IKEA makes me happy

Hello there! Hope you’re feeling the heat wave we are here – it’s positively balmy in our house tonight! Crazy! SPRING is on it’s way, and that makes me so happy. I’m excited to start getting my hands in the dirt again!

I’ve been one lucky chick lately – I’ve taken TWO trips to IKEA within the past two weeks. I’ve only been four times, and the first two times were within weeks of each other, just like this time.

They pump addictive-ness into the air in there, really.

There’s just something about IKEA. Before I had been, it was that place that I wanted to visit SO BAD. I’d see posts like this one and wanted to see all the Swedish goodness. And now that I’ve been, it just makes me giddy to go back.

I don’t know what the deal is. Maybe that’s it’s two hours away and I go rarely so it’s a treat. Maybe because it’s HUGE and you never see everything on one trip.

Maybe it’s just that they have some really fun stuff for CHEAP. Hmmm…I’m going with all of the above.

I would venture to say that the Danish Modern IKEA style is a far stretch from the more traditional style in our house. But there’s pieces throughout that would fit into most any home. And did I mention…cheap?

Anyhoo, on the first trip back a couple of weeks ago, I took the Bub with me. Today, my friend Traci from Beneath My Heart and I met up to spend the day together. We were just two crayzay Moms, shopping, eating and drinking sodas. (I gave myself a “soda pass” for the day.) ;)

I LOVE TRACI. I seriously have a major girl crush on her. We dined on Swedish meatballs (I think it’s an IKEA law you must eat them upon entering the store) and chatted our way through the place.

I took some pictures of a few of my favorite finds from both trips to share with you!

This pillow is so Pottery Barn-esque – the floral design is embroidered on the front, the striped fabric is on the back:

So pretty! I think it was $15? Can’t remember for sure. But it’s not a small pillow either – and super soft.

I love the blankets they have throughout the store:

 

We thought this one would make a pretty scarf:

OK. A very large pretty scarf. Very warm though! ;)

Their fabric selection is SO FUN:

Such great colors for a kid’s space or any fun and bright spot! I picked up a little somethin’ somethin’ for the Bub’s room – the perfect finishing touch I’ve been looking for for some time now. Can’t wait to bust out my new sewing machine and get ‘er done. :)

Many of you ask about the sofa table in our kitchen/family room, and this is it:

It’s the Hemnes sofa table and it comes in a brown/black and a beautiful grey color as well.

I love this grey piece as well:

Wouldn’t that be lovely in a kitchen, filled with white serving dishes? Just beautiful!

They have a HUGE selection of affordable chairs: 

I spy one that would work great in my office, but I’m going to try to recover the chair I have first. If it’s a colossal fail, IKEA will be calling my name. :)

One of my next big projects is our master closet. It’s atrocious. Incredibly atrocious. I’m determined to get it organized for good, and when I saw these units, I knew they would be perfect:

Ohhh…I can just see all the organized goodness in my head, and it. will. be. mine.

Their lighting department is one of my favorite parts of the store. This glass lamp is so traditional and pretty:

But they have a selection of the coolest, most magical lighting as well:

I wish I had a funky space to use one in. Maybe the basement someday? That dandelion fixture is calling my name. So cool.

Because both Traci and I luuurve Ballard Designs, we took a quick trip out to their outlet store while we were in town (West Chester, Ohio):

It’s so fun to look through, but that’s what is was mostly – looking. :) The prices were higher than I remember, and still way out of our range.

There were a few decent buys:

That light is looks like a miniature version of my dining room light! So pretty!

We were digging ALL of these fixtures, especially that green glass:

We saw plenty of projects we could attempt on our own though. Traci found a real cutie she’s going to recreate. (It’s adorable!)

We thought this pillow could be an easy knock off, especially if you have a Silhouette machine!:

I’ve been looking for clip on drum shades for our kitchen light fixture forEVER, and when I saw these across the room, I may have knocked a few women out of the way to get to them:

OH MY, they would have been perfect. But even at the even at the outlet, they were $25 smackaroos each. That would be a smooth $125 for what I needed. SO not going to happen.

