These items have proven themselves time and again to be worthwhile investments.
1. The Sansad Stool looks great and has plenty of room underneath the lid for storage. We use them with the matching table for our daughter's art table and keep bins of crayons, markers, and other art supplies in them. It couldn't be easier to clean up the table after she's done creating.
2. Expedit: This workhorse makes up for its larger size with its versatility. It can be filled with bins for baby clothes and later used to display toys or books. It can also be used as a room divider in a shared space.
3. Antilop Highchair: is much less bulky than most, and very easy to break down and store if you need to keep it around for a second child.
4. Gulliver Crib: This crib is simple in design and has a much smaller footprint than most cribs out there.
5. The Malm can double as dresser and changing table, also with a very small footprint.
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The Billy bookcase takes up even less floor space and has the options of pretty glass or custom doors.
The Antilop...one of my best infant-hood purchases, hands down. Comfortable, spotless with zero effort every day, lasted until she was two, broke down to nothing in the attic and cost $20. I agree.
Ditto on the Antilop. I paid $25 to have one shipped, and it was still worth it.
Love the Antilop, we took it on an airplane once - legs and tray in the big checked suitcase and hand-carried the chair part. Plus it is super easy to clean, which is my biggest selling point in any food-related baby item.
I also love, love, love our Antilop. I was just thinking about how my son is still using his for most meals at 2, just because it's so darn easy. It doesn't take up a bunch of room, is so easy to clean, isn't all huge and bulky and cumbersome like the $100+ highchairs I've seen. I recommend it to all new parents.
Know what the A in Antilop stands for? Awesome, that's what.
Awesome picks! We've had some bad experiences with Expedits getting damaged during shipping (we don't live close to an IKEA), but we still love them.
The Expedit & Antilop are my top favorites (from a long list of ikea faves). I use the expedit for my laundry room - ALL my 3 oldest kids' clothes are in it! Check it out in my blog:
http://craftandcackle.blogspot.com/2011/03/good-things.html
THe Antilop chair is great, but it takes a lot of space, so we didn't buy it. Be used the high chair my husband used as child, and it takes far less floor space and cost nothing. I used the Antilop chair at friend's, and didn't like the wide feet, as it made it hard to circulate in a tiny kitchen.
We have the Gulliver crib, and absolutely love it. When we bought it we were in a one-bedroom, and the primary criteria we had for a crib was width - so it would fit through a doorway! It worked great, and gave us a little more flexibility since we could move the crib around. The Gulliver was by far the most reasonbly priced full-size crib with that footprint.
Ditto on the Antilop chair, we got one to use for using at friends' houses. Very worth it! We also used the Gulliver crib and have Expedit shelving for storing toys. The Malm also doubled as a changing table for us. Yes, we love Ikea too!