The kitchen! The bathroom! The kitchen! The bathroom!

Still indecisive about where to proceed next, though the bathroom would be the easiest job.
I go back and forth with the color. A light lime green or a darker purple. That's if I keep the shower curtain, which I do rather like.

I also added another color on the shortlist for my kitchen. Peacock blue.

And since I won't be doing any heavy duty remodeling soon, I am considering painting my countertops more and more seriously. If you've ever been interested in that kind of stuff, here are some great posts with helpful tips. http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf999197.tip.html

Back to daydreaming for the time being.

The bathroom

I've put off painting the kitchen for a while until I know exactly what I want to do with the layout.
So now, I suppose I can turn my attention to my ridiculously small bathroom.
Here are the current colors:


The circles are the colors on the shower curtain. And that's basically the pattern. Circles, some only outlined, some filled. The light gray/violet bar is the color of the sink, toilet and bathtub.
The current walls are a very very light blue - which I hate because it's as if it can't decide whether it's white or blue.

I thought of going with the green, but then I thought of going white instead with some circles too, like the shower curtain.
I wouldn't paint the circles (I don't think). I'd get wall pops instead so i could just peel them off.
Maybe just all black circles, maybe using the colors from the shower curtain. Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

Postcard wall

Well, putting up pictures counts as tidying, no? I mean, it did free up some space on the desk!

Well, just painting the kitchen walls isn't enough for her royal highness (me). So we decided we'd like to get new, darker countertops - and more of them, and move stuff around.

The gray square is my fridge. I'd like to get a retro looking one only those cost a fortune, and that's just silly. It would be nice to get one that wasn't soooo bulky.
The pink stuff is my cabinetry/counter top. Basically, wherever there's pink, there are top cabinets, too. Blue is the window.

If I moved the range, I could get more counter space. No need for extra cabinets up top - besides, I've got a vent on the side, so that wouldn't be possible anyway.
I might pop by the Home Depot and see what price range this would fall into. Sigh.


Before:


Possible after:





In the meantime, i had better take care of my place as it stands now. Tis messy and her royal highness doesn't like it.

This is how my mind works

I'm not 100% done with the living room - I have a desk that needs to be sold, I would ideally like to repaint or reupholster the chairs I got from craigslist, and really thoroughly organize my crap (my DVD towers are overflowing).
I'm not 100% done with my bedroom. That sidetable isn't finished. I have yet to move the white short bookshelf to my bedroom, out of the spare room. There's crap everywhere.
I'm not even 75% done with the guest room-cum-storage area.

BUT I am already thinking about my bathroom and my kitchen. I would love to redo the entire bathroom as i am bored with the original purple/gray and the horrid light baby blue walls (so light the walls just look a dull white). But i think i might have to settle for a pain job for the time being.
As for my kitchen, i would love to get more counter space and sort a few organizational things but I really am sick of the light yellow.

I photoshopped the photo I took a while ago of my dining area, where you can see the kitchen through the fake window...A few options:



Thoughts? Suggestions?

Ta-da!
And now for the boring part, ie How I Did It.

I used two pieces of solid wood, 4 inches wide by 4 feet tall. Screwed them on the bac, of the headboard. Then used nuts and bolts to attach brackets to the legs. And those brackets fit on the platform bed (the bed goes on top of one of the sides, the other side gets screwed on the top of the bed). Voila.
The only issue is that since I have the legs screwed on, there is a gap between the headboard and the wall, and that makes it a bit wobbly. So...I'm planning on buying a piece of wood to fit in between. And that's that.
Pardon the night stand mess. Excess fabric and all.

The headboard, 6 months or so later...

Prepare to be shocked and awed. or in awe. or something.
Shocked because I will have finally, finally finished setting up that headboard. Awed because, well, I know it will look fabulous.

I was supposed to have it done today, but I hit many bumps along the road. The power drill that would not charge properly. The washers that didn't fit. The drill that drilled too small a hole. Etc, etc. I have no energy left, not even to move the headboard, which is on my bed right now. So, spare bedroom for me tonight.

Tomorrow, I hope to get the right washers for the brackets and set everything up before I go to work. If not tomorrow, then definitely Sunday. Prepare yourselves!

Rasterbator

Cool concept: http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/
This program takes your images and rasterizes and blows up your pictures, dividing them into different pdfs, which you then print and hang on your walls.

