Let's Go Swimming

The POOL is open. Dan the pool (table) man showed up today to refurbish our awesome vintage Brunswick Century. $350 to fully assemble everything, replace the hardware, laser level, repair and broken or work parts, and (the best part) lay down a new super sexy charcoal grey felt.

2 things to notice here: the total and utter squalor we're living in, and the fact that we care more about getting the pool table assembled than the rest of our home.

 

Furry. Grey. Sexy.

Bathroom Vapor Lights

You may have noticed some new lighting in the finished bathroom post. Thanks to The Expert, Peter has recently become quite proficient in wiring lighting. If you're really up for a challenge, which we are, the best time to wire lighting is after dark.  Once you turn the off the power source.

 

I was supposed to be aiming the flashlight at the light fixture, but this is what I was really doing while I was "helping" with the wiring:

 

Spray bottle spookiness. I'm so awesome.

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.

Bathroom Bonanza, pt. 2.

We've been without a bathroom vanity since moving in and brushing our teeth in the kitchen is starting to wear on us.  Not to mention putting on makeup, drying hair, etc.  It's time to look for a vanity.

I did a little Google Image Search to drum up some ideas:

Love the floating vanity style.  I wish our bathroom was this big.  Dammit.

Seeing two sinks makes me want to cry.  I can only wish.

Slick!  Ground control to Major Tom.

Although we dislike this bathroom as a whole, there's a quality we admire in the slick style and glossy panels. It feels a bit futuristic and we could do just one section, but again, we need more storage!

Really nice, simple, minimal - but no storage or counter space.

Awesome.  It has everything: counter space, storage below, and the raised feet are a nice touch.

So with these images in mind, we're feverishly searching through bathroom stores and online to find a vanity that fits our style and minuscule budget; a task we are finding to be next to impossible.  How can a simple vanity cost as much as a bank of kitchen cabinets??.

Home Depot's only budget option.  Meh.

Our management office suggested we first look to Home Depot as it is where they get all their furniture, fixtures and building materials at a discount.  In order to fit the budget we need to get a pre-assembled floor model. Which means not being able to choose finishes, hardware or faucet style.  Being the aesthetically discerning and design-oriented couple that we are, this doesn't seem like it's going to work out.  No offense Home Depot.  We love you otherwise.

Community Home Supply's option.  Ugh, no storage or counter space?  How do people deal with this?

We then explored the showroom at Community Home Supply.  A business that is well known and loved by Chicago designers and residents. Located in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, this place offers a great selection at a reasonable price.  They even offer design services to help you out with your entire kitchen or bath makeover.  Unfortunately, even these unbeatable prices cannot fit our microscopic bathroom budget.

So moving on. . . We looked around the internet to see if there were options that would work, and there are, within budget... until you add shipping.  What a maroon.  NEXT!

Since IKEA has recently become our second home, we also shopped the options there.  The GODMORGON series is beautiful and well thought out, but expensive and nothing smaller than 40".  Our maximum allowable vanity size is 30".  Damn.

IKEA GODMORGON.  Awesome, but 10" too long.

Yep.  We are very fond of this basin.  Its super shallow with nice counter space to one side. Unfortunately, IKEA does not make one short enough to fit the space in our bathroom.

IKEA LILLANGEN.  Cool sink, useless cabinet.

This cabinet and sink would fit really well into our space, but neither of us is thrilled with the idea of displaying items under it.  Also, we're trying to maximize the space we have available and want room on the counter top for setting things down. At this point, everything we like is way over our limit.  Even the sinks we don't like seem to be out of price range.  The sink basin alone can break our budget.  We're going to have to get really creative.  Stay tuned. . .

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.