Hacking IKEA Pendants

I stumbled across a blog post recently where a smart, smart lady had turned IKEA's Foto Pendant into a DIY barn light for over her kitchen sink and I said to myself, "self! $14.99 for a pendant is just the right price for your kitchen."

So that's what I did. An old neighbor of mine in Salt Lake traveled to Idaho this past weekend for a family function, and before making the trip she was kind enough to grab a couple pendant lights at IKEA for me -- what a gal, saving me seven hours of driving (and some unknown amount of money... IKEA is dangerous like that).

These pendants come with a plug so I had to have to flex my electrical muscles. And I'm mildly afraid of electricity so really I made my husband do most of it. Since he never works on house projects with me, it's secretly fun when I get to rope him into helping me out... quality time, you know.

In the interest of full disclosure, I also purchased a couple of ceiling canopy kits for about $6 each which brought the grand total to $21 a pendant. And since this was a little jury rigged, I also had to tie a fancy knot in the cord above the metal cross bar to keep the pendants at the right height, which means we assembled the light and the ceiling kit first, tied the knot in the cord and then my husband mounted the whole unit to the ceiling (as seen in the photos below). Lucky for us (him) this pendant weights next to nothing, so it wasn't a big deal.

I'm not 100% sold on the color I chose (Krylon's Ocean Breeze) as I was hoping it would be a little more muted. I think I might like Krylon's Catalina Mist on these, but then I'd have a pair of Catalina Mist pendants right next to a pair of Catalina Mist lamps, so maybe I should find a new color for those living room lamps before I do anything hasty! Or maybe spray paint companies need to come out with more colors. Just a thought. I like blue lights, okay?

For now though, they'll do! I like 'em, and $21 a pendant is well within my budget kitchen makeover plan. Now to just sort out that unfinished wall...

Filling My Kitchen's One Blank Wall

I'm still plugging away in my kitchen, but this whole "budget" concept seriously cramps my style, so today I'm sharing my zero dollar kitchen art! I think kitchens need art, even if it's not Art with a capital A. So in the spirit of having no budget left for the month, I got creative with a couple frames I already had in a closet.

First, I sat down and created a little graphic using a favorite lyric from a Leonard Cohen song called "Anthem." The lyric reads in part, "there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." I love the sentiment behind this, I feel like it's about how imperfections are everywhere and that these imperfect things are beautiful and wonderful because of their flaws, not in spite of them; perfection is overrated and stifling. It's a freeing, lovely thought and one I wanted on my wall.

I also printed off a photo from a creative commons set I found on flickr a while ago made by a lady named D Sharon Pruitt. I like the colors in it and so it will work for now, while I'm looking for something more permanent. Something like... this painting, maybe. My birthday is coming up soonish after all, and if I must turn 30 I might as well pick my own presents!

While I was working on my little budget art project, I got an idea, stemming from my bizarre half-height upper cabinets...

What do we think? Would a shelf under that cabinet look too country or maybe even out of place on its own? I'm not sure how I feel about the wooden brackets... I like them in other kitchens but wonder if floating shelves would be better in mine. Let's discuss.

New Master Plan for a Mini Kitchen Makeover

Even small makeovers deserve big plans!

Remember when I was going to do a major overhaul of my kitchen? Yeah, about that... I don't think that's going to happen. I've decided to make peace with some of the issues I have with the kitchen and focus on making it the best little room it can be without entirely breaking the bank.

There are so many beautiful kitchens out there in blog land, and with the popularity of fun sites like Pinterest we are practically drowning in gorgeous design. Similar to how our self esteem and idea of "normal" can be affected by the constant deluge of super thin models we are subjected to in the media, it's easy to get caught in the same trap when it comes to the "perfect" house or kitchen. There's no such thing! Large, small, new, old... rock what you've got.

The truth is, your kitchen (and your body!) are great. Make the most of what you have and learn to love it. Happiness isn't having what you want, it's wanting what you have. I'm excited to show y'all that you don't have to gut your kitchen and spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new high end space to have a kitchen you love.

