my story of things that make life sparkle—from improvements to my home to adventures in parenting, and the art & design that fuels my creative soul.
2.22.2012
Orange Curtains
2.20.2012
Wall Cabinets
We're still working on getting the office all set up and put back together. The latest phase was building and installing these wall cabinets we picked up at our recent trip to Ikea. Since we keep such a wide variety of stuff in the office, and it's not all nice to look at, we really liked the idea of these floating cabinets with doors. They are up on the wall because ultimately we will be putting a couch under them so we will have more space for guests.
Constructing them went pretty quickly. They were all built the evening we brought them home. The amount of cardboard packaging from 4 cabinets with 5 doors was quite insane!
The installation went pretty smoothly, because as usual, Greg doesn't mess around. This system, the Besta system, which is the same one we used for our storage in the basement, comes with this nice mounting rail. Greg installed all the rails on the wall first. The spacers between them made it really easy to get all the cabinets up on the wall in exactly the right spot.
Here's what they looked like before the doors went on. We wanted to put them high enough on the wall to leave room for the couch, but low enough so that we could still stash more attractive stuff on top. We also used a single unit on the floor which will serve as an end table for the couch. Originally, we had wanted a tall, vertical cabinet to that the storage until would be a continuous L shape. But, we ran into a little problem with the light switch location, which would have fallen in the middle cube of the vertical cabinet. This solution seemed to work our pretty well.
So, yeah, we know, we have a lot of stuff. Here's a peak inside the cabinets at some of it.
This cabinet holds most of my crafting supplies.
This one has ironing and other miscellaneous laundry supplies, and other random housewares like heating pads and ace bandages. We also ended up with a shallow height shelf which is working perfectly for my large format printing paper, sketch pads, etc.
The last cabinet holds a bunch of Greg's random computer parts, CDs, software, etc.
Here's how it's looking now. You can see, we'll be able to fit a lot of that stuff on the top. Even though we have a lot, we are trying to purge...see, there are 4 empty bins up there. Really!
So, the room continues to be a work in progress. I may never get a glamour shot, but it's become a much more pleasant place to be with each step we take. I can't wait to see how the couch looks when we finally get it back from my mom's basement later this spring.
2.18.2012
Chair Covers
Last weekend, Greg and I headed to Ikea for a whole myriad of things. When we were there in the fall, we saw some new chair covers for the two white chairs we have in our living room. We had always wanted the chairs to be a different color, and these covers were perfect. But, wouldn't you know it, they were out of stock. But not this time!
I am in love!
(Just a little reminder of what the chairs looked like when they were white. The purple is so much better in the room. Now, we just need that love seat to show up so we can get rid of the old green recliner!)
2.15.2012
Storage
The other day, I was walking through Target, and stumbled upon this aisle.
I could barely contain my excitement!
I wasn't sure quite what I needed from this aisle, but I knew there would be something. I ended up back there later in the day (we'd had to drop Greg's car off near by...I don't usually hit Target twice in one day) and picked up a few things. Here's one of them.
It's a little basket to use for all the kittie's toys. We used to have a traditional basket, and lets just say, it must have seemed too much like a litter box, so it didn't last long. But, we really liked having a place to coral all the little stuffed rodents that we are otherwise constantly tripping all over. The basket is actually plastic, so it seemed safe to try again. And, it complements the coffee table perfectly! Greg put some cat nip in it, so the boys would know it's for them. It's so adorable to watch them go over and grab out a little something to bat around the room.
I could barely contain my excitement!
I wasn't sure quite what I needed from this aisle, but I knew there would be something. I ended up back there later in the day (we'd had to drop Greg's car off near by...I don't usually hit Target twice in one day) and picked up a few things. Here's one of them.
It's a little basket to use for all the kittie's toys. We used to have a traditional basket, and lets just say, it must have seemed too much like a litter box, so it didn't last long. But, we really liked having a place to coral all the little stuffed rodents that we are otherwise constantly tripping all over. The basket is actually plastic, so it seemed safe to try again. And, it complements the coffee table perfectly! Greg put some cat nip in it, so the boys would know it's for them. It's so adorable to watch them go over and grab out a little something to bat around the room.
2.12.2012
The Hallway
I promised a few shots of the finished hallway/landing after our day of painting last weekend. We love it so much, we keep asking ourselves why we didn't just do it when we painted the living room on the first place.
Above, a view from the landing, looking down to the living room, and up to a glimpse of purple in the master bedroom.
Another shot looking into the bedroom.
Now, standing at the door to the bedroom, looking down into the green office. I'm really loving seeing all the colors in the house framed by each other.
Lastly, there is one spot in the office where you can look out the door, see the teal in the hallway, and a little sliver of the purple in the bedroom beyond. Yup, I'm happy.
2.06.2012
Green
This weekend, we painted the office. As Greg's friend Eric asked while they chatted on the phone..."Purple, or green?" Well, I guess it's good to be known for something.
Of course, before a room looks finished, there must be chaos. We moved a lot into the other bedroom, but pushed the desks and TV shelf into the center. It's always handy to have a raised work surface for painting projects as well.
