Nursery Change Table Topper DIY

Since we've posted about our nursery, one of the most asked questions we've had, has been "how did you make the change table topper in your nursery?". We had never done a post on it, as we didn't think it would be such a popular question, but based on your requests, here it is!

When we were designing the nursery, we decided that we wanted to get a dresser for the room rather than an actual change table. We think change tables are great, however based on the design of the room, we decided on getting the Ikea Hemnes 8-Drawer Dresser. We changed out the knobs to personalize it a bit, but otherwise left it as it.

We chose this dresser because it was the perfect height and depth to act as a change table as well as function as a dresser for a nursery (lots of drawers and storage). We could have just put a change pad on top of the dresser and been done with it, but I really liked the look of the topper and felt it gave a more finished look to the room (as well as making the dresser feel more like an actual change table).

So I scoured for change table toppers online. I looked for used ones and couldn't find any. I looked for new ones and couldn't afford any (the cheapest one I found was $100!). So I started to research on how we could do our own. I came across an excellent tutorial from Meg Made and used this as a bit of a guide, however we adjusted it a bit.

So here's how we did it!

DIY'ing your own Nursery Change Table Topper.

1. Purchase a change pad. Before doing anything you want to make sure you have your change pad so you can create your change table topper to fit. Most change pads are a standard size (32 x 16), but you still want to be sure.

2. Design your topper. I wanted a simple design and we determined that we didn't need a base on the topper- just the frame itself. I wanted the frame to be just a bit higher than the actual change pad as well.

3. We went off to Home Depot and purchased 2 pieces of MDF trim that were 84" length and 4" high. The actual change pad was just over 3" high, and I wanted the frame to be just a bit taller than the actual pad, which is why we chose 4". We calculated that we would make each long side 33" long and the short sides 17.5" deep. So when we added that up (33 x 2 and 17.5 x 2) we ended up with 101" plus a bit of extra for waste, so 2 pieces 84" long would work fine.

4. We cut the pieces to size on a 45 degree angle in order to make a nice smooth corner and this allowed the pieces to fit together nicely:

5. After the pieces were cut, we simply nailed them together (using small nails and a hammer, if you have a nail gun, even better), filled the nail holes with wood filler and once dry, sanded and then painted. We opted to paint the topper Simply White by Benjamin Moore, a. because we have a ton of it (all the trim in our home is painted that colour) and b. because it blended well with the colour of the dresser. If you were planning on staining your table topper, you would need to buy actual wood trim, rather than MDF, in order to be able to stain it.

6. Lastly, once it was dry, we added some rubber feet to the bottom of the topper so that it wouldn't slide around on the dresser. Done!

So there you go. Simple, easy and cost us less than $30.00.

I hope this helps all of you who were inquiring on making the topper yourselves, it's really a simple easy project that in the end, can save you a bit of money and looks great!

Melissa and Ian

Nursery Reveal

The nursery is finished! I think...
It's hard for me to say that we're officially done with the nursery since I constantly think of new things I want to add, but I'm doing my best to try and leave it alone for now :)

For me, the nursery was something that I spent a great deal of time planning in my mind. I had saved ideas for years and once we found out we were pregnant, it was one of the things I was most excited to start. We knew we had definite ideas for a boy or girl nursery and since we are having a little boy, the nursery has been decorated in a way which we felt said "boy".

In my previous post, I mentioned that it was hard for us to describe the nursery under a specific theme. We really felt that the nursery was a collection of things we loved, things that represented us, and things that we hoped the baby would enjoy now...or eventually :) We stuck to a neutral/calming colour palette and included rustic elements.

There are a lot of elements to the nursery that we created or made ourselves, which may be why it took us so long to put together. We love how the nursery has turned out. It may not be the typical nursery, but for us its perfect and we love it.

We chose to focus on texture as well. Metals, woods, soft fabrics were all used to add interest to the space.