So while eventually I do hope to make a few changes to the cabinets in my kitchen and move a few things around, I'll be keeping the majority of them, reusing boxes when I can (a great way to save some money) and matching new doors to the existing ones instead of replacing them all.

For now though, I'm concentrating on a few details to make the most of the kitchen I have. Details like:

1. Replacing the existing laminate counters -- I'll stick with laminate again as it doesn't make sense to upgrade to a more expensive material in our neighborhood, even if I wanted to spend the money on it right now. I will be using a higher end laminate (as much fun as the beige graph paper counters have been...)

Counter Exhibit A  

(click to enlarge its graph paper fabulousness)

2. Replacing the beige sink with something less... beige.
3. Patching the walls and ceilings.
4. Painting the ceiling.
5. Installing some attractive pendant lighting.
6. Adding trim to the unfinished walls.
7. Painting vinyl flooring (yes, you heard me. Shhh... it'll be all right. I promise.)
 8. Replacing my stove and fridge to match my microwave and dishwasher. Okay, that one's not a priority (except for me). It'll happen eventually. Sigh.

I'm sticking to a monthly house budget so I have to make the most of my money and it won't all happen next week -- but I'm excited to look back in a few months and see the transformation!

Wall Be Gone! *Poof*

I'm done painting the paneled wall and the new column, and even though there's still some trim work on both sides and some wall patching and texture in the kitchen that needs to get done, the difference the paint alone has made is huge.

I feel like that horrible mini wall, the one I hate because it disrupts the flow, has disappeared. Or disappeared as much as a wall that's still really there can disappear. Painting it the same color as the surrounding walls in both rooms has made it fade into the background and my living room feels larger, brighter and more open. Win.

Remember what my living room looked like on Saturday? Of course you do; disturbing stuff like that gets burned into your memory for years.

Without that jarring wall of knotty pine, the entire space feels roomier and all the windows really pop -- have I mentioned that I love the dark mullions with the white trim? I didn't know how I would feel about them when I first decided to paint, but now I'm 100% on board. Kind of quirky. Lots of charm.

 
Even with the work that still needs to be done, I'm so over the moon with my "new" space. Tomorrow I'll be back with the list of things that still need to be done to finish the little kitchen makeover!

This little project just goes to show that no matter how much we all dread painting sometimes (and come on, even I do -- it's not on my top 10 list of favorite things), in the end it is so, so, so worth it.

Kitchen cabinets, you're next. (I just have to keep reminding myself "it's worth it, it's worth it, it's worth it...")

Paint-a-Palooza 2013: It Begins

Hey friends... I've spent the last couple days girding my loins (ha, who says that?) for my plans this weekend. I don't know what you've been up to, but I truly doubt it can compare to me beginning the great paint-a-palooza of 2013.

First up, the paneled wall in my living room that has been on my "to paint" list since... oh, forever. Now that there's an unpainted column in the middle of it I was forced to admit that two unpainted wrongs don't make a right.

I see you judging me for still having the foosball table in my dining room. It's heavy, y'all. Heavy!! One day I'll be able to walk through my dining table without having to do a shimmy past it, and that will be a very good day in my world, indeed.

Tonight, after much loin girding, I turned on a movie of questionable merit (rhymes with Shmilight) and I got my primer on.

Tomorrow I'll caulk and get some color on the wall... and then next week maybe I'll finish out the paint-a-palooza by repainting my kitchen cabinets.  Because yes, that's happening. Of course I'm that crazy woman who is going to repaint her not-white-enough kitchen cabinets to a white-enough-white. It's a sickness and I love it. 

