Personal Statement

Personal Statement

Friday, May 27, 2011

Things I'm Digging: Expedit Bookcases


Hello, my name is Kathryn, and I am a serial Expedit bookcase purchaser.

Each of my boys' rooms features two of these IKEA workhorses - one standing upright, and one oriented horizontally. When turned on the side, the long top surface is perfect for displaying LEGO projects and other collectibles, and collapsible storage cubes fit in them perfectly, holding clothes and toys of all types. I [heart] them so much that I got one for my work office, bringing our Expedit total to five.

Apparently, I am not alone in my admiration of the Expedit. June's Elle Decor magazine featured this custom loft bed, constructed around what appears to be the same birch model that graces my kids' rooms:


The day after my Elle Decor arrived, HGTV ran an episode of "Design on a Dime" that involved a redo of a basement family room.  The designers faced two challenges:  splitting the space into separate areas for adults and children, and working around two ugly load-bearing columns.  Their solution:  create a divider by paneling the columns with wood stained to match a low bookcase unit spanning the between-column space.  Except they didn't start from scratch on the bookcase unit . . . .   Yup, you guessed it - they bought an Expedit, plopped it in the middle, built shelving on either side to tie in to the columns, and stained everything to match the Expedit's "black-brown effect."  (Swedish to English translation:  "espresso stain.")

So that's two - count 'em, TWO - big-time designers in as many days who thought that the eight-square Expedit model - at the bargain price of $69.99 - was enough of a design star to merit building custom furniture around it.  Feeling pretty justified in my devotion now.

Found one more interesting use of an Expedit on the Pawsome Web site:  this Expedit-turned-hamster-habitat-on-steroids


Proof that even rodents appreciate classic Swedish design.

No comments: