What Ana Does

 So the builder left this big nook in-between two closets in the guest room. I suspect it was meant for a dresser but it's a dumb space that I've been struggling with since we moved in.  It's been a reading nook with bench, a desk, I've moved dressers and cabinets in there. Nothing looked right.  After the success of the towel nook in the bathroom, I knew that installing a base cabinet in this space would finally put an end to my torment of finding the right solution to this space. So that's exactly what I did.  I bought a cabinet from Home Depot for about $200. I went with a cabinet and not drawers because I wanted to store my sewing machine and other crafting tools. And I got a butcher block top for about $100 to go on top.  First, I had to pull out the rug, because installed cabinets need to be placed on solid floor. That was easy, other than those annoying tack strips.  Then, I pushed the cabinet into place and secured it to the wall. I got lucky with t...

Give me a day off and the kids at school, and things get a little crazy at my house.  For the last month, we've been living with the doors off the cabinets on the wall above the sink in the kitchen -- to see if we liked the open-ness. Which we DID. Loved it, in fact.  So we knew pulling down the cabinets and installing simple shelves would be a good idea ... as I predicted when we FIRST saw the house and how dark the kitchen was. I said "I can pull down those cabinets, it will open things up."  Want to see it?  Ok, first, we need to see what we started with:  Let's ignore the sink and messy counter and address those cabinets! And that soffit! And the color? And the random shelf on the end? It's all bad. I bought the shelf brackets MONTHS ago and don't remember how much I spent. Maybe $50. Then spent $60 on pine shelving and water-based poly to go on top. And here's the PROGRESS shot ...  We got lucky because the wall and ceiling weren't in bad shape. (...

The basement punchlist continues into infinity, but I can check off the new cabinets. They are done! I used Polyshades "Honey Pine" Gloss  from Minwax and, I have to admit, I won't be using it again. It's a stain and polyurethane in one but I still needed to do a third layer of just poly on the top because it didn't feel wipeable. I was hoping to avoid that. Fortunately, I had water-based polyurethane leftover from the bathroom vanity project. Here are the cabinets in progress ... In Progress: Stain Done and Drying And a final picture of the cabinets all done and styled out. It's the first thing you see walking down the stairs and having it done is a SUPER feeling. And, yes, the nerdy husband had a lot to say about what was included on the cabinets. After: Cabinets Are Done and Approved! These cabinets (from Ikea ) are being used for (starting from the left) Dave's stuff, games, crafting supplies and my storage. And just this week we used t...

Now that I have my wall of cabinets in the basement -- all unfinished Ikea pine -- how do I want them to look? This is a question I've been mulling over for weeks now. I know, from past experience, I'd prefer not to paint them. Even though they are pine, I'd still like to see the grain texture and not hide them behind a color. I have two pine dressers we bought from Ikea a decade ago that we painted (first grey and now multicolor for Alice's room) and I've always regretted it. So stain it is. Stain Board for Cabinets Clearly, I'm thinking more green/grey color. I'd like to stay away from the reds and tone down the inherent yellow in the pine because it looks brassy against the greige walls. (And clearly I'm into making these little graphics these days.) I did some research and found both Minwax and Cabot make transparent stains in a bunch of colors. And I would like a pop of color, some color, on these cabinets because they're a real acce...

We got CRAZY and picked up the Ivar cabinets from Ikea the week before Christmas. After measuring and thinking out layout, I wanted four cabinets and a set of drawers. Then, Dave was a total rock star and put them together over two days. His fingers were very sore but there wasn't a massive amount of swearing. And I was nearby cleaning out the storage room in case he needed a hand. They're placed against the wall and laid out how we want them. Now, we're just trying to figure out the best way to mount them to the wall. My theory is we can do it with cleats, similar to kitchen cabinets. Our contractor is coming back this week to go over finishing touches and get the final inspection by our village. While he's here, we'll be peppering him with questions on how best to install these. Maybe, he'll offer to come back and help us do it. (We'd pay him, of course.) Once installed, I'll be staining them. I'm really hot on getting green in the ba...

I have been drooling over this Crate and Barrel cabinet since we moved into this house. And the more white I incorporated into our dining room, the more I wanted it. Right after Christmas I decided to do it. Get it. It's MINE. But then, Crate and Barrel made me wait THREE months to deliver it. Apparently, it's a very popular little cabinet. In the Dining Room We picked it up within two days of hearing it was finally available. Happy dance! Originally, I had thought about using this cabinet for serving pieces -- to move them out of my kitchen where they are taking up valuable cabinet space. Then there are the Spode dishes to consider. Glassware? Well, I'll try and few things and see what works. For now, I'm just happy to see it finally in its rightful place. There's a space on the other side of the white buffet, too ... dare I get two and go for a symmetrical look? Hmmm.