More magnetic poetry

I've been decorating my fridge...

Always please thy saucy, wanton wench.

Never measure a merry maiden's bosom.

I belch at thee, wicked drunkard.

Give her your codpiece, and her breast shall be thine.

Hey, it's Shakespeare's words! Not mine!

New project #4566752480

Not really, but...

This is a side view of this IKEA shelf that I bought second hand for $10 from someone on craigslist.
The splatter you see is not my attempt at graffiti art, but my attempt at removing the ugly mocha paint the previous owner laid on the perfectly fine white laminate.
It's a good thing she didn't use a primer. It's coming off easily, but it's time-consuming. All you need is a damp rag, a spatula or knife (i've got one of those wooden paint stirring things). Some of it just peels right off.
I'm guessing I will finish this off on Saturday. Thank goodness she only painted the one side.
Overall, I'm satisfied with this purchase.

And I finally hauled ass to Ikea/Schaumburg to get my desk and this rug:

Unfortunately, they ran out of stock on Friday. waaah. Isn't it cool though?
Some day, it will belong to me. Me, me, me!

I decorated my cat

for Christmas.


She's such a trooper. She didn't budge at all. I did take it off her after I got the shot though. I'm not that cruel.

Now, if only the weather would be nice when I have a day off so that I can drive down to Ikea and get that blasted desk!

Mine, all mine!

My intention was to avoid the craziness that is Black Friday and observe Buy Nothing Day instead, but I couldn't resist.
Turns out I did manage to avoid the hoards, which were largely at stores like Best Buy. And that left me free to browse the furniture at Value City. Didn't do that much browsing though because I came with a purpose. Namely, this:
I have had my eye on that for a while. I have sat on it several times and it's quite comfy and firm. And not too badly priced either (though once you add the taxes and delivery charge, etc... it's not as cheap). But the good news is i get two free pillows priced at $50 each AND the even better news is that I got 6 months of interest-free financing. No money down, no minimum payment, though it is my goal to pay it within the 6 months.

I put my couch up for sale, again, on craigslist. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

Not technically decorating

But, oh, the wonders that magnetic poetry can do to your refrigerator. Plus, I like to crack myself up with the mismatching words.
This is from my Shakespeare set.

Coveting

this desk from Ikea:
It's got everything I want in a compact layout. A keyboard tray, a place for the CPU, a shelf under the desk for the printer. Plus, there's a drawer under that. I'll make the trip down to the store at some point.

In the meantime, I have painted most of the walls in my living room, which now looks like it's been ransacked. One small wall to go and that'll be that (excepting some minor finishing touches that I will ask someone else to take care of).

I also bought a TV stand today. Much smaller than my obnoxiously large entertainment center. I thought of painting it black, but the lighter maple color is growing on me. We'll see. I'll post pix laterz.

Sage

Here's the newly painted sage entrance hall. The edges near the closet and doors were so tight. It was a nightmare to paint.
But I love the color (Behr's False Cypress + 5 oz of white).
One wall down, 4 - much larger ones - to go.

Once more, with feeling

OK. It might, might, be growing on me.

Ignore the kitchen mess!
Ooh, notice the new chairs. They're wood and leather and very comfy. If the cats spoil them...

Some I made/drew, others I bought, others gifts from friends. Looks like I need to wipe the big one. Yikes.

Most seriously displeased

So, it's been getting really cold. And my thermostat stopped working. At first, it only said "REPL BAT." Which I did. And it worked again. And then stopped again.
Today, I finally caved and went to the Home Depot store to get a new one. I came home, and the first thing I did was to unscrew the wires from my old thermostat. Before labeling the wires. Just like the instructions of the new thermostat said. *bangs head*
I can get a Master's degree, but reading the instructions through is just TOO MUCH for me to handle.
Anyway, I went over to a neighbors' and looked at her thermostat. But she only has heating. I have heating AND AC.
I decided to experiment anyway.
I unscrewed 3 of the 4 little compartments in the new thermostat. The fourth one just wouldn't loosen up, and in the process of trying several screwdrivers and heads, I mangled the the screw.
I drove back to HD and they kindly gave me a new one.
Got back, got the new thermostat in - without electrocuting myself - and felt relieved and warmed, if not entirely proud of myself.

