August goal 4-YAHOO!

Phewf! I was starting to get embarassed about my August goals..thinking the only shoo-in (weird word when typed!) was #9. Fortunately, however, we've made a bit of progress otherwise.

I picked up some Ikea Merete drapes and some Lummig rods last week and we finally got around to getting them up last night. Yay!

So, just so you understand what exactly we were dealing with, not to mention the relative "urgency" (obviously not really urgent) of improving on our ghetto window covers, here are the before pictures, which have been exactly like this since January 30:
Please note 2 different throws flanking the bed. Although they match each other fairly well, they are certainly different (1 fleece, 1 cotton) and certainly not drapes. You will also note 1 (one) set of drapes hung on 2 (two) separate large windows, clearly way too short to even attempt to pass as actual drapes. All 4 of these coverings were being held up with miscellaneous nails and tacks. Lovely, non?

It's amazing what you learn to live with, and what your eyes and mind just accept. Looking at them in the photos, I can't believe we didn't change these immediately and I can't believe we showed anyone this room after 6 months of them looking like this.

Anyway, despite their former coverings, they really are gorgeous windows that deserve to be showed off. Here they are sans coverings and with all our new drape stuff spread out (not to mention a curious feline checking out what all the fuss is about):
Unfortunately you can't tell with these photos, but the lighting is phenomenal with no drapes, or if we had been able-open drapes. Seriously it's so open and light in there we had to just sit back for a moment to enjoy what we had no idea we were missing.

So after washing, drying, measuring and iron-hemming them, we hung them all up. Which, unlike our nailed-in-place, ghetto previous coverings, can be opened to let all that gorgeous light in (when it's not raining during this crummy "summer"):
Honestly, though once they were up I was kinda disappointed. Obviously INFINITELY better than the before, but they just weren't what I was hoping for. I guess I was so stuck on getting drapes with grommets/eyelets, I didn't consider that I may have preferred something a little softer, like these (which, of course, happen to be significantly cheaper): Also, I love him, but hubs hung the rods so we couldn't have the drapes wider than the window frame. I'm going to play around with them tonight to see if I can put a grommet on either side of the support to remedy that rather than have him re-do them all though.

And as a final kicker, they're so flippin' long! After washing and drying them (in order to account for shrinkage, heh heh) I measured one, assuming they'd all have shrunk the same amount and hung them. Wishful thinking on my part I guess, because some of them were perfect, but some of them look like this:
Which isn't working for me. So, I'll have to get in there tonight and re-hem them and measure them each individually...ugh. Oh well, better to get it right in 2 nights than adjust to another set of blinds that don't measure up (pun intended).

Still much better though, don't you think? And certainly overdue.

Storing my bling

Since tonight is our bedroom cleaning day for May Goal # 10 and I need to do something about my jewellry situation anyways, I thought I'd start planning and working on organizing my jewels. Not that I have an expansive collection, most hail from Dynamite, Claire's, Smart Set, etc but hey! They're still my jewels.

So I decided to look at the options available to me so I don't do something and then change it 6 times in the next week.

Here are some of the ideas I've liked/idolized (in zero order):

Bower Power (photo compliments of TYH thanks to a closet crash I can't wait to read about):

Sherry's from TYH:

And John's sisters, which I think is my favourite for how I organize.
Apartment Therapy ice cube trays:

Apartment Therapy hanging knobs:Apartment Therapy display board:Do It Yourself Mag cutlery tray:Bryn Alexandra's board:

Mrs. Boatman board:

Ikea Komplement:

Curbly storage:A lot of those boards are really pretty, and great ideas in theory. However, I know I won't make use of them. I'm more of a "piler" kind of organizer when it comes to jewellry. With my current jewellry box it's sometimes even too cumbersome for me to open the lid and drop the earrings into it. A time commitment of approximately 1 millisecond.

My current system:

• 1 jewellry box on my dresser: top compartment has 3 smaller compartments and a section with the padded ring sections. No brainer-the rings go there. The 3 compartments are for earrings. 1 drawer at the bottom of it is for necklaces, chains and pendants. All lumped into the same drawer. I've tried to have sections, but they inevitably merge after approximately 2 days.
• 2 bins in my closet:
  1 is for bracelets
  1 is for more costume-y necklaces.

Results: after this very thorough, albeit impromptu scientific analysis, I think I should just go and buy some 3M hooks and stick 'em inside the closet. Then hang my necklaces by "type" on the hooks and that will have to do for now until hubs and I re-do the closet. Then...I think the most ideal solution for me would definitely take after this one:

Which, I believe also hails from Ikea and coordinates with the Pax system. It's perfecto. It's science.

