Simple Side Tables (Ikea Hack)

Like a few people on the internet, I have been obsessing over these little side tables with a gold branch details. After spending a considerable amount on our sofa and wood planking, I decided it was time to start looking at Ikea hacks online for side tables.

The search results yielded a lot of Lack side table hacks. since we have had something from the Lack line in our apartments since college, I wanted some else. Then towards the end of my search, I found this little gem...

It's exactly what I'm looking for! Google must have been reading my mind...

The hack is so simple and brilliant. It's a no brainier. 

We quickly sprinted to Ikea to purchase the Lindved side table. Just a quick tip, always wake up early and go to Ikea if you know exactly what you want.... Otherwise you'll be in line for days! Each table was $20. Then we headed over to the Home Depot for Rustoleoem spray paint. I was able to pick up three cans of the Champange Mist. 

Each table used one spray can of paint. 

Wallpaper = Urban Cabin

This is the first item I picked for the house. It's up and I'm in love!

Other exciting news includes: 

We have purchased the Stikwood for the entry wall design

We have purchased a sofa for the living, best part it's not Ikea.

We started to plan the kitchen/fridge remodel

Wallpaper: Cole & Sons Woods in Taupe & White.

Sorry for the crap iPhone Pictures... I'm to cheap to buy a real camera! 

Kitchen Planning

We where hoping to knock out this project completely by ourselves. Our goal is to place the fridge into this very deep wall separating the kitchen and dining space. For us it's a no brainer to pick up additional square footage in the kitchen, plus eliminate the awkward narrowness to get to the back door.

We did notice that there is HVAC and electric running through the wall, but we were not sure how much space they actually took up. Therefore we decided to cut small hole in the wall to see what we're dealing with.... As, it turns out we actually only needed to cut a tiny hole in the wall because we realize there's an entire brick wall behind the drywall.

Here's the game plan...

Oh what fun... We turned to Angie's List to find a contractor.

After speaking to the drafter the contractor sent over, we need completely demo all the drywall to see if it is a feasible task to take on. We are currently debating if we should tackle this project...  the best case scenario would be that when they remodeled the home they placed a support beam across the width of the home.  If it's not there, then its a really costly remodel. 

Finally... progress and a blog post!

Jesse and I have been busy bees this summer. This year we managed to balance it all: work, life, fun and home improvement projects. It helps when you decide to reprioritize your needs quickly and often... but that's a story for another day.

Regarding the house, while we still have some outstanding projects in the basement and spare bedroom, we decided to focus on the first floor. We have gotten rid of the notion of "one room at a time" (ha!) and decided to attack what we can now on the first floor.

After we finished the small details on the Ikea china cabinet hack, I wanted a wine rack built asap! This is the first project we didn't totally wing... or I'll dream and Jes reacts... you know what I mean! Jes actually used Google for it's true intention. He decided to "look up shit to make smarter decisions". We discussed design, made a drawing, took measurements, and shopped for materials. What!?! 

Here is the before & after pictures. I LOVE Jes for building this!! Now, I need more wine.

x, Shan

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Current State of Affairs

For me blogging is a simple way to update friends and family about our progress with the house without having to tell the same story over and over. There is no pressure to plan updates or fix grammatical errors. Blogging allows me to share the moments worth sharing, laugh at our mistakes, and remind us of the progress we have made.

Currently, we are still working on the never ending dining room china cabinet. We need to scrape paint of the glass doors and finish sanding, priming, and painting the bottom four drawers.

In the living room, the gallery wall above the sofa is almost complete. I have to order prints for the remaining frames. I just need to find a vendor that prints your Instagram pictures in to 5x5 prints. In addition to the gallery wall, I have finished styling the pipe shelf unit Jesse made. It seemed like the right spot to the obligatory wedding shrine for child-less couples. Lastly, we are in the middle of painting the ceiling a very light white-ish grey color.

Just to make sure we do not loose focus of where we are going with the design of the living room, I have inspiration taped up on the wall. On a positive note, I have ordered the Cole & Son's wallpaper. This will go below the chair rail in dining and living rooms.

As if we did not have enough going on, we are starting on a new area of the house. We started painting over the horrible green paint in the upstairs hallway and are completing a new Ikea build in hack with Rast.

x, Shan

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The Never Ending Project(s)

Where should I begin....

For starters - I should admit that we have a problem. When we purchased the house, Jes made me swear that we would focus on one area at at time. However, I get 90% of the project completed, then move on to the next item. Leaving 10% to be finished "some time" in the future.

As we approached the finish line with the basement make-over, we where feeling exhausted of home projects... plus with the horrible winter, we wanted a break from everything! Therefore, we went to Mexico for a week to rest and relax!

When we came back from vacation, we where recharged and ready to knock off more items from our very long "to-list". Instead of completing the spare bedroom and the basement, (I just have a few arts and crafts projects to make the rooms complete) we decided to retackle the Ikea China Cabinet hack.

If you remember, before the holidays Jes went rouge and tried to complete this project on his own. Unfortunately, he didn't realize in order to paint the cabinet you need to sand off the finish and prime the unit.  With in three weeks we had paint peeling right off the cabinet.

Therefore Memorial Day weekend we thought we could tackle this beast of a project.....

 

.... nope! Nearly two weeks later and we are still working on putting it back together. Hopefully we can finish it this weekend! Providing Philly's Beer Week doesn't get in the way.

x, Shan

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Basement: Hardware Center

We have been making some progress.... however it's been a little slow. Our efforts to sell items on Craigslist has been rather painful. Mostly because the items are not moving fast enough and buyers are falling through. Since I was anxious to start the Elfa hardware center, we moved all the Craigslist items to our (unfinished... well, not started) living room.

