Our Ikea Hack

I love Ikea and am always dreaming about putting new ikea things in our house, which Rocky has never liked until now. I showed him the Besta range and how versatile it is and what you can do with it. We wanted a built in buffet/wine/bar area in our dining room. The besta product was the best option but it was a bit short at one end. I was happy to leave a gap but no Rocky said it would look dicky. So I was ready to walk away downhearted as my dream of having an awesome piece of ikea furniture in the house slipping away. Then Rocky had a light bulb moment. He came up with the idea of building a wine rack at the end to fill the gap. 

I was hesitant as I was worried about how much it was going to cost and what if it didn't turn out or didn't fit or just looked plain ridiculous and the worst amateurish!!! But I trust him so I said ok do it. As a little bit of a sign that it needed to be done sooner rather than later. Ikea put the whole Besta range on sale at 20% off for a week. I was sooo excited not only was I getting my ikea furniture I was getting it on sale.

So here are the progress photos with a bit of a description of how he did it aswell.

We used a Besta Shelf Unit 60x40x192 and extra shelves we had left over from the other parts of the besta products we had brought but didn’t need. He cut each shelf in half and cut out a slot in the middle of each half. 

He left one of the side pieces in tact (that is the piece that is up against the wall.) The other side piece he cut slots into at the back so that the shelves slotted into each one evenly spaced. He then cut the backing board to fit against the back of the shelves and nailed each side twice for extra stability. He then cut the top and bottom of the besta to fit the width we needed and drilled the screws into that to hold it together. 

Once it was ready to fit into the gap we pulled out the original Besta Shelf Unit and drilled holes into the top and bottom corners and did the same on the wine rack side. Then placed wooden dowels into the holes on one and pushed the two together. Then screwed it together in top, middle and bottom for extra stability. We then pushed the whole thing into the gap and secured the original Besta Shelf Unit to the wall so there is no chance of it falling over. We ended up with 32 spots for wine now all we need to do is fill it up.

Close Up

The Finished Product!!!

I am super happy with it and don't think it looks at all ridiculous let alone amateurish.

Liam 10-11 Months Old

Liam aged 10 - 11 months (I kinda forgot about doing the 10 month old post. Whoops!)

He is getting so big and changing all the time. He crawls everywhere and then he climbs to stand up as soon as he gets to where ever he wants to be. He walks around furniture and in a walker, he is a bit of a hoon going flat out around the house. Liam has 8 teeth 4 top and bottom. He is starting to eat a bit more variety of food but it is hard to get him to eat some things. 

He still talks heaps saying the same words over and over and getting louder and louder. 

Liam also is now big enough to be facing forward in the car seat now. It felt like it took him forever to get to be big enough to face the front but now he is and he loves it. I do too cause I can see him all the time and he tries to look out the window as well.

We started him at swimming lessons in the beginning of February. He isn't a fan at all. As soon as you walk into the pool he gets all antsy and doesn't like it. Once he is in the pool he is ok but sometimes I think he scares himself and it upsets him a bit. Today Rocky said they put his face in the water and he was ok with it, only did a little cough after it.

These photos were taken last night before we went out for dinner. I've had these shoes since before he was born so have been waiting along time to put them on and now they finally fit. They are so cute.

Liam 9 Months Old

Liam is now 9 months old! In 3 more months it will be his first birthday it just goes so fast. So let the party planning begin! and no I am not joking I have been planning in my head since he was 4 months old what I am going to do now I am actually researching and saving the ideas and writing them down. 

But I digress...

Liam at 9 months is sitting up very well now he will not crawl but would love to just stand and run. Although there is this thing called balance which he hasn't quite mastered yet which is stopping him in his tracks. 

He is a talker he says Mum, Mama, Dad, Bub, Boo and Emma I really think the Emma is him saying hmm-mah but as far as Emma is concerned he is saying her name so I will just give it to her. 

He has nearly 4 teeth. The two at the top have cut the gum it just seems to be forever for them to grow bigger. 

Liam now weighs 7.2kgs although you wouldn't think it he still looks so little and cute as a button.

The picture below is his new smile he screws up his nose and does this really cheeky-toothy grin. I just love it.

Boxing Day and Liam's First Swim

For Boxing Day we went to lunch at George's house. We had a very nice relaxing day there eating good food and lounging by the pool. Liam got in the pool for the first time. He wasn't too sure of what was really happening so I'm not sure if he enjoyed it or not. But he looks super cute in his little rashi!

Liam's First Christmas

Liam's first christmas was very exciting for us. He woke up at 6:30am a time I could definitely tolerate. First thing we did was help open all his presents. I'm not sure he knew what was entirely happening but all the same he seemed to enjoy the ripping of the paper part. We then went to Mum's for lunch and Kellie's for dessert. Then home for all of Rocky's family were coming over for tea.

I got a bit of an extra special christmas present too Liam said Mum for the first time. I didn't believe it at first but now he will just say Mum straight out. So I was very excited and now Rocky is trying to get him to say Dad. So cute!

Here are the photos from Christmas:

Liam opening some of his presents and posing for photos with them.

I just love this photo of Liam and Brock. 

The monkeys are a plate and a placemat that Liam got as a present from Kellie, Charlie and Brock I think it is hilarious.

The iCushion isn't Liam's it belongs to Brock but basically it is an iPhone shaped cushion. Liam loved laying on it and clearly it has been a long day, he needed the rest.

This is Liam amongst all his presents from Christmas. He was one spoilt little boy but a happy one at that.

The Night Before Christmas

Liam's first christmas is just hours away! 

So before he went to bed we had to set out some treats for Santa and his reindeer. Santa's treats are homemade biscuits and a can of coke with his name on it and the reindeers are getting a carrot each.

Christmas Photo Shoot

The photo shoot I had been waiting for or should I say hanging out for. I must admit, it didn't go exactly as I wanted but nevertheless I got some good shots out of about 80 photos.

So here are some of the photos. Well pretty much the best of.

The ones below are called my Blair Witch Photos. There is a setting on my camera called Film Grain but I call it Blair Witch. Anyway I just thought I'd try it out to see, I actually kinda like them in a bit of an arty way.