Anyone seen any clip on drum shades that cost around $25 for all FIVE? :)

There’s a few oddities here and there too – like this monogrammed pillow:

I have a feeling a new bride just realized what her monogram spelled out. Ha! ;)

And this little lady was…uhhh…interesting:

We had a such a fun day! And both of us were so good too – we only found a few little items to take home.

I’ll show you some more of mine soon, but both Traci and I had to pick up this cutie from IKEA:

Only five bucks, and it’s going to look great in our guest room -- when it’s done. Someday. In about ten years. Or so. Around there.

On every lady date I ever go on, we always forget to take a picture together. But at the very last second we remembered to get one:

Uhhh…I think she was trying to kiss me in this one? Maybe.

We tried again and while trying to make our necks look good, we may have stretched a little too much:

This is the best we got, after five tries:

I think Traci’s looking at someone else, but at least we’re both smiling and our necks look good. ;)

This two hour trip to IKEA to hang with one of my best bloggy friends made my whole week! If you haven’t seen dear Traci’s blog, head on over. You’ll love it.

Here’s one of their latest projects, a mudroom redo:

SWOON.

So, have you been to IKEA? Dreaming but never been? What’s your favorite purchase? Anyone have the closet units I’m drooling over?

I say IKEA is “cheap” and that’s may be the wrong term – every single item I’ve purchased (furniture and otherwise) has held up GREAT. What’s your experience been with their products?

May the IKEA force be with you.

P.S. Speaking of Ballard, I’m going to attempt a Ballard knock off this weekend. Seems like it’s going to be an easy one, but we all know what happens when I let those words escape my mouth. We’ll just see. :)

How to install new door knobs

Wellllll…it only took a year. (I say that a lot don’t I? It only took a month…six months…a year.) And I’m still not completely done. But 98 percent of our doors are rid of their look-away-or-the-shiny-will-blind-you brassiness.

WHOO!!

There’s a few reasons it’s taken so long. First, the order was messed up back when I ordered in February (of 2010!). Second, uhhh…I dunno why. I get easily distracted by other project I guess.

Oh look, a butterfly!

Ha! No really, it’s like that.

So it took a while. I ordered our new oil-rubbed bronze beauties from an online source called Your Home Supply. A sweet reader recommend them and their prices were pretty fantastic. Almost half of what I found at hardware stores.

But there were a couple issues with my order – a few of the knobs had damage, I had accidentally ordered two slightly different bronze knobs (there’s oil rubbed bronze and dark bronze – watch that) and many of the pieces (knobs and hinges) just didn’t arrive.

It took a couple weeks of calling, leaving messages and emails before I called one day and finally got a live person. She was great and took care of getting new knobs out to me really quick…but they still weren’t all there, even in the second batch.

Sheesh. So…I guess I’d say try them out at your own risk? I think if you had an issue, they’d address and fix it, but it may take some time and persistence on your part.

The prices are pretty great – so it may be worth the trouble!

Anyhoo, I’m finally getting the last of the knobs installed. I’ve been meaning to show you this process forever, so here we go!

Here’s a before shot of the brass knobs on my son’s bathroom doors:

I don’t know if I’ve ever showed you that room? It’s pretty darn cute. ;)

There are a few tools you’ll need, depending on your knobs. I needed a pencil, hammer, chisel, Phillips screwdriver and a drill (last two not pictured):

You may not need the chisel, but more on that in a bit. :)

I start with the hinges – so easy! Use your drill to take the old ones off:

You don’t need to take the door off – just replace one hinge at a time. Take one old one off, put a new one on.

You may need the hammer to dislodge the old hinge. It’s most likely been there for a while, and it will need a little push to get it off. (I knock it from below the hinge a few times and it works great.)

So once your hinges are on, you’ll be squealing because it already looks so good, but it’s time to move on.

There’s three kinds of knobs – you’ll want to be sure to get the right ones. Privacy knobs are for bathrooms and bedrooms and they lock. Passage knobs don’t have a lock and turn freely – so for closets, etc. Dummy knobs are for spots like double doors – remember you’ll probably need two, one for each side of the door.

