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A Colorful Door, Colorful Appliances

March
6 80
comments

(And a Big Goal)

I was thinking some more about lighting, and the plan for finishing the kitchen’s minor update. OK, really what I was doing was fixating on getting a new fridge in addition to painting the back door. A colorful door and a colorful appliance! Sounds perfect! While I was giving myself figurative back pats for so confidently deciding on a plan for the kitchen, I realized I’ve seen that combination somewhere before. On Pinterest, probably? No wait, it was somewhere else…

Laundry Room

Oh, right. In our laundry room. You know — that room right in my house? Duh.

The red washer and dryer were the nicest things in our basement for a very long time, until we elevated the surroundings with a remodel. When we finally did have a nice laundry room, I was extra glad that we spent a little more initially to get a red set instead of white.

Brandon and I took on our DIY kitchen remodel right away when we moved here in 2007, and we tried to keep the cost down as much as we could. We spent a lot on the quartz counters and a stainless steel gas stove, but we didn’t put all that much thought into selecting a fridge. We chose the model that we did because the front of it was the right color (titanium alloy, though it looked like a match to our stove), and the sides were painted gray instead of black. The fridge is completely exposed in the center of the room, so those gray sides were a big selling point to us. Our entire kitchen — with new everything except the floor — cost only $11,000. Aside from a brief period during which the fridge made a weird noise (it just needed to be re-leveled), it has served us well. Now that the kitchen has been freshened up with all of its white paint though, the fridge bothers me. It isn’t worthy of its focal point placement.

White Kitchen

I’ve always liked the look of vintage fridges, especially when they’re pink. I think that as cute as my laundry room turned out with its colorful appliances, my kitchen could be 10x better. But appliances are not cheap, and I know that buying a pretty new fridge is a little ridiculous when I have a perfectly good one that’s only six years old.

My big life list goal for this year is to land a book deal. It’s a little scary putting that out there because I may fail (and obviously you’ll be able to tell if this does or does not work out for me), but I’m going to work hard to make it happen. And if/when I do, I’ve decided (and Brandon agrees) that I ought to celebrate with the completely frivolous purchase of a cute fridge. Consider it an added incentive.

It’s going to look so good.

link    Basement, Kitchen, Laundry Room  •  80 Comments  •  March 6, 2013

Kitchen Lighting Options

March
5 65
comments

The ceiling in the kitchen is 7’10″ high. The light that’s in the room now has three fluorescent bulbs, hangs down 10″, and has a 15″ diameter. It’s the right size and has the right light output, but I never did like it all that much. Now that the kitchen has been updated a bit, I want to replace the semi-flush mount fixture with something prettier, but not lose too much light or headroom. Argh, I feel like I’ve been here before.

Lighting I Really Really Want to Work in the Kitchen

Kitchen Lighting Options from Making it Lovely (Love these!)

  1. Factory Satellite 3
    I don’t know if it would look funny hugging the ceiling, and I worry that the shades will block too much of the ambient light that we currently have bouncing off of the ceiling. Also, Edison bulbs look great but I would replace them with fluorescent bulbs for practicality, and even the round ones may throw the look off a little.

  2. Bluff City Pendant, Large, Mint/Red
    It’s supposed to be a pendant, not a flush-mount fixture. It’s slightly too tall (13″), and I’m not sure it would provide enough light. But I love it. I would happily save up for this one.

Somebody please tell me that one of those two will suit my needs perfectly and we will be happy forever and ever. Except don’t if it isn’t true. I mustn’t allow my infatuation to get the best of me.

Here, we have some more options.

Lights I Like a Lot but Know Won’t Work and are Therefore Easier to Resist

Kitchen Lighting Options

  1. Artimede Nur Mini Ceiling Light
    The “mini” version is still fairly large, and it’s a good size for our kitchen, but it focuses light downward and wouldn’t provide enough general illumination.

  2. IKEA 365+ Brasa Black Pendant Lamp
    This looks much more expensive than it is, but again, it directs light downward. And it’s another pendant that I’m trying to force into a semi-flush mount, and that’s probably silly.

  3. FLOS Glo-Ball C Ceiling Light
    If you haven’t seen this one in person, you’re probably thinking this is a really simple light with a really high price tag. I assure you it is organic and special and beautiful, and yes, the price tag is still high. I don’t love it enough to spend that much, and it only holds one bulb anyway.