 

Our crib is the "Olivia" crib from Baby Mod. You can read about our crib search here. In the end, we ended up not liking the 'amber' colour that the crib base came in (it didn't match with our hardwood floors), so we opted to have it stripped and stained darker. We love how it turned out and it matches exactly with our floors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't want to hang anything large or heavy above the crib, so when I came across these vintage letters on Etsy, spelling out the baby's initials, I knew they would be perfect. They are super light and we stuck them to the wall with some heavy duty double sided tape that we found at Home Depot. A sales associate recommended it to us, as this tape is used to hang house numbers on brick and it worked out great. We've had the letters hanging there for about 3 months so we figure they're pretty much stuck there!

 

The baby's name has been decided for quite some time (we talked names on our honeymoon 4 years ago!), but we're waiting until the baby is born before we share it with the world. There are a few pictures in this post where I've edited the baby's name out of the pictures (and replaced it with a mustache!)

We also hung a handmade mobile above the crib that has a rustic (and also slightly Canadian!) theme to it and feel it goes perfectly with the style of the nursery.

Our nursery chair works well in the space and most importantly, it's SO comfortable! You can read about our search for the nursery chair and what we eventually decided on here. I feel it will be a chair that we can work into multiple spaces and the neutral colour also helps with that.

 

Rather than opt for the matching foot stool, I chose this dark leather poof that I found on Etsy and it is gorgeous! It's handmade and I love how it adds a new element to the space. I've seen similar ones for hundreds of dollars on some designer sites, however this one from Etsy was much cheaper and the quality is superb.

 

 

The print on the wall above the chair was made for us by a good friend. I also added a handmade pillow cover to a pillow I had, along with a cozy throw from Indigo and a bunny from a special friend to the chair.

 

 

You might have also noticed the lamp behind the chair. I noticed this lamp used in another nursery and loved how unconventional it was. I had seen lamps like this at Restoration Hardware and other designer stores for hundreds of dollars and since that wasn't in the budget I didn't expect to find one. However, one day I popped into HomeSense and there it was sitting there. For $69.99 it was too good to pass up. The brass colour matches the ceiling light exactly and it definitely fills up that corner of the room too.

 

 

 

The only thing missing on this side of the room is a little end table for beside the chair. I never ended up finding that little brass one from Target I put a call for help out for on our Facebook page a while back, but I know I'll come across something sooner or later that works in the space.

 

 

 

We chose the Ikea Hemnes 8-drawer dresser for a change table/dresser and its perfect- tons of storage, perfect size for a change table and nice clean lines to work in the room.

We also opted for different knobs on the dresser. I had some old black glass knobs hanging around that my dad had given me and chose to paint them a nice light grey.

 

 

 

Ian made the change table topper for me. I searched online and the cheapest one I could find was over $150.00, so we decided to make our own. It ended up costing us less than $20.00 and it's designed exactly to size for the dresser. I would highly recommend making one if you can...later I'll be doing up a blog post about exactly how we made ours to hopefully give you some direction!

 

Ian also found some pieces of wood in the cold room in our basement (left there from the previous homeowners), that he felt would work perfectly for shelving. We loved the rustic feel to the wood and the pieces were the exact right size. We cleaned them off and lightly sanded them as well. One piece we kept whole to act as the longer shelf above the dresser and the other we cut in half to act as 2 shelves on an opposite wall.

 

 

 

 

 

Beside the dresser we chose to put up a family photo collage. We added in pictures of many of the male relatives of Baby B including Ian, both grandparents and some of the great-grand parents, etc. The frames we purchased all over- Target, Walmart, Ikea, second hand, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

We also wanted to create a little reading area for the baby to have (once he starts looking at books of course!) so we cut the other piece of wood in half to create 2 small shelves. Ian purchased some rustic looking nails at Lee Valley Tools and hammered them into the wood so that the books would eventually sit on the shelves (and not slide off the front).

 

 

For now, we chose to frame some adorable prints from Etsy for the shelves.

We couldn't forget to include our little handmade rocking horse (that we scored from a thrift store a while back for only $12!) as well.

We also adore the little vintage roadster style car, I was given by some special friends at my baby shower a few months back. Ian and I registered for it at Indigo last winter and knew it would be an awesome addition to the room! Since receiving this car, I've seen it pop in in so many nursery spaces, and honestly it is such a cute little car it doesn't really surprise me!

