Kitchen Progress - Paint & Photoshop

A little more progress has been made on the kitchen with a touch of paint and a dash of photoshop.

I painted most of the left and back walls in Martha Stewart's Aegean Blue. Let's not kid ourselves...it's baby blue. The kind you use in nurseries. But it's what I had on hand on a Sunday afternoon after all the stores had closed. The Martha Stewart sample paint pots went on sale for $1 (usually $5-6, I believe) at Home Depot last year and I went crazy, buying multiples of each color. I've already used 5 in the powder room (Araucana Teal) and just knew I could find a use for the others! I still have a few colors left which you might see in future projects...

I decided I can live with a baby blue wall once I added a little more elbow grease into the mix. I didn't want this color to overpower the small nook, so I left the bottom 40 inches white (same height as the kitchen countertop) in preparation for moulding. This will continue from the end of the kitchen counter to the corner of the back and right walls.

On the left side I did a little photoshopping. The black represents the magnetic chalkboard wall. The space was starting to look a little too dramatic and elegant for its small size so this "fun" wall will add a little contrast and lighten the mood. Plus, it'll be nice to have a wall sized notepad to practice my chalkboard skills, write a few pick-me-ups, and plan out our week.

FYI, the curtains are Target, the double curtain rods and blue paint are Martha Stewart. The kitchen table is Ikea. The chairs are Kitchen Stuff Plus. The chandelier is Rona. The magnetic paint and chalkboard paint (to be purchased) are by Rustoleum.

Living Room Progress - Part IV

It's been exactly 5 months since my last progress report on the living room and I'm ready to show you what we've done since. It's not much because we've been working on a few other areas of the house as well plus, life gets in the way sometimes. You know?

Here was my to-do list back after the last update:

Short Term: Art above bar, feature above sofa, planter for free
Long Term: Bigger TV, hardwood floors, built-in entertainment unit / bookcases

To recap, this is how the room looked before we moved in:

This is how it looks today:

Art above the bar and planter for the tree can be crossed off the short term list but I still haven't found a feature for above the white sofa. I had planned to try the large mirror we currently have standing in the kitchen but am too lazy to tackle the whole let's-try-hanging-a-gazillion-pounds-on-the-wall project. My other plan to paint a giant canvas has not come to fruition either. Again, that laziness. It got to me.

But...I can also now cross 1.5 items off the long term list which in my opinion trumps my one fail on the short term. You may notice that our TV has grown a bit. It's now a 42 1080P LCD up from a 32 720P LCD. And since we got an amazing deal on it, I don't feel so guilty for skipping ahead on the plans.

Same goes for the bookcases. I eventually want built-in bookcases for this wall but that can't happen until we install hardwood and that can't happen until we magically pull some cash out of....nowhere. So for the time being, I found these for a steal ($30 each!).

Just for fun and because it never gets old (at least for the person trying to show off) here's another photo of the room so far in a Before/After comparison:

I probably won't be working on this room for a while and turning my attention towards the master bedroom and sorely neglected kitchen and office room. But never fear, I do have some plans for this space once I'm back at it:

Short Term:feature above white sofa, pillows for brown sofa
Long Term: new matching sofas, built-in bookcases and perhaps fireplace?, crown moulding, hardwood floors

As you can see, I dreamed big with the long term plans because well, since it's going to really long term, I might as well dream big!

Previous living room posts: Potential Layout | Progress Report: Part I | Progress Report: Part II |

Living Room Progress - Part III

This is part three of the progress report and I suspect it will be a work-in-progress for a while yet so expect progress reports like a never-ending Hollywood franchise. This is post-cleanup because we were having guests over. It's still not magazine-perfect but whatever! It's much better than the before (which no one needs to see).

As a refresher, here's the BEFORE of our living room taken before the previous owner moved out.



Looks just sooo cozy, right? This is what it looks like now...

From the hallway


From the kitchen


From the living room looking out


This is with full sunshine outside. As soon as it's a little overcast, the room becomes quite dark. But I decided to embrace the lack of light and create a cozier place rather than go all white. I find it's difficult to get that picturesque all-white look without help from natural and studio lights anyway.

There's a few short term improvements I'd like to make:

-Art above the bar
-A feature above the sofa (we have a giant mirror that may work)
-A planter for the tree

Long term wishlist (in order)?

-Bigger TV
-Hardwood floors
-Built-in entertainment unit / bookcases

Previous living room posts: Potential Layout | Progress Report: Part I | Progress Report: Part II |

The IKEA Family

I know a lot of people have a hate-on for IKEA but I've not over the "college" phase just yet. While I appreciate custom furniture and understand the difference in quality between composite and oak, there's a certain place in my heart for IKEA (don't even get me started on the delish Swedish meatballs!).

We're on a tight budget and IKEA offers the right mix of style, price, and quality. No, it does not raise the bar in any one category, but at the same time, it's easy enough to pass off as something a lot nicer with just a few personalized touches.

The beauty of IKEA, too is in the number of online resources from IKEA devotees and DIY addicts alike. There's plenty of photos and write ups on "IKEA Hacks" - pieces from the beloved (and often quirky) Swedish company that has been changed to added to, to create something else - bookcases made into benches, floating shelves made into desks, table tops made into paintings, etc.

My favourite resource is the popular IKEA HACKERS Blog. It's been around since 2006 and now has hundreds of really cool hacks featured. If you've ever read the DIY showcase blog Better After and want to see it done IKEA-style? Try the blog above.

To my delight, I discovered another resource site this morning. This one is actually hosted by IKEA itself. IKEA FAMILY LIVE is part blog, part image gallery. The About page explains the website concept as "the place to come for tips, ideas and inspiration for your home. At live you can share your passion for everyday life at home with others from around the globe."

The "Rooms" link is particularly helpful as you can search inspirational photos by the type of room - living room, hallway, workspace, etc. But what I love most is how people have incorporated IKEA pieces into different styles and rooms. There's no limit to what you can do!






































all images courtesy of www.ikeafamilylive.com