Pick one: $7,000 school room make-over or bookcases from Ikea

[DB in NJ]

I have NO CLUE what to do here.

 

My mother has offered to pay a carpenter $7,000 to install cabinets, drawers, counter tops, etc. to make us a nice school room. We have a living room and family room, so we use what's supposed to be the formal living room as a school room. Right now it's a hodge-podge of stuff. She's willing to pay the guy. He brought some drawings tonight of what he wants to do. It includes the counter that would wrap around half of the room, bookcases up on the walls above the counter, drawers underneath the counter, and 4 "work stations" with lighting, etc.

 

My other option is to just get some bookcases from Ikea (with the doors on them, kwim?). This would obviously be a LOT less expensive!

 

One of the reasons I'm torn is that I don't want to feel obligated to "do school" at the work stations. I mean, we do sit at the kitchen table and do our math and grammar and spelling....but we love sitting together in the living room to do our Sonlight stuff. Obviously, there's no law saying we can't do that, but I just don't want to feel *obligated*.

 

On the other hand, the cabinets and shelves and drawers and counter....oh my. They look beautiful! It would be really, really nice.

 

It's late. I'm tired. I don't want to see my mother spend that much money when she doesn't have to.

 

Decisions, decisions....

 

So, what would you do?

[Claire]

I would get the Ikea furniture. You could actually design a room using Ikea bookcases, filing cabinets and countertops from Menard's or Home Depot, etc. Custom is nice, but it's *permanent*. I like to be able to re-purpose rooms as our needs and interests change, and I like flexibility.

[profmom]

Would the carpenter's work be a permanent part of the room? If so, I don't think I'd like that -- unless...are you planning to keep your house forever?

 

(And now I'm off to look at Ikea bookcases with doors at their website!)

[E_Edgerton]

Wow! That is quite generous of your mom. However, maybe I am just being cheap here...I usually am:glare:...but couldn't that money go to a savings account for the kids' college. Or maybe curriculum, texts, other resources, and several amazing field trips. I just feel like some shelving from Ikea would do just fine, especially since it won't be a school room forever. Good luck making a big decision. :)

[abbeyej]

Wow, it sounds lovely to me!

 

And I don't think you'd feel guilty about doing work elsewhere -- but it would give everyone their own space for "seat work" when you *are* working on separate things...

 

It sounds like it's something your mother would like to do for you?

 

But then, my experience with a number of Ikea bookshelves has been less than stellar. I'm much happier with the real wood ones we bought (unfinished and painted ourselves).

 

I vote go for it!

[Pink Fairy]

Ummm....if my mom could comfortably afford to spend $7,000 on a customized school room set up, and if I had a good relationship with my mom and she wanted to do it out of love, I would TOTALLY get the $7,000 school room (learning room, atrium, whatever you want to call it--it's all the same to me :001_smile:). I have IKEA bookcases--they're okay, but not great quality. If you are in it for the long haul, I say go for the custom job. And let me ease your mind--we have a school room, which we love and use every day, but we also use the living room, kitchen, dining room, and the kids' bedrooms. You can still do school all over the place, but I think it's nice to have a central location to keep all your supplies and projects at the end of the day.

[Jami]

Well I think the built-in shelves and drawers around the room sound wonderful! I'm not *sure* about the work stations, depends on the ages of your kids maybe. Mine need to be right near me still. ;) And teens may prefer to have desks in their rooms.

 

How about really lovely shelves and cabinets, real wood that look like they belong in the room naturally and then the rest of the money goes for books to fill them! :D

 

I have several IKEA shelves, and they're okay, we went with wood rather than particle board. But I love a coordinated, built-in sort of space if I can get it. :)

 

Jami

[Old Dominion Heather]

Could you talk to the carpenter guy about his plans and rework them to include more shelving, less work stations and maybe a big work table for the center of the room? If so, I would go with that, absolutely. If your mom is willing to pay that much, I would expect to have some say on the plans.

[Nestof3]

I'd take the room (how awesome!), but show her my ideas to make it more homey, relaxing, fun. I would have shelves with aquariums and a microscope. I would have an art table. There would be cozy chairs and baskets with books.

[Sasharowan]

We are in the process of building floor to ceiling bookshelves on our dining room walls. Five of them contain a dropdown desk that when closed hides all their school mess (and keep pencils from the 2yo) and when open gives them a workstation. So far, we have 2 finished for the oldest 2. My dd8 loves her and uses it daily, ds12 only uses his for storage and keeps working at the table(but then he has always been the most resistant to change).