 

Lastly, the closet system that Ian installed a few months ago has come in VERY handy. Its allowed me to organize so much of the supplies for the baby, clothes, books, etc. I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful work colleagues who threw me a book shower for the baby and I ended up with a full library! For now, the closet is housing Baby B's extensive collection.

Seriously, I love that he has so many books already!

 

and check out his pretty awesome shoe collection:

 

 

In the end, we're really happy with how the space has turned out. I still have a few other items I'm adding (something for the door, a handmade wooden box for the dresser etc), but we'll see if I get to finishing them before the baby arrives.

For now, I think the nursery has all we need and hopefully Baby B will be comfortable in here :)

We've added a source list below, but feel free to leave us a comment if we've forgotten something! We hope you've enjoyed our nursery :)

Melissa and Ian


Source List:

Crib- Baby Mod (Olivia Crib): Walmart
Dresser/Change Table- Hemnes 8-Drawer Dresser: Ikea
Knobs on Dresser- Vintage/Handmade
Glider- Newco International Grand Bella Velvet Glider: Walmart.com
Vintage Style Roadster- Indigo (gift)
Rocking Horse- Vintage (Second Hand)
CLB Letters above crib- TheOldTimeJunkShop: Etsy
Moroccan Poof- Marauthentics: Etsy
Pillow on Gilder- Studio Pillow: Etsy
Mobile- (gift) Pi'lo
Area rug- Costco- similar
Sheepskin Rugs- Ikea
Orchid (plastic) flower on Dresser- HomeSense
Frames- Target, Walmart, HomeSense, Ikea, Second Hand
Floor Lamp- HomeSense
Ceiling Light- HomeSense
Curtains- Lenda: Ikea
Bamboo Blinds- Walmart
Curtain rod and rings- Walmart
Crib Skirt- Indigo (no longer available)
Crib Sheet- Dwell Studio: Snugglebugz
Shelving- Handmade
Dinosaur on shelf- Zuny: Indigo
Stuffed bear on shelf- Second Hand
Print on Shelf- "I love you to the Moon and Back" (MyFabulessLife): Etsy
Print on Shelf- "Our little Man" (T3DesignsCo): Etsy
Change Pad table topper: Handmade
Change Pad: Babies R Us
Change Pad sheet: Handmade by my mom :)
ZigZag Bin beside crib and in closets: Pehr Designs- Indigo
Woodland Bunny on glider: (gift) Indigo
Lamp on Dresser: Walmart
Musical lamb hanging from shelf above dresser: Indigo
Garbage Bin- Target
Pillow in crib (for pictures only!)- Handmade by me
Stuffed animals in crib- (gifts)

Wall Colour: Pelican - ICI/Dulux Paints
Trim Colour: Simply White - Benjamin Moore

Master Bedroom Reveal

You've seen bits and pieces of our master bedroom through our nightstand and headboard posts, and we're finally ready to show you the full reveal!

 

So here it is, our long awaited master bedroom reveal! We chose to keep a light and bright colour palette, similar to the rest of the room's we've made over in our home so far and also keeping in line with our master ensuite.

 

The walls were painted a light grey blue and we stuck with a white, blue, green and grey colour palette. We actually painted the walls after getting some chairs for the bedroom and used the fabric as a jumping off point for colours. We then found the curtains at Ikea on clearance and liked how they grounded the space with a darker teal colour in the same colour family.  Our only mistake, was that this made it very hard to find a fabric for the headboard that incorporated all of these colours. We finally came across this fabric from Tonic Living:

 

Via

 

So that fabric, fortunately for us, had all of the colours in our room in it...and matched pretty perfectly, so it was a no brainer. We used it to upholster our headboard and create a few pillows with the left over fabric.  All we have left at this point is to hang the photos sitting on our nightstands, and maybe to put something above the headboard on the wall. I have a few ideas in mind, but we'll see what we end up with.

 

Before we show you the reveal, lets look back as to how this room looked when we first moved into this house:

 

 

Very red, very yellow and very much not our style. So we pretty much started over. The laminate floors were ripped out and replaced with dark bamboo, the walls were painted, window coverings replaced, light fixtures changed, all door hardware replaced...it was a complete overhaul.

