Nesting Phase

I can't seem to avoid it. At last week's designer meeting, I was stuffing hay in tins for Elena's bird nest necklaces. The main character of my favorite show, 30 Rock, had a monologue on a necklace that attracted birds. Just the other morning, I watched a squirrel jump from branch to branch. Yesterday, while standing outside, I saw it. Right outside my bedroom window, is this lovely nest.

Kitchen - My work here is done.

The boxes are assembled and where possible, sitting in their rightful place. I'm leaving the leveling and screwing of cabinets to the wall to the kitchen guy. That way I'm not at fault if the countertop is not level.

I'd say that I spent probably 12 man-hours assembling the boxes. That averages out to about 2 hours a cabinet. Some took longer, especially those with drawers. Again, you save money with IKEA cabinets, but you definitely need to budget and plan for the time it takes to put them together.

Let the Door Speak

I love my entrance doors, but after living in the house for a few days I felt uncomfortable with their transparency at night. I picked up some Gila Window Film because I knew it would let in light, while providing me with some additional privacy.

After a successful installation on the first door, I decided to experiment with the next one. The door to the garage also includes the house number! I briefly considered using the words, "house" and "garage" but didn't want to have to work too many curved lines with my xacto knife. The final product is pretty darn good.

On my way to work, I walk by a few windows with cutouts in their frosting. The quality of my DIY version is just as good, if not better.

Rack up the Garage

I have two friends who are house hunting, so during the weekends I often tag along as they go house hunting. Last weekend, we stopped by a townhouse that must be going into foreclosure. The guy was selling everything, from light fixtures to appliances.

A shelving system is one of the things on my list, so when I spied some shelves in his garage I was ecstatic. Its commercial grade, not those flimsy plastic things. Fifty dollars later, we were loading them up in my wagon. After a quick trip to the hardware store for a masonry drill bit, I drilled the racks into the wall.

What an improvement! I still need to get rid of more stuff, but it is so nice to have a semi-organized garage.

Building a Kitchen on a Budget - Part 1

My wagon continues to earn its stripes. I got the call Friday evening that my IKEA shipment had arrived. By picking up my cabinets from the airport, I saved the $80 delivery fee. I did have to call in the troops to help me get a few boxes upstairs. Anything less than 42 lbs, I can carry by myself. The lazy susans were in the 80 lb range. Thanks again, Gordon!

Assembling the boxes with football games playing in the background is fun. Putting together the first box took me a little over a quarter of a game. By the time we got to the 3:30 PM game, I could assemble two boxes in one quarter. I made a few rookie mistakes, but nothing worth sweating over. I nailed the interior white panel facing the outside and switched out two of the pull outs. If I hadn't told you, no one would have known.

Lesson Learned: Assemble the simplest cabinet first.

One Project a Day

The long list of things to do on the house continues to grow. It can be sort of overwhelming, so I've decided to adopt the one project a day mentality. The project can be big, it can be little. Yesterday, I switched out the bathroom light fixture.

The bathroom light fixture is a perfect example of why I shouldn't settle for something just because it is a deal. The former light fixture had a matching finish and at $20 was a good deal. The fixtures at the big box stores were in the $80-$120 range and just okay. I settled for the $20 fixture. As soon as I started living with it, I knew that I hated it - to the point where I wouldn't turn on the light unless absolutely necessary. Fast forward one month, I broke down and bough the Cade Sconce. I flipped the switch this morning and smiled.

Lesson Learned: Don't buy something just because it is cheap. You'll end up buying what you really want in the end and paying twice for it.

Chunk of Furniture Love

My wagon is definitely earning its stripes this weekend. I swung by the model home warehouse furniture sale and scored Kartell's bubble club sofa for $100 (regular price approx. $1000). I've been eyeing the chunky bubble chairs for a while now. It fit my new furniture criteria: modern, affordable and liftable. After this last move, I decided that I need to be able to lift any new furniture.

My latest accessory is my Taylor cup trophy. Third week in a row, baby! The silver trophy looks great in my house.