Making the most of the material

With a new baby in the household, Jo and Gav needed to transform the affectionately named "boot room" into a nursery.

They headed to Ikea looking for a cabinet to store the nappies and baby clothes. It’s hard to beat the value for money you get with the modular system of the Malm cabinets with Skubb organisers. However, the all-white cabinet didn't suit the cosy feel Jo and Gav were looking for. A few cuts with a circular saw turned a solid Ash panel into a lovely timber benchtop to sit atop the Ikea cabinet.

Also on the to-do list were some floating shelves in the kitchen. The space next to the pantry was a somewhat wasted space, and only inspired clutter.

With the leftover material from the benchtop and a few custom-made brackets I constructed a rock-solid set of floating shelves. I'd rate their capacity at around 10kg each. The subtle sheen and shimmer of the beeswax finish I applied looks great under Jo and Gav’s warm downlights. Beeswax is a great finish and can be a good way to finish off your own DIY projects.

With these couple of small jobs, Jo and Gav tied their new nursery to the rest of the house and enjoyed a fresh change.