When we started researching a crib and changing table we went to the baby stores and looked at everything, but at Babies R Us I felt like everything was kind of cheaply made, and at Buy Buy Baby and the specialty stores I just couldn't believe the price tags! I guess this element was also highlighted by the fact Jeremy was laid-off at this time and we were trying very hard to conserve spending.
Another major factor was my "vision" of the nursery. I had always wanted a natural/light wood color on furniture, I just simply prefer that look and felt it would go nicely with the bedding that we had already selected. Come to find out I am in the minority there and heavy dark wood is en vogue right now. So much so that even finding a crib available in natural wood was proving difficult.
And our third major concern was space - the room we were going to use for the nursery was about 10 x 10, not tiny but not a lot of space so we wanted to make sure we maximized every square foot.
Eventually I came to consider IKEA. At first I wrote it off thinking furniture I put together myself was not safe enough for my child. However, IKEA did get stellar reviews in the Baby Bargains books and also got good marks from Consumer Reports. And really, it isn't like we were going to buy any crib that didn't require some assembly ... so I decided to at least go take a look. IKEA has a decent selection of baby and child furniture, there were probably 4 or 5 cribs to choose from and they all seemed to have coordinating pieces. We found a medium brown wood crib that went with a changing table/small dresser combo and an armoire (there is technically no closet in the nursery, just access to my closet) and even a bookcase and toy box that would match as well if we ever decided we had the space for it (the Leksvik collection).
After much debate we decided why not? Why not get 3 pieces of furniture for the price of 1 crib at other stores and get it in a size that makes more sense and a color that is preferable to boot? Jeremy's parents had generously offered to purchase the crib as a gift so we figured this would be the most bang for their buck and I resigned myself to thinking IKEA was an advantage rather than a punchline.
So, the Maurer's came down for the day and we all took the 20 minute drive down to Canton and reviewed the pieces in store one more time, we also went over to Buy Buy Baby to see the more expensive models and we decided IKEA it was. We purchased the 3 pieces, loaded them up into the van and headed home.
(I won't even get into it, but it should be noted that at this time we also stopped for lunch and had one of the worst service experiences ever, so that set the mood for the rest of the day)
We decided we might as well get a start on putting the pieces together while Jim was there to help and we started with the crib. Things were going fine, there was quite a bit of work to do, we had to install all the slats along the bottom and of course when hammering in the pin on the very last one the wood split. But it was only one slat and the wood could be glued back together, no big deal.
Then we noticed that there was some detail to the head & foot boards. There was a raised design on one side of the panel only for both ends, however where the holes were placed made them line up so that the raised edge would face the same direction (so into the crib from the headboard and out of the crib from the foot board if that makes sense) This didn't seem right to use, we thought it should be more reflective and symmetrical, so the detail faced out from both ends (or in). We thought that maybe we got 2 of the same piece or the holes were drilled wrong so I searched online for pictures of this crib but was unable to find anything that clearly showed the detail. I called IKEA and asked the person in the children's department but was told I would have to wait and speak with a special person on Monday . . . so we decided just to go back and see how it was put together on the store model. So, we all loaded up for another 20 minute drive down to Canton and the big trek through the whole store (IKEA is impossible to navigate on a Saturday no matter how many shortcuts you find) to find the crib had been set up the same way we had done it at home. We started thinking maybe the store staff put it together wrong too and we had a debate about what was the right way and in the end we decided it really didn't matter.
Next we started to open the box for the armoire. There were a lot of big, flat pieces (the sides I presume) and when one was just lightly leaned on to move the box it split right up the middle. At this point Jeremy and his dad were frustrated from the lunch issue, then the crib wood splitting and now this was all it took to set them off. They decided that the furniture was crap and the wood was too cheap and the baby needed something better. So we returned to IKEA a third time that day to return the armoire. We were still going to think about the crib and the dresser/changer was still in the box, fate to be determined with the crib.
Everyone was all riled up and we decided to call it a day at that point. I was pretty disappointed but in the long run it is good these things happened up front. After a break from thinking about it I did some additional and extensive research and it turned out there were as many people complaining about IKEA cribs as there were praising them online. I had seen some negative comments initially but you will get that with anything . . . however these negative comments were more about concern for the safety aspect, it seems that when a mattress is placed in this particular crib there is sometimes a significant gap left where a baby hand/arm/leg/head could get caught, yet others say that is not the case and things fit fine. So I decided to make my decision after the mattress the Maurer's had ordered for us arrived the following week.
The mattress was delivered, we put it in the crib and lo and behold there was a 2 inch gap between it and the side of the crib. That was the end of that.
We took the crib apart and the Maurer's came back down so we could return it and we went to Buy Buy Baby. We debated a big heavy dark wood crib that was on sale but in the end I went with my gut and we got one of the few light wood cribs they offered (see the furniture review above). It was also on the low end price wise but now we would need to find a dresser/changer to go with it.
The company that makes the crib didn't have a specific matching dresser, but I figured their wood would all be the same so I could just find a dresser from another collection and order it in the same color wood. Well, all their other collections were significantly more expensive. We were honestly looking at paying $700 just to get a low end model. With Jeremy still out of work that wasn't going to fly. We looked at a local "naked furniture" shop and were going to have to go that route until we stopped in Art Van. When Jeremy first bought the house we had purchased a bed frame and nightstand from the Art Van Clearance Center for the spare room in a light/natural wood color. As it turned out they still had that same collection in the Clearance Center and the dresser that went with the set was a waist high model that could accommodate a changing pad. I did the measurements and everything seemed like it would work out. The wood wouldn't match exactly but the dresser could eventually be put back with it's brothers in the spare room someday when we have a bigger house so that started to make a lot of sense to us.
That is what we ended up doing and actually it has worked out better than I could have ever imagined. The dresser is on the large size but we use every square inch of it, we have the changing pad on half of it and the top drawer under that is where we keep diapers and lotions, etc. There is plenty of space to keep the wipes right on top and the 5 other drawers are all filled to capacity with her clothes, sheets, towels, blankets, etc.
It was a looooong process but, as it usually goes, in the end everything worked out for the best. And now we have quite a story for Anna on how we put so much time and effort into finding her the perfect furniture :)
Oh, and for the armoire, we decided to just wait and see if we even need something like that and guess what? we don't! I just made some space for Anna's clothes that need to hang in my closet and she doesn't have that many so we can share just fine.
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