Edited to add: I just noticed one of my kitchen cabinets is open. Oh, the shame of a poorly styled photograph... ;)

I Hate Plumbing: Main Line Miracle

Early in the month I was doing some laundry while Mike was doing dishes, and I walked down to my ugliest laundry room in the world in order to move the clothes through, when I was confronted with this terrible, horrible, no good very bad sight:

Our main line was backed up and my laundry room had flooded. Again. Gross. Sorry for the photo, it had to be done. Y'all need to understand just how dire the situation was.

We've had some issues in the past with our 50 year old home's main line to the sewer. Shortly after we moved in, the floor drain would flood the room a little when we did laundry. Gradually it started flooding more each time... no good.

We had plumbers come and look at it -- they climbed on the roof with a snake and cleaned it out, but they said some older homes just have problems like this that come back repeatedly, and worst case scenario we'd have to replace the main line (ouch! expensive!). I cried a little inside when they said that. A year and a half later it happened again and we called more plumbers. Even when the line was clear it was always slow, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I walked downstairs to a flooded laundry room again.

Both plumbers recommended a powdered enzymatic cleaner that is supposed to introduce enzymes (duh) and helpful bacteria to the pipes to really clean them out instead of just cutting a hole through the gunk like a snake would.

Geek moment time out: think of your plumbing system as similar to your digestive system (sorry -- again, it has to be done). Helpful bacteria are necessary for proper function in your gut, and when you use a heavy duty chemical drain cleaner on your pipes or take an antibiotic for an illness, all that helpful bacteria gets killed too.  This can lead to drains that clog again faster or in the case of our body, tummy troubles. So if you can solve a slow drain with an enzymatic cleaner and then do routine monthly treatments to keep it clear, it's a healthier alternative but it's also better for the system in general. 

Back to the story. I was using the enzymatic cleaner and it helped but it never eliminated the problem in the main line -- it seemed our issue was just too large. I cried inside some more.

Finally, this month when I had standing water that took hours to clear and I wanted to kick my house in its imaginary face, I started googling and found this product:

Instant Power's Main Line Cleaner. I started reading reviews about how it was some sort of miracle cleaner for frustrated homeowners. And I saw that it was guaranteed. I didn't want to get my hopes too high after hundreds of dollars spent on plumbers who couldn't fix it...  but I still dropped everything to run to the store and pick up a bottle for $10.

I brought it home and anxiously watched the clock until evening; see, just like an enzymatic cleaner, this product is best used when you're not going to be using sinks, showers, toilets, dishwashers, etc. for several hours -- overnight is perfect. Right before bed I poured the entire bottle down my laundry room floor drain and said a prayer to the plumbing gods.

Fast forward to the next morning: I boiled a berzillion pots of water and trudged downstairs to flush the drain as per the instructions. I poured the first gallon into the drain... and it went down. It wasn't instant but the water... went down the drain... in front of my eyes. I was intrigued.

It wasn't draining slowly, but it also wasn't draining incredibly fast... so I decided to test the line and see if I needed another bottle (as some reviewers said their lines needed two treatments). Mike and I turned on all the faucets in the house at once and flushed the toilets... and at first it looked like it was going to start backing up through the floor drain again, but then we heard a big gurgle and saw some bubbles from deep in the pipe like something was knocked loose, and the drain immediately emptied and never filled back up.

Holy plumbing miracle, Batman.

My floor drain has been dry for a week, which is amazing. We've had zero back up, we can run the dishwasher and the washing machine at once, and my life is complete. Or at least I don't want to kick my house in its imaginary face anymore. Success!

(I received nothing from this company, they don't even know I exist... I just found an awesome product and wanted to share it with you guys!)

Top 10 Posts of 2012

It's time to count down the posts that readers visited the most over the last year... if you're newer around here, consider checking them out. Ready? Okay!

10. Masonite Faux Paneled Wall

9. DIY Drip Painting

8. $53 Slate Backsplash

7.  Faux Metal Arrow

6. Rub 'n Buff Mirror

5. Easiest Envelope Pillow Ever

4. Painted Backtab Curtains

3 & 2. Boys' Room Reveal / Details & Sources

And finally, the most popular post of 2012...