And then I set out to finally paint the living room. I just did one wall - the "dining area" wall. I got two colors. One for most of the living room, and one for this wall.
I was rather happy with the color in the paint bucket.
And then I applied the paint, and it was very dark. In fact, it looked like Christmas green to me. Not at all what i wanted. So yeah, as Lady Catherine would say, I am most seriously displeased.
I can only hope that the lighter green/sage will offset the Christmas vibe I'm getting. Otherwise, I'll just have to paint over it.
And get more tools, because, dayum, the trim looks sloppy. Sigh.
Before:
(Pardon the mess and last year's remaining Xmas decoration... I guess that's foreshadowing).
After:
The paint's still wet and is much darker than in the pic. I'll wait and see how it looks in the morning with natural light.
Sigh, again.

Hurrah!

Just imagine Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra as you read this post because...


I
.
.
.
.
.
.
FINALLY
.
.
.
.
.
.
SOLD
.
.
.
.
.
.
MY DINING TABLE & CHAIRS!

And the guy didn't even *try* to bargain with me. So yay! As soon as he and his buddies left, I set up my new (but gently used) dining table that's been propped on the wall for months.


It expands from both sides. There are two hidden leaves under the table top. Very practical. I love it.
And here it is after minor additions.

I bought the tablecloth and runner from a friend. The tablecloth needs hemming (It's now folded in two), not to mention ironing, but who do you think I am? Martha Stewart?! Anyway, I really like the way it looks now. Ideally, I would add four black or dark brown parsons chairs. But I ain't paying full price, that's for sure. The saga of the chairless table...to be continued.

Playing around

I just realized that even as my attention is focused on my living room, I haven't even finished the other bedrooms. My headboard is still propped on the wall, and I still haven't fixed that last leg of the day bed. Sigh.

Anyway, back to the living room. I thought I'd show you, roughly and without embarrassing myself, what it looks like.So, on the right, you have the hallway, which I think is narrower. At the top is the hall leading to the bathroom and bedrooms. No it doesn't really slant like that - at least not when I'm sober (kidding!). The rest of the dimensions are pretty accurate. The room's about 15 ft x 19ft (the space below the main entry way is the kitchen, by the by.

What I'm not showing are the new dining table propped against the hallway wall and a new bookcase, still in its box, also propped.

I don't like my dining table. I love the wood, but don't like the shape or style. Oh and it has a massive leaf, also propped because you can't hide it.
Onto the living area. I have a massive desk. It's about 60 inches wide. It's always cluttered. It's walnut colored and it's right next to my cherry colored entertainment center. That is also massive. It's for a 36-inch TV at least. Mine's a 21- or 19-incher. Next to that is my new, beloved glass-door CD cabinet.
Oh, and those two oval things below the dining table are my cats' beds, which of course they NEVER use because they like the chairs and couch too much. Bad cats.

Anyway, this is one of the first options I really liked while playing around with the Arrange-A-Room.Ideally, I'd get a smaller desk + maybe a filing cabinet and put that all on the opposite wall. This would require a wi-fi device because the only cable outlet is on the TV wall. I'd chuck my huge, ugly rug and get something a lot smaller. The cat beds would go and be replaced by a cat tower with several compartments. I'd move my CD cabinet to the other side of the TV stand (I'd get smaller, less claustrophobic stand) and I'd put a bench under the window on the left. And I'd get a small DVD cabinet.

My only concern, other than the Wi-Fi, is that the cats might want to scratch the back of the couch. They don't usually scratch the sides or anything, but an exposed back would be something new and fun for them!!

Anyway, what do you think? Do you have any other suggestions?

Arrange-A-Room-oholic

I know, I know, I promised pictures of my bed slats, but I've been busy with other stuff and lazy with this.
The good thing about having medical bills to pay is that they force you to not spend money on anything else. Which means I am not buying anything until I sell my dining table. It could happen this weekend though, if a certain CL user does in fact show up.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this link: http://arrangearoom.bhg.com/arrangearoom/
It's by Better Homes & Gardens, a magazine I don't particularly feel drawn to. But this feature is quite addictive and a lot more fun than just drawing sketches. Plus, you save paper. The application allows you to choose your room configuration and you just adjust the measurements and then start filling the room with furniture you drag from the left column. You can also adjust the size of those pieces of furniture. It's addictive.