Sofa Slipcover

I spent some time recently on a little diversion project.  Our sofa is just shy of 16 years old and from Ikea.  Its had a slipcover on it since day one.  Under the slip cover, its as white as the day I bought it despite having three kids.  We've been through four slipcovers in 16 years and yours truly has made each and every one of them.  Its my christmas present to myself.

My oldest son saw this picure and commented that it didn't even look like our house :)  My dog doesn't look as impressed as my teenager was.

This is part way through making the yellow version....

Happy Boxing Day

I am a day late with the well wishes but Happy Boxing Day.

Ever a fan of kistch, I give you the vinyl fantasy tree - or so it says on the box.  My parents bought it in the 60's and it really was a good "investment".  I also have a boat load of th 1960's ornaments as well.

This little elf hung on my grandparents tree.  He is circa 1950 something and is stamped Made in Japan.

I spent many hours as a kid taking the Santa, elves and reindeer off the tree and playing with them!  Its so fun for my kids to see these guys.  

Christmas is also the time when I haul out my Fiestaware!.  Yum.  I just adore the colours!  The lime and red bowls were my christmas present to myself last year!  I have a full set of dinner plates but I think I need some bowls and some lunch plates added to my collection!

Counter Quotes

With the island rejig, we REALLY need a new kitchen counter.  No adds here for any of these compaies.  I wish I could use the blog for getting a discount.  No such luck.

I ordered a sample from Formica and got a quote for redoing the island from Lowe's in Formica FX calacatta marble with their new on all sides egde profile.  It is a really impressive fake.  Sadly, the price was $1400 for just formica for JUST the island.  Gulp.

I also got a quote for real statuario classic marble as well.  It certainly is gorgeous but I don't know how well it will hold up with our very sloppy family.  It rang in at $7k for the whole ktichen which was a tad more spendy that I thought.  

I also got a vague quote for quartz which was around $5k to do the whole kitchen. I'm not sold on quartz either.  I'm not a big fan of the speckles.

In the mean time, I started googling for make shift solutions.  I had thought about butcher block from Ikea but they don't sell it in large enough lengths to cover our island.

I found Cleverly Inspired $10 wood counter.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't intrigued.

And this from Breakfast for Dinner

I know wood, especially dimensional lumber will warp over time.  I think it might be a really good interm solution for my problem.  If I really can make a top for my island for less than $100 I think it might be worth a try.

I think there is a better way to construct it thought.  I've been watching Ana White for years and I think the Kreg Jig is the way to put this sucker together.  The Friendly Home did this table for Ana White and I think that would look REALLY good on an island and I might just give it a go.

I think a nice weathered grey stain would look really good with what I have going on in the kitchen!

Bigger Island

Part of my kitchen rejig involved pulling out a set of drawers that was next to my oven.  In a fit of inspiration, I realized that it would be perfect next to the sink to extend the island.  You can see them in this post and this one.

It was really quite simple.  I unscrewed the drawers and basically plopped them into a new spot.  Think lego for big people.

The blue bowl with the straw is the dog bowl.  My kids thought she would enjoy a straw.  Sorry for the crappy quality photo but its taken with my phone.  Even with a lousy picture you can see the HUGE change that going from orange builder stain to white made.

The new dishwasher!

The kitchen really is coming along.  I am thrilled with the progress. Its looking less and less like a builder kitchen every day!

Quick Trip to Ikea

I am about to take a quick trip out to Ikea.  Yes THAT Ikea, the one with the monkey.

Lets see what exoitic animal I see today.

Its a rather mundane trip.  Just going to troll the as-is section to see if by ANY chance of fate, I find some more liljestad doors.  Its a long shot but hey, I might get lucky like I did the last two times I was there.

I am also pondering if I can paint the lidi doors because they are the same style ad the liljestad and the more I think about it, the more I realize I really do want one more set of drawers in the kitchen.

Colin and Justin of Scottish decorating infamy painted Ikea and I am 99% sure this is lidi painted blue.

Sarah Richardson has also painted Ikea cabinets many times in many of her shows. The bottom cabinets are painted beige but the top white ones are stock.  I "think" these are the supre glossy abstrakt line but non the less, painted prefab cabinets.

Buy A New One...

Wouldn't you know it, I have my kitchen in pieces, a new dishwasher sitting here and boom my drill battery fries the charger.  While the drill itself works, I can't charge the battery.

FIGURES.

This is not the first time this has happened either.  Sigh.  Six or seven years ago, it happened.  When the batteres get to the point where they can't charge anymore, they short out the charger.  Its a sucky design.  At the time, we debated getting a new drill.  We figured we'd buy two new batteries and a new charger.  As it turned out, we ended up buying a really crappy compatible drill just for that batteries and charger.  I figured I would do the same thing this time.  WRONG.

I called the manufacturer only to be told they hadn't made that style of battery in five years.  So much for that plan.  I now have TWO perfectly fine drills that I can't charge.  Sigh.  The problem is, we both REALLY like THIS drill.  Its seen us through THREE major house renos and it works great.

I spent the day looking at drills.  Nothing really jumped out at me as really good.

I'm really not sure what to do.  When I called B&D the very perky person that answered the phone said "its time for a new one".  The environmentalist in me just feels wronged by that attitude of planned obsolescence.

I'm not even sure what brand to buy.  Black and Decker used to a be pretty decent product for the money.  The new ones look and feel cheap.  I had no idea that Ryobi was Home Depots house brand until I started reading about drills.  I have a Makita that isn't powerful enough but was a lot of money that has made me gun shy of tools.

Dishwasher Sound Insulation

Here is a quick pic of our old dishwasher.  It did the job dutifully for many years.  Its never been particularly quiet.  It has a plastic tub and minimal insulation that is covered in what looks like your average every day garbage bag.

Sound is where dishwashers have improved by leaps and bounds over the last 10 years.  This is the sound insulation on the top (yellowish) and back (black) of the new dishwasher.

The new one also has outer metal sides and has more of the fabric insulating material between the outer metal sides and the innter stainless tub.  The build quality on the Miele is remarkably better than our old machine.  Everything about it feels solid and well made.  My 17 year old son, always the funny guy, asked me if I was going to put a garbage bag over the new one to keep it pretty.  I could not convince him that the old one was actually MADE that way.  He thought I had rigged up a home made cover.