birthday presents

massage gift certificate, leather journal, moonflower seeds, beautiful nyc travel book, and new charm for bracelet.

love this

the best ikea shopping tips

I've been to Ikea so many times, and since it's a 2.5 hour drive for me I've learned to prepare as much as I can to get the most out of my trip.

The very first thing I do is measure everything and anything in the house that I'm considering a purchase for.

Curtains?

• Window heights and widths
• Depths from wall to blinds for rod brackets...I've made this mistake before :(

Furniture, rugs, etc.?

• Room dimensions
• Closet depths and dimensions
• Available space for cabinets, dressers, anything you might be even just be considering...

Here is a view of my Ikea.com shopping cart. It shows store availability, and the print out list option gives you several ways to sort your items, by first added, area of pickup in the store, etc. This is absolutely awesome. It gives you a general idea of what you might spend right ;)...and you can use it to cross things off, I highly recommend it this great tool.

So in short, here is my go-to list for what I bring:

• My own measuring tape, just easier to use than the free ribbon tape they provide
• A list of projects and ideas I have
• Printed out shopping list from Ikea.com

And I still spend 5 hours there every single time.

ikea evolution of emotion

Nug and I had the best day at Ikea. He played at Smaal-land for a bit while I got some shopping done, then we hit the aisles all over again. Lunch at the cafeteria...with the promise of chocolate cake if he ate everything. This was him over literally thirty seconds. "Crying face", "Sad face", "Attempting a pityful smile face", and then "CHOCOLATE CAKE NOM NOM NOM face"...

happy monday

I can't remember life before her name.
-John Mayer

ikea trip

Off to Ikea! Got my printed out product list from their website and snacks, snacks (and snacks) for the 3 hour drive. on the hunt for 12 of these today (ikea ribba frame)...among other things. many other things.

best spray paint tool ever

I just bought saw the Rustoleum Spray Grip at walmart for $2.50 and it's amazing. It attaches to any regular spray paint can and it really does work. Some reviews say it isn't the best, but mine works really well so far (update 2 years later and still going strong). It doesn't seem to be the highest quality plastic, but for what I'm doing it's just fine.

I'm refinishing an old mirror from Kirkland's and the finish was very pretty but too traditional for me and I knew I wouldn't use it unless I changed it up.

One full can of glossy white Krylon Fusion and my hand and fingers aren't all cramped up and my fingers don't have runny spraypaint all over.

basketcase

Inspired by Ikea catalog and this gorgeous living room from a house crashing on my favorite blog, I found these at Michael's for 40% off, and cheap hooks from Walmart. Removable storage for blankets, remotes & clutter.

target inspired art.."i heart u alphabet"

Saw this print at Target and I love it for my son Aidan's room...but it was $20 ($18 on sale now) and I knew I could do it myself with stuff I already had laying around and my printer...

Here is the inspiration...

And here is what I did...

I also downloaded some new free fonts from Font Squirrel and I might play around some more...the frame is from Michael's and the 'mat' was Ikea wrapping paper.

I love when your lips and my lips just stop talking and dance together.
-Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson

furniture refinishing tip & local hardware source find

Found Cabinetmaker's Hardware Store on Cleveland St. in Virginia Beach. I was looking for the dry sink hinge hardware and probably returned 20 styles of hinges from Home Depot and Lowe's, no joke. Cabinetmaker's were so, so helpful, reasonably priced.  I will definitely recommend them and will be going back!

TIP: Keep all old hardware! Often it will be much easier to spray paint to the desired finish. Even though I didn't reuse the hinges, I was able to take the extremely unique hinge in and Cabinetmaker's found what I needed immediately! They truly were a godsend after all the exchanges I'd already done, internet searching, etc. etc.


Samples from their store...

liquor cabinet redo: before/after

I purchased a dry sink at the Habitat for Humanity store in Norfolk, VA at 40% off for ~$40. Solid wood, not sure of the age but definitely several decades old. I knew I wanted to use this a liquor cabinet/bar for the hallway opening into the family room. No garage = living room workshop! Three coats of oil based primer, and several coats of satin white. New Martha Stewart pulls which I love and have already used on the bathroom vanity...

I also cut target wrapping paper into the exactly shape of the dry sink basin and had plexiglass cut to the exact measurement from Lowe's to set on top. Now it's interchangeable into any design or color scheme...



restoration hardware factory cart inspire

love the restoration hardware lineberry factory cart but $1095, no way! so I found one on craigslist for $200...in original decent condition, the larger size (60" long instead of the usual 48"- 53") and I love the wheels; the 'floral' design. Not sure yet what I plan to do...I've only done a light sanding with the finishing sander. Paste wax, satin poly finish? Paint the wheels and hardware?

first Christmas tree in Virginia

Blue, green, and silver theme this year...lots of dollar pack ornaments from walmart and a few things from target...broke down and got a fake tree...maybe real next year??

guest room inspiration