This was the door to the bathroom, so it took a privacy knob:

It’s so simple to take the old knob off – just use a Phillips screwdriver to take out the two screws:

Take them out, and the two knobs will come easily apart:

Here’s where it got a little dicey with my first shot at this…a year ago. :)

Our previous hardware had a small round hole for the latch:

The new hardware did not. :) It had a plate the latch was installed in. I thought this was going to be a major pain in the booty to deal with when I first realized this, it’s not a big deal at all. Hang in there folks…this is the fun part. ;)

Place the new latch in the hole, and hold it in the right spot. Then trace around it:

Then, bust out your chisel and your Tool Man grunt and get to it.

First, place your chisel along your lines, and use a hammer to tap the chisel into the wood, going around your tracing. Then take the chisel and angle it so you can start chipping away at it, again using the hammer as you go:

You want to mortise out that area so the latch will fit flush, or almost flush. It doesn’t have to be exactly right – just check it as you go. You’ll think you’re taking off a ton of wood, but it would be hard to make it too deep. Just keep checking here and there.

I gotta tell you…using a chisel is way fun. :) It makes me feel all woodsmith-y. I like it. And it’s fun to see the instant gratification with each tap of the hammer.

Once you get the depth right, just screw the latch in:

It’s time to get your new knob, WHOO HOO! It will look something like this:

Just take them apart, and put the part with the long pole into the latch. There’s a curved part on the pole that you’ll want to match up with the curvy part inside the door:

It won’t go in if you have it wrong, so no worries. You just have to match those up. Then place the other side on the back, and put your new screws in:

I use a Phillips for this as well, with towel or rag up against the knob. I didn’t want to chance messing up the finish on the knobs.

Here’s an important tidbit…most times the part of the knob with the screws will go on the inside of the room or the closet. With passage knobs, it doesn’t matter where you put them, but I like having them on the inside of the door.

The important part – ALWAYS, always have a screwdriver with you and stay on the side of the door with the screws while installing. You’ll need to test the door here and there, and once and a while there may be a little something off. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes the door can latch just so in the process and may get jammed. You need to be able to take the knob off (with your screwdriver) if the door gets stuck.

I had a few sweaty moments over the course of changing out all of the knobs in our house. And one of my BFFs may or may not have locked herself in the bathroom when this happened. Not just the bathroom – her little bitty potty closet. We (I?) laugh about it now, but she says it was so scary to be stuck in there, with no way out. (She busted the knob to get herself out.)

So anyway…keep the screwdriver, stay on the screws side, or at least have someone at home while you’re doing it. ;)

OK…we’re almost there peeps!! SO CLOSE. The only little bit left is the strike that’s in the door frame:

The new strike comes with the knob. You’ll just remove the old one, and install the new one like you did the hinges.

This is where you want to heed my earlier advice – you’ll need to test the door with the strike – sometimes things get a bit off in the process and they don’t fit perfectly together anymore.

No biggie – just move the strike around a little, or chisel out a little from behind it, and you’ll be good to go!:

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she beautiful? :)

I’m gaga over the contrast of the white doors and dark hardware:

Right up my alley baby!

I know I give brass a hard time…a little too much of a hard time? Maybe.

Sorry Brass. Nothing against you…I just don’t like ya. Your Antique Brass cousin? LURVE. Shiny you? Notsomuch. I’m so not sad to see you gone. :)

So there you go…even with the mortising, it doesn’t take that long once you get the hang of it. Now I can get the whole door changed out in about 20 minutes. I’ve had a lot of practice over the past year though. :) Only two more to go…and I’m DONE.

If you don’t have to chisel, you could change out these in ten minutes easy. Swear – I promise you can do this!

Here’s the before and after, side by side:

Classy. ;)

I also used the chisel to mortise out the hinges for our new pantry door last fall. It’s the same idea – just trace the hinge, then chisel it out. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it’s covered in the end!

Now that I’m used to using it, I’m want to get my chisel on and make some kind of woodworking masterpiece someday…after I finish the knobs that is. :)

Musical dressers

Hello all! How was your weekend? I didn’t get many DIY projects started, but I did clean our bathroom (yikes) and got one big project marked off my list – and I didn’t even have to paint like I thought I would! Score!

