Parents-to-be Morgan and Scott wrote in to share their marvelous crib project. They call it a "hack" - we call it an upgrade! They were inspired by some of the Ikea Gulliver makeovers they've seen here, but ended up using another crib instead. Read on for more details...

While the simple Gulliver seems to be Ikea's most popular, Morgan and Scott changed their minds when they saw the slightly more expensive Leksvik. Here's Morgan: We realized that the Leksvik shared the Gulliver's hack-friendly design, but came in a stain that would allow us to imitate the look of the Netto Case Group line that we had originally fallen in love with. As a result, our crib is constructed of Leksvik Rails and base, custom built sides (2×4 framing, plywood shell, and organic non VOC paint to finish it off) and a remnant in the same "antique" stain from Ikea’s AS-IS department makes for the matching shelf below. In order to offset the higher price tag of the Leksvik, we found a gently used one on Craigslist for 40$, bringing the entire cost of the crib to just under $200.

Scott gets credit for the labor (Morgan will do her laboring later) and you can see some in-progress pictures and read more on their blog, The 818. All told, their super-stylish, modern, one-of-a-kind crib cost about $200. Thanks for this diy inspiration and good luck with the rest of your daughter's nursery!

Examples of Gulliver hacks can be found here, here and here.