The last pieces we got were a filing cabinet and an open shelf to go next it. The filing cabinet still needs drawer pulls. Right now we're using two of my belts to get the drawers open. We still have some more storage to buy for the wall opposite the big window. We might be getting that this weekend! Maybe sometime after that, I will actually get the room all cleaned up and get some nice photos. We shall see. But I think it's all coming together little by little.
Now, I think I will leave you hanging a few more days to see how the hallway turned out!
Here's a before shot in case you forgot what that awful yellow was like.
It became even more awful after we bought our new office furniture last October. We decided to go with a mix of white and light wood (birch according to Ikea.) Isn't it amazing how much better both the white and the wood pop off the green?
Of course, before a room looks finished, there must be chaos. We moved a lot into the other bedroom, but pushed the desks and TV shelf into the center. It's always handy to have a raised work surface for painting projects as well.
While we were mobilized for painting, we thought it was a good time to finish off the hallway. When we painted the living room a year ago, we weren't sure if we wanted to carry the teal blue all the way up the stairs. It didn't take us long to realize that it was the right decision, but we had so many other projects in front of us, it took until now to get back to it.
Greg had to use our tallest ladder to reach that very farthest corner above the stairs down. Yes, he did climb up and balance himself right over the stairs. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. At least, the way the ladder was wedged in, it was highly unlikely that it would go anywhere.
And now, a few more after shots, and a little more about the furniture we bought.
Here you can see one of the two desks we bought. Love back above for the rest of the second. They are basically two variations of the same style. The one above has a cabinet and a drawer. We added a little shelf under the window, mostly so I could stash some stuff on the top of the desk and Ziggy would still have a place to sit by the window. We got two sets of drawers on wheels that we can move around, stash under the desk, etc.
I'm so in love with how the white shelves look against the green. Now, I just have to find a way to disguise the largely unattractive stuff that Greg likes o put up there! I also have a plan for hiding our router, modem and back-up drive. I just need to get to it!
Now, I think I will leave you hanging a few more days to see how the hallway turned out!
2.02.2012
Love is in the air.
It is February after all.
We will not be getting the version with the cup holders though. But, I think Greg won't miss them while he's busy fully reclining in front of the TV in another 6 - 8 weeks!
We haven't been up to too much else since we took down all the holiday decor. I've been fighting a cold since the year began. But, with finally ticking the love seat off of our list, we're finding some energy to get moving again. We'll be painting the office and the hallway this weekend. Then, we'll only have one more room of yellow paint to banish from the house. I can't wait!
But more important, love is in a seat, that will soon be in my living room.
Ever since we moved into Kingston Road, we have been wanting another piece of furniture for the living room. First, because the green recliner we have is not only the entirely wrong shade of green, it is also the wrong style for the room with it's slightly rolled arms, and the fabric has taken a beating over the last several years living with the cats. It's a great recliner, and has served me well since my Mom and I scoured dozens of furniture stores from Boston to Albany trying to find a deal many years ago. But, I'm ready to retire it to another room.
Secondly, since the recliner has been positioned dead center across from the tv, unlike in our last house, where it was in a corner with an awkward side view, Greg loves to sit in the recliner. So, I sit on the couch. And we never sit together anymore.
After some deliberation, we decided that if we could find a reclining love seat that didn't actually look like a spawn of the stay puft marshmallow man, that might a good way to go. (I mean seriously, you've all seen the square lines of our sofa, right? Do you think anything close to that monstrosity would be allowed anywhere near my living room?) We could sit together, with a good view of the TV, and still put our feet up.
Let me just say, this has not been an easy task. We've been investigating on and off for over year now, and this weekend, we finally bit the bullet and purchased a lazy boy love seat we actually spotted for the first time this fall.
We were actually on our way to another furniture store to look at one last model we'd found online. I pulled up a photo of it on my phone, and then looked up the lazy boy (sofa version above.) I realized that they were almost identical. And then I realized, that unless I wanted to spend a small fortune, this was the best I was going to get. The back is a little puffier than I would have hoped, but the arms are nice a square, at least when you look at it straight on. The decision was made.
The color we selected is the same as seen in the showroom, just a different texture. The standard fabric has a woven texture to it. I was concerned out the boys nails snagging it and causing damage. Instead, we found this super soft velvety fabric with a great sheen. It was on another piece in the store in a different color, and looks so amazing. Yes, it might attract hair, but there is no texture to catch those little nails. As far as the color, I decided that a darker shade of gray would be a nice compliment to the light gray sofa. There will of course be lots of colorful pillow. It comes with two pillows that we're getting in the same dark gray. I can never find accent fabrics in stores that actually fit my colors. My plan is to put the two dark pillow on the light gray sofa to help tie them together.
We will not be getting the version with the cup holders though. But, I think Greg won't miss them while he's busy fully reclining in front of the TV in another 6 - 8 weeks!
We haven't been up to too much else since we took down all the holiday decor. I've been fighting a cold since the year began. But, with finally ticking the love seat off of our list, we're finding some energy to get moving again. We'll be painting the office and the hallway this weekend. Then, we'll only have one more room of yellow paint to banish from the house. I can't wait!
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