 

So here it is, the master bedroom reveal!

  

You might remember our post on when we re-did this dresser, but if not you can refresh your memory here. The dresser is from Ikea and it was not originally white, so we painted it ourselves in Benjamin Moore "Simply White". All of the trim, doors and baseboards in our house have also been done in "Simply White".

 

We added in a rug from Costco, which we had planned to move to our family room, once the new floors are installed. However, Clover loves the rug and so do we, so if we replace it, the new one will need to be just as cozy! The curtains are from Ikea, and although they look quite blue in the photos, they are actually much more of a teal colour.

Our nightstands were made over with a fresh colour and new knobs. We blogged about that transformation here.

 

 

We get a great deal of light in this room (and the light colours certainly help, but I love how the room always feels light, bright and relaxing.

 

Our vanity chair was also made over in the same colour as our nightstands, you can read about that here, and we love how these pieces nicely fill up this corner of the room. Plus it's a great space for me to use when getting ready if the bathroom's occupied.

 

 

We chose 2 slipper chairs for the space by the window (both from HomeSense) and they became a starting point for the colour palette for this room.

 

 

 

Another few shots of the gorgeous natural light this room gets (and how BLUE they make the curtains appear!).

 

 

Overall, we absolutely love this space. The bedroom, ensuite and closet colours all work perfectly together and we definitely gravitate towards light bright colours. We feel relaxed and happy when coming into this room, and that's most important to us.

 

Many of the projects in this room were purchased second hand and we re-did them ourselves, as well as many of the major aspects:

- Painting the entire space

- Designing the space (as well as the master ensuite which you can read about here and closet which you can read about here)

- Installing the floors

- Painting the dresser

- Creating the headboard

- Painting the vanity table

- Painting and upholstering the vanity chair

- Painting the small table between the side chairs

- Hemming the curtains

 

We truly feel our hardwork has paid off and the change is exactly what we were hoping for:

 

We only have a few things left to do: hang the photos beside the bed, finish up with what we want to do to the wall behind the bed and that's about it!

 

 

We've compiled a source list of everything in our master bedroom. If there is an item we have not listed and you would like to know where we got it please post a comment and we will reply!

 

Dresser- Ikea

Headboard- DIY Project

Headboard Fabric- Tonic Living

Nightstands- HomeSense

Vintage style Telephone- Sears

Picture Frames on Nightstands- Wal-Mart

Lights on Nightstands- HomeSense

Slipper Chairs- HomeSense

Side Table- Second Hand

Picture Frame on side table- Gift from Shannon at Burlap and Lace :)

Small Hydrangea Plant on side table and on nightstand- HomeSense

Vanity Table- Second Hand DIY Project

Vanity Chair- Second Hand DIY Project

Mirror above Vanity Table- Second Hand DIY Project

Plant on Vanity- HomeSense

Light on Vanity- HomeSense

Jewelry box- HomeSense

Bench- HomeSense

Tray on bench- HomeSense

Rug- Costco

Fireplace- Canadian Tire

Vase on Fireplace- HomeSense

Judy- HomeSense

Plant Pot- Ikea

Wooden Box- HomeSense

Bedding- HomeSense

Throw- HomeSense

Pillows- HomeSense

Ceiling Fixture- HomeSense

Mirror above dresser- Sears

Lamp on Dresser- HomeSense

Vase and flower on Dresser- HomeSense

Love sign- gift from our friend Lauren at our wedding :)

Picture Frame on Dresser- Indigo

Curtains- Ikea (clearance)

Curtain Rods- Lowes

Knobs on dresser and nightstands- Home Depot

 

Paint Colours:

Walls: "Reflecting Pool"- ICI/Duluxe Paints

Trim/baseboards: "Simply White"- Benjamin Moore

Dresser and vanity table: "Simply White"- Benjamin Moore

Nightstands/Vanity Chair: "Polar Jade"- Benjamin Moore

 

 

We hope you all enjoy this space as much as we do! Now off to relax :)

 

Melissa and Ian

 

 

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