IKEA

Rich and I have decided IKEA it is.

After reading online forums, blogs, and e-mailing with some lovely ladies who have IKEA kitchens and comparing pricing we are excited about our choice! We are going with a complete IKEA kitchen with the exception of the appliances.

I am really leaning towards the Domsjo double bowl farm sink.

 This is not a IKEA kitchen, but the cabinets are very similar to the Ramsjo style IKEA cabinets we will be getting.

I am very excited about the dishwasher panel!

I like the look of the butcher block counter tops but I am not sure how practical/sanitary they would be.

Here is a picture of all the elements together.  Hopefully I will have pictures of our own kitchen to show you soon!

traditional kitchen design by showroom IKEA

Happy Weekend

Slow and Steady

This is Rich filling in for Callie tonight.

 The big news tonight is our floors! Our floors have been an "in progress" project since day one of our remodel back in June. We ripped up carpet, tile, plywood and linoleum in preparation for our hardwoods, and now they have finally been sanded and sealed! We decided not to do any stain on the wood as we are going for a light and airy feel in our home. Even though there is no stain, they still darkened up quite a bit just from the polyurethane finish. Here's the story in pictures:

 

And here they are in all their glory! I thought the floors looked pretty good unfinished, but now they look incredible! Next up is drywalling the fireplace, painting the master bedroom and bathroom, carpet for the bedrooms, and shoe mold everywhere--and we are hoping to have that all done by the end of next week.

 

STAY TUNED...

Checking it off!

  We have checked another project off our three mile long To Do List!  I am too exhausted to type anymore, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

Weekend Happenings

I took Rich on his first trip to IKEA this weekend and he loved it!  He is not a big shopper so for him to say, "this place is kind of fun" was huge!  Our mission was to check out their kitchen cabinets and see if they could possibly be a option for our new kitchen.  

Out of all the cabinet styles the Ramsjo was the style we liked best.  We liked a couple other cabinet styles but the finishes they came in looked and felt too much like plastic for me.

The Ramsojo doors are made of birch and have a white wash finish.  From far away they look white, but up close you can see that some of the wood shows through.

I liked this IKEA kitchen a lot more then I thought I would!  I wiggled, slammed (which is hard to do as all the drawers had dampers on them), scratched, and marked on the cabinets.  I was pretty impressed with the quality. 

As I mentioned the door fronts are made from birch, the drawers are metal, and the actual cabinet bases are particle board.  Many people are skeptical about particle board, me being one of them.  However, the original cabinets we pulled out of Twin Brook were made particle board and they were in great shape for being installed in 1978!

I am definitely going to be installing a lot of large drawers no matter where we purchase our cabinets.  I love the idea of keeping plates and bowls in the drawers rather then in upper cabinets.

Rich looking over the details.  We worked up quite an appetite analyzing the kitchen cabinets and taking in all things IKEA.  Rich really enjoyed eating cafeteria style...  He had the Swedish meatballs and I had the veggie wrap.

After lunch we hit the marketplace.  I am over pink and green but this bread basket insert and place mat were really cute.

Love this gingham bedding!  I bought it in cream and white.

I picked up this red rug for my mom and after we got home I wish I had bought the grey one for myself!

Our trip was so fun and I am so glad Rich was able to enjoy himself!  We have a meeting  on Saturday morning with a local cabinet shop so the jury is still out on whether we will go with IKEA cabinets or not but we are definitely considering it!

The tile is being installed at Twin Brook, and so far I am thrilled with how it is turning out!  The only hiccup we have encountered is that the tile man quoted a standard install, which would have meant laying the tile on the bathroom floor is a straight line and using porcelain or ceramic tile.  I chose marble tile which requires a special blade to cut and wanted it laid on a diagonal which requires a lot more cuts...who knew...So what seemed like easy choices for me meant more work for the tile man equaling a bigger bill for Rich and Callie.  Lesson learned: Always ask lots of questions and assume nothing. At least he told us before he began the work.

   Dad and Christopher added a second shower head and moved the existing head to a new location.  I had Rich build two insets for bath products in hopes of not having a shower caddy.  I do not consider myself a person with a lot of clutter, but even so I am trying to cut back and only have out the things I need rather then multiples of shampoo, condition, and face wash.

 

Here is a peek at what the tile looks like so far!

 

 

I think that the shower floor is going to be my favorite part!

 I have not had that much to do around Twin Brook, which has been nice because I have been working on fun projects.  This is the door to my built in ironing board; one of the few original things I loved about the house.  I am painting the panels of the door with green chalk board paint.  I thought it would be fun and unexpected!

P.S.  I am taking Rich on his first IKEA trip Sunday.  We are going to look at kitchen cabinets.  I want to go pull and tug on them and test their durability.  I have done some research and most people have been very please with the quality but I want to see for myself, as I am still skeptical.