[Colleen]

I honestly wouldn't want my parents shelling out seven grand for something like that. (Granted, since they aren't in a position to do so, I'm speaking theoretically.) Having a "school-ish" room just isn't high on my list of priorities. If blessing you financially is important to your mother, I'd ask her to consider another means of doing so. Educational vacations/field trips come to mind, for example.

[momto3]

I would definately choose the school room. Built-ins are a huge selling feature in a home when the time does come. I would want doors on at least the bottom bookcases so I could store other things and still get a nice, neat appearance.

 

By the way, what a blessing to have such support from your Mom. She must be a wonderful help and encouragement.

[Beth in OH]

We've just finished house hunting for a move we're making in about a month. When we went into a home with built-ins, I really had to thinkg about whether they would work with our lifestyle and what "stuff" we would put on them. There were a couple of houses that I decided "no" because of the built-ins.

 

I would go for flexibility and buy the IKEA shelves.

 

Beth

[A.J. at J.A.]

We've just finished house hunting for a move we're making in about a month. When we went into a home with built-ins, I really had to thinkg about whether they would work with our lifestyle and what "stuff" we would put on them. There were a couple of houses that I decided "no" because of the built-ins.

 

I would go for flexibility and buy the IKEA shelves.

 

Beth

 

This was kind of my thought. We school in the "would be" dining room. If we decorated that up permanently as a school-room that would be a total downer for potential buyers and even us as our lives change. I'd say ask for some really really nice shelves, cabinets that aren't built-ins (no experience here with IKEA but I see mixed reviews above), and maybe the difference can go to an educational vacation. My boys would love to go Africa. Would $7K cover that?

 

Angela

[Quiver0f10]

I would do it in a heartbeat! However, I would design the area how I wanted it and how it would work best for my family. Can you sit down with the carpenter and tell him what you want and go from there.

 

Also, can your mom adopt me? :D

[Nestof3]

Could you have one done for $5,000 and then buy $2,000 in books and supplies?

 

Wow -- I do believe I'm salivating! :tongue_smilie:

[katilac]

Ikea bookshelves and a custom built school room aren't the only two choices, though, right? :D

 

I would probably discourage my mom from spending more than is needed, but if she offered seven grand initially, I'd get something much nicer than Ikea bookshelves. Look at furniture stores, educator stores, etc and get some different ideas. I'd probably go for a mix of built-in shelves and moveable pieces.

[DB in NJ]

Thank you all so much for your input. I was up almost all night thinking this through! I'm exhausted! LOL

 

My mother lives here with us. She's *very* supportive of us, and she totally spoils us (blesses us, I should say) with 2 weeks down the shore every year. She isn't rich by any means, but she hardly has any expenses. This is what she chooses to do with her money.

 

She is also looking at this as an investment in her home (like I said, she lives with us; it's her house too). I really need some kind of solution to the storage nightmare that is my "school room." She has said that the carpenter is one option, bookcases from Ikea is another option, and we could even go looking at furniture and office stores to see what they have, which would be yet another option.

 

The more I think about it, the more I'd rather see that money go toward a new roof or new countertops (they're really ugly) and paint to re-do the kitchen cabinets. Which brings me to my next question (and maybe this should be a separate post)....have any of you ever painted your kitchen cabinets? Do the cabinets look like they're globbed with paint or did they come out nice?

 

Thanks again, ladies!! I really appreciate your input and honesty.

[OnTheBrink]

If you're wanting the room to be more school-friendly, I'd ask for nice book cases that can be moved later, maybe one countertop area for messy things and then a nice table and maybe a sofa area for reading. Nothing permanently attached so if you ever move, it's not a hassle to make the room back into what it's supposed to be.

 

But then again, I hear you on the counter tops in the kitchen; mine are mauve (barfarama!).

 

I think it's lovely your mom wants to help you like this!

[DB in NJ]

I did a search for home office furniture and found quite a few very nice options!

 

I just don't feel right with her spending that kind of money on our temporary use of a room. Kitchen counters? Yep! But permanent cabinets in what's supposed to be the "formal living room"? No way. I just can't do it.

 

I feel a tremendous sense of relief here! LOL She said she just wants to do whatever I want, she's fine with it whatever I choose to do. Is she wonderful or what?!