  4. FLOS Smithfield Ceiling Lamp
    I adore the shape, and there is even a 3-bulb option. Alas, it is directional, downward light.

I used a fancy-ish html trick to continuously label those bullet points with a break between the ordered lists, so hopefully the numbers correspond. If not, may the powers of deduction and common sense be your friend.

Moving on! This next collection has another catchy name.

Lighting That Will Work Just Fine but That I am Less Excited About Overall

Flush-Mount Kitchen Lighting Options

  1. Robert Abbey Antique Nickel Ceiling Light
    Cute. But is it too cute? Also, the shade is fabric and I wish it wasn’t.

  2. Black Horizontal Stripe Nickel Wide Ceiling Light
    Black and white stripes would look good in the kitchen! But on the light? Dunno. And it’s fabric again.

  3. 3-Bulb Semi-Flush Light
    This is the stupid light we already have. It is passable. It’s biggest selling point is that it’s already in the room (no work, no money spent).

Can you tell I don’t have as much enthusiasm for this last set? There’s also this collection of flush mount lighting to look at from when I did my big ceiling light guide last year, and my whole lighting board on Pinterest.

What do you think? I’m tempted to try one of the first two out, and then Swiss cheese my ceiling to bits with recessed lighting. Kidding (sort of).

link    'L' for Lighting, Kitchen  •  65 Comments  •  March 5, 2013

Organizing August’s Books

March
4 24
comments

August Reading, Eleanor Playing

August is really into books lately. We used to keep all of his baby board books in a box on the floor, between the glider and the wall. As his interest (and collection) has grown, the books have been overspilling and taking over that whole area. Books were scattered everywhere, and we needed to get organized.

Board Books in a Box

Stacks of Kids' Books

The storage in August’s room mainly consists of two Effektiv units from IKEA (now discontinued), side-by-side. Here’s a shot of them from when I first shared his nursery.

August's Nursery

The unit on the right suffered a little at the hands of one very active little boy, and so the doors didn’t stay aligned anymore when shut. I removed the doors and hinges, emptied everything out (there wasn’t much in there anymore), and adjusted the shelves to work for our books. That side of the room looked cluttered though, with the open bookshelves right next to the shallow built-in shelves with toys.

Shelves in August's Room

I wanted the changing pad to stay on the left side, but it was attached by its safety straps. I reattached them to the other unit, then swapped their order. Now I can still store extra diapers, wipes, and assorted other supplies behind doors, and we have a place for August’s growing library too.

August's New Bookshelf

Kids' Books

I think I’m going to find a new spot for that black and white rug (it’s just not soft enough for a little kid’s room), so I’ll probably bring back the off-white rug that was in the space before. Eventually the glider won’t be needed anymore, and we’ll have space for a play table or just more space for playing. I’ve been having a lot of fun with the planning stage, but we don’t want to rush August out of his crib before he’s ready.

Reach!

link    August's Room  •  24 Comments  •  March 4, 2013

A Striped Rug for August’s Room

February
27 29
comments

So, I bought this striped rug for August’s room. It was on sale, 50% off (still is), and I was blinded by a sense of urgency. Must buy now, before it sells out! (It’s still available.)

Striped Rug in August's Room

It arrived, and I like the scale of the stripes. I like the color (the darker stripes are more charcoal than black). Here’s what I’m not liking so much: it’s not very soft. I knew it wouldn’t be plush — it’s a dhurrie — but it’s a smidge scratchy. And when I vacuum it, it gets all caught up and bunches like crazy. Annoying.

Dwell Studio Draper Ink Striped Rug

Also, how did I forget that I bought a twin-sized blanket with brown and white stripes for his room? August and I have snuggled under it in the rocking chair together as we read bedtime stories for the past six months! Brown can often be paired with black, but not in this case.

Striped Rug Vs. Striped Blanket: Who Will Win?

So I’m not sure I’m feeling the striped rug in there. I put it down without a rug pad, but I’ve since purchased one, so I’ll see if that helps with the vacuum slippage issue. The rug isn’t terribly rough underfoot and August isn’t a newborn so it’s less of a problem now, but I wish it were a little softer. And then there’s the clashing! Rug vs. Blanket! Stripes vs. Stripes! Who will win?

p.s. Prepare thyselves for striped rug overload right this way! I’m considering this runner for the kitchen (such a good price).

link    'R' for Rugs, August's Room  •  29 Comments  •  February 27, 2013

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