Refurbished Changing Table

So I have had a changing table "dilemma" for quite a while now... but we finally got it figured out!

Here's the dilemma:
Most Moms I know change their babies on the floor. It's very practical because there is always one where you are and there are no worries about a baby rolling off the table. I've even changed a few diapers on the floor.

Our problem is this... 1) Steven will not get on the floor to save his life... well... maybe to save his life... but he just doesn't like to do it... he will bend over and hurt his back before he gets on the floor... 2) both of us already struggle with bad backs... having the baby at counter height might help reduce visits to the chiropractor... 3) storage!... we need it big time in our baby room.

So we decided we wanted a changing table... kinda. We didn't want to spend much money on one (or have someone buy one for us) because we weren't sure if we would use it or if it would work for us. We looked at Target, but the changing tables in the baby section looked like changing tables and what do you do with those things after your babies grow up? Then we looked at chest of drawers. Great idea, but we wanted to wait to buy John a chest of drawers after we get him a "big-boy" bed.... just so that things match.

While all this was rolling around in my brain (over the coarse of a couple of days), I noticed an old dresser sitting out on the curb across the street. I walked over to investigate and the drawers were shot, but the main part was in decent condition. I drug it home and noticed some plywood sitting out on the other side of the street. A neighbor helped me get some of that to our backyard. Here is the "before" picture...



I used the plywood (and screws pulled from it) to make the drawers into shelves. Then I checked our paint stash in our shed. I kinda wanted to paint the table green or brown, but I thought the only colors we had were beige and white. Turns out we had green. The green we used to paint our kitchen. It also happens to match the baby room stuff perfectly! I sanded down the table, used the last of some primer we had in the shed and painted it up in one afternoon!

For storage we are going to use six baskets on the two shelves. That way we can pull one with diaper supplies into the living room if we want to do changes on the floor... and we can use the baskets for baby toy storage... or extra outfits. I went ahead and purchased one to make sure it matched, but the rest are on our Target registry... along with the changing table pad... so the table looks a little unfinished. As you can see we are already in need of storage and we haven't even had our shower yet! We have been very blessed to receive much from friends and family already.

The best part about this table is that I didn't spend a single cent refurbishing it! Actually I found a penny in the process of cleaning it up! So, if it works out we don't like the idea of a changing table or when our baby days are done we can keep the baskets for some other storage need in our house and toss the table with out feeling guilty.

*** the "John Class Of 2032" was made for us by Steven's little sister's boyfriend... fun, huh?