If you remember back last May, I showed you the Bub’s big boy room redo:

A few months later I realized I needed to find a new solution for his clothing storage. I had installed really cool slide out bins in the closet, but many of them were too tall for the Bub to get to.

So I started thinkin’. And searching…on Craigslist. :)

And I found a beautiful dresser for about $100 and was SO excited. It was adorable:

A little too adorable – it was teensy tiny. That’s the thing with Craigslist though – no returns.

I had planned to paint it, but I wanted to live with it for awhile, and I’m so glad I did. Whenever I hesitate for, oh…six months or so – I know there’s something not quite right. ;)

It’s been about six months since I got it, and it took about five months and two weeks to realize there’s was NO way it was enough storage. I mean, my boy’s clothes are still pretty small, but there were just six little bitty drawers and it just wasn’t working.

So I searched, and searched. And searched some more. For months. I was on my Craigslist app every day or two, looking for that perfect dresser for this spot. Couldn’t find a thing (for the price I wanted to pay).

Fast forward to one day a few weeks ago. While sitting in our family room, I gazed over at the lovely dresser (another Craigslist find) and thought to myself,

“Self, a dresser just like that is exactly what I’m looking for in the Bub’s room.”

(Ignore those cords. You SO know I dealt with them.)

Hmmm. If only I had another beautiful, long dresser that I could replace that one with.

Enter one more Craigslist search last Friday.

Alas my dear Squeezies, the day had finally arrived. The heavens shined down on a listing for a beeeeautiful, long, Henredon (aka well made, gorgeous, fantastic) dresser.

The measurements were PERFECT. The color was PERFECT. The storage…PERFECT.

It would be mine. And so it was. Mine.

And I gotta tell you, I have been meeting the nicest people buying through Craig and his List. We bought this dresser from an older couple who were downsizing and moving to Florida to be closer to their kids and grandkids. We chatted with them for some time, just hanging out. The woman loaded up my Goodwill stuff in her car for her next trip (it was hard fitting it all in my car with the dresser), AND…they were sure my husband was about 15 years younger than he really is.

He liked them a LOT. ;)

He does look 15 years younger than he is by the way…which is great, cause any day now I’m going to look older than him. Or maybe I already do? Fantastic.

Anyhoo – the patience paid off. The old family room dresser came up to the Bub’s room, and I am in LURVE:

Oh be still my ever-lovin-the-classic-look-heart. It’s so beautiful. Any other dresser I was going to paint, but I couldn’t decide on a color. Funny how things work out, because I’m not painting this one.

I love the warm tone of the wood with the classic colors in his room:

It’s a little worn on the top, which is just fine for a little boy’s room:

I didn’t do much accessorizing – just put Squishy (the second? third?) up there, stacked some books in a wire crate I found in my father-in-law’s house (LOVE), and a couple other pieces I had:

Awhile back I scrubbed the rust off of the crate and sealed it. I put a bunch of felt protectors on the bottom of so it won’t damage the dresser.

I love having something of my father-in-law’s in our son’s room. :)

It only took about FOREVER, but I finally found the just right dresser for that spot.

And the new piece looks fantastic in the family room:

The Scooby Doo haunted house to the right is the perfect finishing touch, yes? :)

Don’t you love those knobs?:

It’s so beautiful, and in fantastic condition.

And the best part…such a perfect spot to hide toys:

Perfectly hidden, and easy to put away.

I’m using dressers all over our house now -- they’re not just for clothes anymore:

Sigh. Oh my. I love it.

Big FAT double thump to the chest at ya Craig!! Yo YO.

And lest you think I have it all together, this proves that I chuck stuff out of the pictures:

That would be the rest of our family room. :)

No more dresser searches for me now though – we’re maxed out here, finally. For reals, no more. The black one will go in the guest room, and it will be so lovely in that space. But NO MORE. Pinky swear. I’m saying it here so I will stick to it. :)

So, what about you? Do you love dressers like I love dressers? Looking for that just right piece? Taking awhile?

Patience grasshopper, it will come to you…in about six months or so. 

 

P.S. One hundred pennies to the person who can find the bit of Christmas left in the Bub’s room. I keep forgetting about it. :)