Making Progress!

I didn't finish any major projects but I did make some headway...

Mom and I set off for IKEA yesterday morning to start her kitchen remodel.  She picked out gorgeous cabinets.  Here is a model of the kitchen she's chosen:

 It's the STAT model with beadboard fronts.  She's getting granite countertops & her appliances are black/stainless steel.

Now the fun part of tearing down the kitchen and putting it all back together begins...this is where Brian comes in, bless his heart.  We have to switch around some electrical, vents and do some demo first.  I'm going to drag all willing to come through this process with us.  I have some experience hanging sheetrock, but I want to really learn how to frame a wall, minor electrical, plumbing, the artful use of shims, etc.


And while I was at Ikea, I bought another piece for our entertainment center.

I will have this loaded down with my beautiful crap in no time!

 Also, if you are anywhere near Atlanta, then you must go to Fabric & Fringe Warehouse in Marietta.  A guy in town who does upholstery tipped us off to it a couple of years ago.  They have a HUGE selection of gorgeous fabrics, trim, and even custom made jewelry.  Really good prices too, some of the fabric is $5 a yard and it's not cheap stuff.  We had a blast in there..although, after awhile it can start to feel like too many choices - a problem I will gladly work through.

So here is what I picked for den curtains:

  Love, love, LOVE it!!!  The background looks like a paler shade of the wall paint and the black has a distressed look. Perfect!

I'm getting some furniture ready to sell today - it's painting weather here!   I hope you all enjoy your Sunday & I'll talk to ya soon!

Jennifer

Sick of Ikea yet?? A little tip for you...

We made the trek to Ikea last weekend.  I read a post the other day about loving/hating Ikea..that's definitely where I am with that store.  Brian and I were talking about how you have to know how to 'work' the system and save yourself some grief (and in some cases, your marriage!)  We drove down last Friday to pick up this TV console:

It's part of the entertainment system that we're buying for our den remodel.  

We drove to Ikea on Friday.  We poked around the store for a while, had lunch and headed downstairs to pick up the console and check out.  Well, of course, they were sold out of the one we wanted.  They had plenty of consoles up high on the shelves but none on the floor and they won't pull them off the shelf during store hours...did NOT know this!  So we had to go back Saturday morning (New Year's day) to pick it up.

This cruel venture back and forth to Ikea has taught me a valuable lesson.  And here it is...if you are going to Ikea for a specific item and it's a major ordeal to get there (like it is for me), then call ahead that morning and make sure they have what you want on the floor (have the product number - you can get it off the website) and ask them to set one aside with your name on it.  Another useful bit of info, we were told by a guy in customer service that you can't count on the website's inventory information..it's wrong.

All that aside, we're super happy with our console. It's solid wood (the frame & main support) and the hardware rocks PLUS all the controllers, chargers and whatever else is all tucked away and organized!


All the best for your day!

Kitchens & furniture

These are two of my favorite things (you have to sing that or it loses it's charm!)

I designed a layout for my mom's new kitchen. Ikea's planning software is pretty cool & easy to navigate.  I'm definitely going to blog the details of this project.  We are in the planning stages & since I don't think the electrical part is much fun, I'll wait until we get to the actual installation to start blogging.

I'm pretty sure this is the plan she wants to go with.  These cabinets are topless for now but you get the idea.  I just love it.  

Next I'm going to hop on over to my sister's place...look at what she did with the sheet music bookcase I made for her!

She has this nestled on a stair landing.

I love the old hat box, the hat, bird in a nest..the little chair & lamp..I just love it all. It's just so cute and SO Julie!

She also made this adorable Halloween banner...

The vintage images were downloaded from the web. 

Can't wait to see it all in person on my next visit..but seriously, she'll probably have everything switched around by then.

Happy Labor Day! 

A little bit of this, A little bit of that...

Lots of little things going on around my one BIG project.

Mom & I went to IKEA...and I must say again that I love, love, love that store! I found these lovely pillows..

And they look good here:

Peeping out from the bench at my breakfast table.

Onto editing, I've been looking around the house lately and reassessing.  I have done a whole lot of purging. I had way too much on the walls in the dining room and I took some of it down, cleared some clutter & organized.  It feels so good to get rid of stuff and organize!  I gave this little table a job too...

First, it needed a little dressing up & some polish.

Much better..sanded & polished top with a simple coat of white on the legs.  (I used the flash to show the pretty wood top.) 

Here it is now as our little cocktail station. Nothing major but it's portable & organized & purposeful.

Before I wrap this post up I gotta show our progress on the beast of a bookcase...

Beadboard is up!  Since taking this picture I have primed this section, caulked it & have one coat of paint on it already.  

You can see where I'm mudding in the paneling in this one area (and all the paint swatches).  I really don't want to sheetrock around all these corners for such a small area, so I'm making myself miserable in a different way.... filling in paneling grooves on one wall.  The den is a nice sized room and we're going to rip out the paneling and hang sheetrock.  I totally dread doing that but in the end it will be nice...at least that's what we keep telling ourselves.  Onward & upward!

Have a good day!!

I was IKEA'd today...and I still managed to finish a little something...

Today was my first experience at Atlanta's Ikea..man, I'm exhausted!  I seriously think we looked at every.single.thing.in that store.  I went with my mom & Brian...I can have fun at a funeral with these two, so it was pretty awesome.

Mom is looking to remodel her kitchen and we're interested in remodeling Brian's bathroom and maybe picking up a few pieces of furniture. Lots to see, lots to see.

So here's one of my partner's in crime. She's like this all the time...smiling & laughing (until she gets hot or tired..then just forget it.)

They had SO many gorgeous kitchens. 

We like apron sinks and these butcher block countertops were pretty nice.

 Here's Brian hamming it up in a super cool kitchen...all black with amazing storage.

We had a delicious lunch. I can't believe how good the food was!  I had the salmon with dill & got a few bites of the famous swedish meatballs - yummmm. I saved WW points so this was all NO guilt!

By the time we got home we were pooped! Only then did we realize that this weekend is the Dixie Highway Flea Market!! Good grief...we have to get some yard work done this weekend, but I also want to go treasure hunting..hmm, we'll just have to see...

 Ok, one last thing here. If you don't know or haven't noticed yet, I LOVE OLD WINDOWS...they are scattered throughout my house and I have a nice collection of more in one of my outbuildings just waiting for me.  I am working on finishing a pair like this but one is finished now... 

These aren't the best pictures ( I took them at night with the flash). 

Anyway, I painted names of wineries & regions in France on it, sanded and hand-rubbed clear wax on for a little sheen.  I have a bulletin board made of wine corks over my desk and I copied names from my cork board. I'm finishing the other one tomorrow.

I'm linking to SNS at Funky Junk Interiors - hop on over and see what's new!

Talk to you soon!