Bathroom Bonanza pt.3

Trying to fit the modern bath style we wanted into our teeny tiny budget presented us with a giant sized conundrum. So after much creative thinking and scouring Chicagoland for a viable bathroom vanity option, we settled on another IKEA hack project. The Expert (Peter's Dad) is back to help us with the bathroom cabinet installation.

Our IKEA shopping trip consisted of ping-ponging between the kitchen and bath departments picking up a little of this, and a little of that. If you are an IKEA junkie like we are, these names will sound familiar, if not, you can head down to the imagery to get an idea of the process.

We knew we liked the LILLANGEN Single Basin Sink for its compact size and deep basin, but the cabinet which is normally paired with it didn't come in a size that would suit our space.  The other available cabinets were great, but either wouldn't fit the sink or the space. So we hopped over to the kitchen department to see what we could find.

The cabinets in the kitchen department are all one standard size. Read: too big for a bathroom vanity. Luckily, my lovely boyfriend was willing to put some sweat equity into getting this thing done right.  More on that later. Finish choice was a no-brainer. We're both suckers for gray and wanted the vanity to look nice and contemporary. The AKURUM two door base cabinet in Abstrakt High Gloss Gray was an easy pick. The fact that we found the perfect wall cabinet to match the vanity certainly sealed the deal. The counter tops are NUMERAR. Again, from the kitchen department.

Peter and The Expert in their makeshift wood-shop amid the rugged terrain of our apartment. 

The base cabinet was too tall for comfortable sink height and too deep for the minuscule space we have in our bathroom, so the boys got out their power tools and hacked away at that sucker.  I just stood out of the way and giggled while the pair cussed like sailors. I'm so helpful.

And the (semi) final product! Eventually we'll have to add some art and such to make it a bit less sterile. We're so relieved to finally be able to brush our teeth in the bathroom, not to mention doing makeup, hair, etc.

Kitchen Madness, pt. 3.

The kitchen is finished!  We had to wait a week for IKEA to restock some of the wall cabinet doors.  They called this morning, I picked them up, installed them and we can finally cross the first project off the list.

The original:

New and improved:

All in all, I don't think I'll ever go anywhere else except IKEA for a kitchen.  For the price, you can't even come close to the vast amount of styles, options, accessories, or customization available there.  The quality is truly top notch, it may not be solid wood, but it's tough as nails.  We loaded the cabinets up with plates, glasses, pots, pans, etc. and the shelves don't even try to bow.  The counter tops are solid beech wood butcher block.  Best of all, the whole kitchen has a 25 year warranty, which we will probably never have to utilize, but future tenants may find useful.

The biggest downside I see in getting a kitchen from IKEA is that all the work has to be done by you, the customer.  When I purchased the kitchen, quite a few pieces were out of stock, so I spent a lot of time driving multiple trips to both Chicagoland IKEA stores over the course of 2 weeks to pick up various parts as they were restocked.  In typical IKEA fashion, every part comes flat packed and needs to be completely assembled which is extremely time consuming.  Then, because the kitchen is modular, certain parts have to be custom cut and fit to your specific space.  I would never attempt to install an IKEA kitchen without at least 2 experienced people and a bevy of power tools.  (Table saw, drills, nail gun, and reciprocating saw at the very least.)

You have to weigh your options, but when it comes to that bottom line, IKEA takes the cake by a long shot.

Bedroom Closet Doors.

Remember those big green glass sliding doors from IKEA?  We sure do, they've been laying on the floor all week.  Pretty scary for a couple of double-left-footed klutzes.  The closet wall opening is custom fitted for these doors, but there is a problem: the rails that came with them are custom fitted for a standing cabinet.  Shit.  Four hours and three trips to Home Depot later, the decision's been made:  we're going to IKEA hack those bitches.  We called in an expert, Peter's dad came over and I watched them saw and drill through the irreplaceable rails.

Measure twice, cut once, don't screw it up.

This is what happens when I insist the doors are flush with the wall.  Start over boys.

Those doors are TALL.

Happy customers.  OK, now how bad is that wood trim?

Working into the night, after a few close calls, the doors are up.  Not too happy about the wood trim contrasting with the green doors, but there are bigger things to worry about now.

Kitchen Madness, pt. 2.

The last few days have been spent losing our minds over the kitchen.  We visited Home Depot, Community Home Supply, a couple independent design centers, and IKEA.  I'll save you the suspense, we're going with IKEA.  Everyone else laughed at the combination of our budget and ambitions.  Whatever, our kitchen is gonna rock.

For the record: No one, NOT A SINGLE KITCHEN SUPPLIER, can offer what IKEA does for the price.  We got an upgraded kitchen from IKEA for less than the cheapest fiberboard with staples junker at Home Depot.

The only beef with IKEA - listen up IKEA! - It's almost 2010!  Get with the times and make your kitchen design program compatible with a Mac.  Driving across town to use my cousin's Windows machine sucks.  WTF IKEA?

Here is the preliminary plan.  Don't judge it too much, it's only a rough draft.

Yep, it's black.  Everyone warned us not to do it, but we pulled the trigger anyway.

The plan shows stainless steel counter tops, which just happened to be discontinued that very day (yay IKEA!), so they upgraded us for FREE!  What did we get instead?  You'll just have to wait and see.

Score.

Just took the drive out to IKEA.  Got some HUGE green glass sliding doors (they're called PAX) for $50 bucks on clearance.  Regular price: $500.  It looks like we'll have to build a custom rail system for them to fit on anything else except Ikea's freestanding wardrobe.  I think they'll make perfect closet doors for the bedroom, so we incorporated a big enough opening into the building plans for the construction crew.  For now they'll stay in the box.

I'm too tired to think of a witty caption.  Big, green, sleek and slidey.