1. IKEA Hack Nightstand

Thanks for a fun year, everyone. I'm looking forward to 2013!

The UPS Man Always Rings Once

Yesterday afternoon, right before I left for school, the UPS man left a surprise at my door...

...and I couldn't wait to tear into the box. And today, my little post-Christmas purchase looks like this:

I like them! I think I'll like them even more once that wall and column is painted. My kids like them! They're happy to be able to sit up there and have a snack or keep me company while I cook. Mike...doesn't like them. Oh well -- you win some, you lose some. Maybe they'll grow on him.

I wanted something affordable, tall (30"), with a smallish footprint, and a little more industrial looking just 'cause I'm a fan of eclectic decor and I thought it would be fun. I found these Tabouret stools on Overstock.com, which come in a whole bunch of fun colors... in the 24" height. Either they were out of all the colors in the 30" size or there's just not as many options in stock, but I went for the silver. If I decide they need to be tangerine I can always paint them!

Adjusting to Less Cabinet Space

Yesterday, a couple people asked me how we were dealing with less cabinet space ever since I decided on a whim to remove a set of uppers to open my kitchen a little more to the surrounding rooms.

some of my cabinets now

I wish I had the forethought to photograph the cabinets before the shuffle... but trust me, they were full. We tend to fill the spaces we have -- even if that means accumulating lots of stuff. And I admit, I had the stuff. And the piles that accumulated in empty spots.

The truth is, I did have to do a bit of rearranging and I did end up getting rid of a few things. Lucky for me, I'm naturally a 'tosser' in all aspects of my life and I think an occasional review of the items in a home is healthy! It's just like going through your clothes and asking yourself, "have I worn this in the last year?" and deciding if it's worth the extra space in your home and life. Except we're doing it with our 27 commemorative mugs and our quesadilla makers.

I suspect we can get by just fine with less than we think. And I'm not hurting... for example, I still have:

• 2 crock pots and specialized gadgets like waffle irons and popcorn poppers
• approximately 96 spices jars
• around 11 spatulas
• a whole drawer full of rags, another for towels, another for heating pads
• a cabinet full of random things like dog food, wireless routers, and Swiffers.

We also have shelving in the basement where I'm able to store things I use less frequently like:

• my fancy china
• extra glassware for entertaining (big box o' wine glasses, thanks TJ Maxx!)
• canning jars
• seasonal dishes

So obviously I'm not an extreme kitchen minimalist; I'm not mixing things with my hands or washing out my one pot between side dishes... I'm just taking my boyfriend Alton Brown's advice as often as I can and making a lot of my tools and gadgets work overtime to multitask.

After all is said and done, I don't feel cramped at all, even with  my "no gadgets on the counters" rule. It's all about being smart with the space you have. Do you have any kitchen organizing tip you want to share?

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

-William Morris
 

Kitchen Progress - It's a Column!

Months after I surprised Mike at work with a picture of holes in our kitchen walls, I can finally see the room beginning to take shape.

As evidenced by unpainted MDF, garage light fixtures, exposed wires and studs and a well placed 1960's wallpaper remnant... well, there's still plenty of work to be done.  But since my focus during my time at school is to finish projects instead of starting new ones, and my kitchen is a top priority room, I have a good feeling that this room won't stay unfinished for long.
 

I had Joe remove the wall behind the top later of slate tile so normal 30" bar stools would fit this new mini breakfast bar space.

Joe also added a couple of lights; once the under-cabinet lighting was removed with those glass doored cabinets,  my kitchen was plunged into dungeon-esque darkness... and it was already a poorly lit room.

Those fixtures are, of course, temporary!

Let's take a look back to Christmas 2011 and see what my kitchen looked like:

Fast forward to Christmas 2012:

Okay, it's less finished. And there's a giant foosball table in my dining room because we're too lazy to take it apart and move it downstairs. But can't you see the potential? It's already so much more open and it feels less like the galley kitchen that it is. Progress!