What Ana Does

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...

If there's one thing I take away from this little sabbatical as a stay at home mom it's this: I really enjoy creating things with my hands. When I was a working full-time, driving kids around, stressing about dinner and passing out at the end of each day, crafting was very low on my daily priority list. Weekends were about spending time with family, maybe painting a wall and reading. Not much else to cram in there. But now that I'm home all day and have gotten some really big house projects done, I'm able to indulge in just crafting to craft. And with the holidays, I have the best excuse to create holiday decor things for family members and to pretty-up the house. I forgot how much I love to make things. I have bins and bins of crafting supplies that I've been collecting here and there but never had time to sort through and create. Now free time is finally here and I'm totally indulging in it ... and feeling sincerely grateful for it. Anyway, here's ...

Installing cabinets in the basement was always my phase two project -- I didn't think I could get them into the already-maxed budget. But I knew they were coming. So I had the electrician put the outlets on our cabinet wall at counter height and kept an eye on craigslist and the recon place in Evanston for good deals on used cabinets. BUT we took one look at the Ivar cabinets (at $90 each) at Ikea and the lightbulb went off. These could be perfect! And a quick search through Pinterest confirmed that people are taking these cabinets and giving them a cool custom look! Ivar Shelving System from IKEA We've owned a few sets of these Ivar shelves (one set we brought home through the streets of Manhattan, which is a long but hilarious story) and I've painted the pine all kinds of colors, so I know they last and they're easy to work with. Digging through all the pretty ideas on Pinterest, here's my current DREAM scenario ... The Wall of Cabinet Inspiration ...

We're down to our LAST WEEK in the basement. Everybody dance now!  Because of the terrible weather, my fabulous contractor's son was able to come by for two days and lay the floor in the massive 900 sqft room. That was a huge task checked off the to-do list. Yippee!  In the bathroom, we're down to the finishes. The contractor sanded and installed the vanity "shelf" and it's up to me to stain and poly it this weekend before the plumber arrives on Tuesday to hook up the faucets and toilet. The electrician will be by next week to complete all the switches and hang the scones in the bathroom. And the carpet install is happening on the stairs and in the bedroom on Monday.  This weekend, while we get hit by more snow and sub-zero weather, I'll be attempting to get all the finish paint on the walls, so there won't be anything holding up the trim install. Oh, and that trim needs to be painted, too.  Feeling thankful the kids will...

I do love the change of seasons. And the beginning of winter always feels a little magical, as does the start of all the seasons, I guess. There's a part of me that welcomes the white snow and frigid temperatures. I like layering up to walk outside and pulling a throw blanket around me when I sit down for a movie. Sipping tea and eating toast on a Sunday morning as the snow falls outside. Cozy. Warm. All those lovely feelings. Exploring the Bus Stop After the First Big Snow Calling the Kids in at Dark From Sledding For Hours A Shimmery, Frost-Covered Leaf My Backyard on a Snowy Night But the romance with winter doesn't last. Oh no. By January I'm done with it. And by February I'm so over winter I get bitter and angry, the hashtag #ihatewinter used in all my photo captions. But until then, I'll just enjoy the magic of new beginnings and silvery-white scenery.

There's so much happening in our basement this week. The bedroom is really coming together. We painted the ceiling using Rare & Radiant from Sherwin Williams. This is the color going on all the ceilings in the basement. We did one coat and really couldn't tell if we needed a second coat. The paint guy at Home Depot said we'd likely only need the one coat if the primer was high quality. Not know what that meant (high quality primer?), but knowing we didn't want to do a second coat if we could get away with it, we didn't. Looks great. You won't notice. Before: Primer On, Ceiling Painted The wall color is Cloud Sky from Behr. Both the contractor and Dave gave me a hard time about a blue bedroom. "It's a boy room color." Ugh. It's not. It's a warm blue to make the guest room welcoming and the black-framed art is just going to pop. So boo to anyone who assigns gender to a color. Lastly, the closet got Morning Sunshine from Be...

Another milestone reached in our basement project ... the drywall is up! I thought framing was cool, but that was nothing compared to drywall. The spaces are now actual rooms! The View of the Long Room, Looking Toward the Stairs Closets in the Bedroom The bedroom has all these nooks and closets that are now so well-defined. The bathroom ceiling, that we decided to lower, isn't really that low and the area near the shower that was so blank doesn't look wierd at all. And our long runway of a room looks wider and longer than I envisioned when we decided where the walls should go. It's amazing. Looking Into the Bathroom The crew is now on the "mudding" part and primer is sure to go on before the weekend. Plus, they're going to start on the finishes. I spotted the shower and bathroom tile head down there, so that's gotta be a good sign. We might be painting the bedroom this weekend! Onward!! Related Posts: Framing is Done Check ou...