It was important for me to complete the hardware center, because I wanted somewhere for Jesse to put his growing tool collection. Plus there are very few areas in the house that are really just for him. He needs a place for his clubs, growlers, and tools.  I'm very excited how the hardware center turned out.

Over the last few weeks, Jes and I have spent a lot of time looking for a new rug for the basement. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I decided to take the rug I was contemplating to use in the living room. Jesse HATES this rug... it sheds. However since the basement is a low traffic area, I don't have to worry about the constant hairballs.

Here is what is left to do:
Finish the section of the wall Jesse took down for the washer & dryer
Find & purchase a new light fixture
Reupholster sofa pillows (fabric samples ordered!)
Reupholster the office chair... may add a little more height too
Sell old furniture items on Craigslist (an on-going & painful process)


x, Shan

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Basement: What is next?

We have made some big changes in the space, but we are not done.... Here is what we have left:

Finish touch up paint
Finish the section of the wall Jesse took down for the washer & dryer
Find & purchase a new rug
Find & purchase a new light fixture
Reupholster sofa pillows
Reupholster the office chair... may add a little more height too
Purchase & install the Elfa hardware center
Sell old furniture items on Craigslist

Anyone want to deal with this pile of junk?

x, Shan

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Basement: Elfa Entertainment Wall

We are still working on the basement, however we have made a huge progress by installing the main Elfa entertainment wall. While the space isn't fully decorated and accessorized - I can not get over how much this one project has transformed the way I feel about our basement.

Before Pictures:

Concept Picture:

After pictures:

All my pictures are taken using my phone, therefore the quality is not fantastic.... o'well!

x, Shan

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Basement: Making progress

We have the the walls painted, and it makes a huge difference! The space feels brighter and cleaner... though it's not actually cleaner...

I repurposed some old art and new toss pillows. As you can see from the picture above, we still need to find a rug and some new fabric for the red and blue toss pillows.

We are trying not to spend too much in this space, but we are in dire need of storage! Therefore I looked in to my new obsession, Elfa from the Container Store. Jes and I conceptualized this Elfa makeover for this main wall.

With the 30% Elfa sale ending this weekend, we better run to to store!

x, Shan

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Basement: Before Pictures

Let the basement make over begin!
For good measure, here are the before pictures.

x, Shan

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Where to start?

Jes & I have had a difference of options lately. Since creating our master interior project list, we have been debating on how to tackle our projects.

Jes feels that we should finish the dinning room, since it's near completion. I vote that we start and finish the basement.... guess who wins?!?! I do, of course!

We are constantly in the basement - it's where our only TV, our iMac, and comfy sofa are all located. Why not make this place more comfortable first? Currently we have unpacked boxes, random items w/ no homes, and just full chaos in this space. It drives me nuts! For a room we spend the most time in, I need organization.

My plans are BIG for this space to make it a true multi-use area. I have two Elfa installs, an up-cycled chair project, and lots of stuff to sell on Craigslist. For now - let's start small  - let's pick a paint color.

Since there is not a lot of natural light in the space, I don't want something too dark. Therefore,  I looked at the off-white Benjamin Moore collection. From left to right, we sampled: Dove wing (OC-18), Sliver Satin (OC-26), and Balboa Mist (OC-27)

We are going with Sliver Satin (OC-26) for the walls. Keeping with the rest of the house, we will pair it with White Dove (OC-17) for the trim.

x, Shan

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2014 Master Project List

The start of a new year is all about creating resolutions, goals, or objectives to complete throughout the year... therefore Jes & I sat down to create the master project list for 2014! Covering all things inside the home. I doubt we will make it though the entire list by year end... com'on how on earth are we going afford all this!

Basement

paint

elfa storage media center

new rug

new light fixture

sofa pillows

new rug

elfa hardware center

Living room

new couch

new fabric for club chairs

stain club chairs
electric and cable install under stairs

coffee table

wall art/gallery wall 

wallpaper (with dining room)

wood wall/drop off area

light fixture in stair opening

Dining room

wallpaper(with living room)

repaint cabinet

finish grey paint

wine storage

new back for bar hutch

Kitchen

paint walls & back door

alcove for fridge

pantry next to fridge, if possible 

new light fixtures

Spare bedroom

refinish frames

elfa storage in 2nd closet

repaint little table

refinish mirror

Master bedroom

elfa storage in closet 

wardrobes?

new bed

headboard 

paint

Hallway

paint

rast storage makeover
gallery wall

Bathroom

paint

new mirror

x, Shan

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Getting back in the saddle

The holidays are officially over. Therefore, we have to start getting back on track with our house projects....

I have to admit it was nice to stop working on projects all together, we really took time to ourselves to be absolutely lazy! We accomplished a few small projects here and there, but our biggest accomplishment was power watching through 4.5 seasons of the Good Wife!

Here is a short summary of what we accomplished during our winter break:

1. We got the Ikea china cabinet hack looking presentable for the holidays. However Jes skipped the primer, he was under the impression it was built in to the paint color.... It's already started to peel, and now we have to scrape and repaint. But it looked good for the holiday visitors!

2. We built a little Nick-nack shelf for the living room out of plumbing pipes...

3. We installed our first Elfa project... and we've officially joined the Elfa cult!

x, Shan

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