There are definitely some fantastic ideas out there though---anything I missed that I should consider before I begin undertaking this expensive $5 organization system?

Blinds, Blinds and more Blinds

So those blinds I hinted at last week are up and make SUCH a difference!

We installed them Friday and already they make it seem so much brighter at night, cozier both day and night, and a lot less on display at all times.

Here are the befores of the kitchen and the ensuite:

And the afters (with daylight glare...sorry):




I realize what a seemingly small, minute detail this is to most people. But to us it makes such a difference. Also---we've made the plunge and finally put up some window coverings. So we're over the first (very long, very wishy-washy) hump and now we can just give 'er.

More progress looming...

I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have even the potential of having more window coverings up soon! (Or how embarassed I am to be so excited)

Hubs and I hit up BouClair home (again) last night since their 30% of wood blinds and 40% off ready-to-hang drapes sale ended yesterday. We were planning to get white wooden slat blinds for the 2 main windows in the kitchen and then drapes for the master bedroom as well as an extra panel for pillow covers.

Unfortunately the curtain panels weren't all that impressive, but the wooden blinds (which they cut to size in store...beat it Sears!) were available pretty much in the sizes we needed, so we didn't need to get them cut. We even picked up some for the ensuite!

I also got some ivory candles (white orchid scented-delish) for the dining room sconces and a candle holder...I just can't help myself!

I'm hoping hubs will be able to install them tonight, but he has hockey so probably not. Soon though!!!

Shower Door has arrived

Alas, I no longer have to angle myself to avoid spillage in our doorless shower:

Actually, a few days after the original post, I gave in and bought one of those extendo-pole shower rods for $7 at Wal Mart for the master shower. We had a shower curtain, so I think it was worth the 7 bucks to shower comfortably for the 3 weeks until we got the door.

Last Wednesday night, hubs installed it and it looks great!

And from inside:

Hubs did a great job-everything's level and plum and all that stuff. The door itself is upside down though (label is upside down in the upper right hand corner), but it's hardly noticeable.

I was quite worried at first about the whole clear glass door thing. What is a guest or something unknowingly came through while I was showering. But Thursday morning my fears were put to rest-the door fogs up so quick the guest would have to be an idiot (or very smart and pervy) to catch me in there.

Bathroom Fixtures

Originally Posted: February 6, 2009

You know what's weird? Our house doesn't come with ANY bathroom hardware.

No toilet paper rolls.
No towel bars.
No shower curtain rods.
Nothing!

It's so strange, and when we asked the builder, they commented that too many customers were complaining that they were being installed in a wrong place, and asking them to move it. *Ahem* I'd like to call bullshit on that one. I'm pretty sure no one would do that, and I'm pretty sure it's not something that the builder would be responsible for-it is where it is, if you want it moved, move it. I mean, if you're the builder and you're too lazy to install it, or your policy is to NOT include them, just say so. Morons.

ANYways...this gives us the opportunity to pick out our own fixtures and gives us immediate freedom from the plastic white fixtures that always come with new construction.

Here are some of the fixtures I like:


And in our ensuite, we need towel hooks, so I like either:

(which, to be honest is a little freaky fallic to me. Maybe it's just me, and most of the time they'd have towels on them anyways, but it's a little weird)
OR...

Normally I prefer a brushed nickel look, but since all the fixtures (faucets, etc) are this finish, and actually a fairly similar style, I thought it better to make them all blend nicely.
That toilet paper roll/magazine rack I've liked since I first saw it in a reader redesign on Young House Love in this pic:


And had always wondered how weird it was to love a toilet paper holder so much. Then yesterday I re-read the post and read the comments and saw that I wasn't alone. Phewf. Also, I really like the finish on the one pictured, but not necessarily for our ensuite. I like it so much though, I may get this one for the powder room, which is going to have more of that look anyways.

And the weirdest thing about this whole no-bathroom-hardware nonsense is showering without a curtain. In a normal bathtub/shower duo this wouldn't be possible, but with this setup:

I can just kind of angle myself so that there's minimal spillage. However, the other night, we hit up HD and bought something like this for that very reason (only ours is nicer):

The problem though, is that it had to be custom ordered and it'll take up to 3 weeks for delivery. So I'll develop my minimal-spillage-body-angling-in-the-shower skills until then.

That's all. I was just thinking about it this morning, since tomorrow I get to go house shopping!!! I've been putting it off all week so I could honestly assess what we had and what we needed so I wasn't wasting money, space and stuff. I think it can be argued that bathroom hardware is pretty much a must buy. Yessssssss!