You can see the full tutorial for my Fabric-Wrapped Bookcase here (which can easily be applied to any cube style storage shelf).

If all else fails, you still have a BUNCH of other options for a changing table for your baby.

How to Stock your DIY Changing Table

Stocking this shelf with the supplies and products we have collected so far was even more fun (and emotional) than I thought it would be.

We filled the Diaper Organizer with teeny diapers, some bum cream, extra change pad protective covers (I’ve heard there will be explosive poops?!?), and a roll of dirty diaper garbage bags. These actually came with the Diaper Organizer. I joked because they look like the same kind of bags we use for Buddy poop. Goodness, I hope our baby doesn’t poop as big as our Rottweiler 😉

We’ve also got the diaper pail all ready to go – it’s The Step™ – Premium Diaper Pail and it works with the Puck™ Diaper Pail Baking Soda Cartridges and scented garbage bags as well. It will tuck away into the corner once the room is complete. We anticipate we will both like that it’s foot-pedal operated for when Baby is squirmy…

The change table is finished off with a combination of fabric bins and shallow wooden crates (that’ll be a little project I’ll show you later!) And some DIY wall art…which saved me a bundle and will also be on the blog soon. (Although, I still have my eye on these bear prints from Minted. Maybe for a play area in the family room?)

Directly beside the changing station is an old dining hutch that I’ve repurposed yet again. We bought it for $100 on Kijiji five years ago! It’s been in our dining room, my studio, my upstairs office and now the nursery. I clad the back in the same checkered paper as our little bookshelf to carry that theme through the room.

Related: Easy DIY – Changing Table with Hutch | Best Baby Cribs With Changing Tables

So there you go! How to organize a nursery and repurpose old furniture 🙂 Our crib and a few other items for the opposite wall have just arrived in the mail. So we’ll be getting to work on the rest of the room very soon. 

[UPDATE] DIY Changing Table for Baby Number Two!

As I mentioned at the top of this post, we did this Ikea change table hack for our first born, but a few short years later we welcomed another baby. This Kallax changing table worked so well, that we did it again for our second child, but switched things up slightly.

As you can see from the photo, the wood version of this change table hack did not last to our second baby! In fact, it moved down to the playroom because it was so convenient for stashing toys and books.

We ended up buying a NEW Ikea unit to use as a change table and opted to keep it wood free. We reorganized the set up slightly, but for the most part we stuck with the same changing pad and diaper supply set up as well as the baskets and caddies beneath.

 

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