 

I asked her if she wanted me to call the contractor or if she was going to do it. She said that she'd do it next week, when we get back from NC (we leave tonight). When I asked if she was worried about if he'd be mad or not she said, "No. I don't know this guy. If he wants me to pay for his time so far, that's fine, but no. I could care less if he gets mad." LOL She's definitely stronger than I am. I'd be scared stiff to call him and tell him that we're doing something else. LOL

 

So now I'm looking for stuff like this. What do ya think?

[Sunny]

My dh is a painter, and he has painted MANY kitchen cabinets. If you brush them yourselves, of course they will not look like they came that way. If you pay someone with a good sprayer and quality work, you can convert your old wood to newly painted cabinets. Warning, they need to be good quality to begin with. We painted ours because they needed something, but I always wished we could have just replaced them because they were from the 60's and were poorly designed in the first place. Lots of unusable corner spaces and way too deep.

 

We just put in built ins for the school room. We have 2 kids, and we only made one wall with 2 spaces. It has turned out really nice. We use it as our home office and computer space when the boys are not using it for school. It is a well used room of the house. We put a built in bookcase in another room of the house because that was where the space was, but our "school" room has a nice big closet we use for all the school books and supplies. Above each desk is a small bank of shelves with the middle of both desks and shelves room for drawers and above cabinet. It looks nice and is tidy for the room. It cost us no where near 7k. We did paint grade and dh painted them. We put in formica counters. I think it as around 3k. Email me and I think I can email a picture, I don't know how to put one on this message.

[TraceyS/FL]

I have furniture by Tech Line. They don't make the stuff i have any longer :( BUT, it is awesome stuff and totally customizable to match your space. It's not cheap - but worth the $$. I have 18" deep stuff which is nice because it holds my 12" scrapbooks!!!

 

http://www.techlineusa.com/

 

Anyway, enjoy the getting organized! My parents (who used to live here with us) just bought a bunch of the Billy (?) Bookcases from IKEA, they did the maybe 12-5" wide ones? But they are nice and they are FULL of books. FULL.

 

Have a fun trip!!!

[Tap]

We have a school room in progress and are designing it to resemble a library, so when we sell the house we can list it as a library/den/office space. If they are free standing furniture they can be moved when you sell or negotiated in and left for the new buyers. We went with IKEA Billy bookcases with some glass, and some 1/2 doors. When the wall was all put together it really looks nice. I know it is not heirloom furniture but it will serve us well for our homeschooling years. I also liked that I could get desks to match. We bought desks that have folding legs, are rectangular and the size of a small conference table. I wanted to be able to easily move the desks together if we want to do a large art/science project or to move them down stairs for parties. We are moving to laptop computers for the kids with the $$ we saved to keep their desks clear for moving around. They have worked great so far. I have less than $1000 into the project and have covered a 16ft wall and another 8ft, plus desks and accessories.

[MommyX8]

I'd go with the carpenter.

 

Most of the IKEA stuff is MIC, and you would be much better off with a carpenter.

[keptwoman]

I'd go with the Ikea stuff. We have a lot of Ikea furniture, and while a few pieces are a bit flimsy, most are very sturdy. That way if you have to move you can take your school room with you. You can also move things around as your needs change.

[Harriet Vane]

I have not painted kitchen cabinets, but I have done other furniture.

 

The best option is to use a professional with a sprayer.

 

However, the cheaper option that will work out pretty well is this:

 

1. Remove doors from cabinets and work with all pieces separately. Also remove hardware (don't try to paint around knobs or hinges--just remove it).

 

2. Lightly sand all surfaces.

 

3. Wipe with tack cloth or damp cloth. Make sure there is no dust or grease.

 

4. Use a small, smooth foam roller for painting. Plan to do multiple thin coats rather than fewer thick ones. Apply a thin coat of primer. Do this carefully and meticulously, trying to get it as even as possible.

 

5. Let dry thoroughly (minimum of 4 hours or more).

 

6. Continue applying coats of paint until it looks "right." Use the roller. Keep the coats of paint thin, and keep rollering and spreading paint around until it is nice and even.

 

Make sure you carefully roller or wipe off any drips as they occur. Do not allow any thick, globby spots or drippiness.

 

Doing this meticulously really does yield a good result. I have gotten compliments on the way that this transforms furniture.