Kitchen Planning

Hopefully, soon, very soon, we'll be ripping out our hideous kitchen and starting over.  It's not *that* bad, really, but it's a pretty unworkable space and 2 people trying to cook at the same time is pretty much a nightmare.

So, we're saving pennies and planning.  Here's where I am right now:

I scored this gently used Five Star range from CL - gas cooktop and electric oven with a built in griddle. It's insanely heavy - I dread the day it's got to come up the stairs; it's currently chilling in our carport cleverly disguised with an old sheet.

Digging this Glacier White granite. I think it's also called River White. It has little flecks of red, which look like natural garnets. I like Silestone, too, but it's going to be out of the budget.

Source: gorgeousshinythings.blogspot.com via Chelsea on Pinterest

I was leaning towards a light grey or white cabinet, but these navy lowers are so sharp! I wonder if I would tire of them easily?

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Chelsea on Pinterest

I want mostly open shelving uppers, which will be a lighter color or natural wood. I think that will balance the rich navy lowers nicely.  I may shave a few pennies off by trying some kind of IKEA shelving options here.  I can hear my husband groaning across town at this DIY idea.

Office Design on a Dime

I'm tweaking my home office (read: extra bedroom where I watch Bravo and read blogs). Why? Why not? I Craigslisted a few pieces I had grown out of to make room for some new items. To commemerate the occasion, behold my first mood board!!

Let's walk through the plan. I already own the lamp, poster, drum light, loveseat, (a similar) rug and the parsons bookcase is on the way. I might replace my cheapo IKEA desk with their DOCKSTA table and add a bamboo chair. The loveseat's a richer, deeper green and a slightly different style but overall similar to the one pictured. 

I refuse to pay silly prices for drapes so I scouted out this linen-like Robert Allen fabric -- it was less than $7/yard on FABRIC.COM.  Plus free shipping and a 15% code, I'll have four 96" no-sew panels for about $35 total.


To do:
Make panels x 4
Reframe poster with mat
Assemble bookcase when it arrives
Look for DOCKSTA on CL?
Bamboo chair on CL?

Let's do this.

CraigsEasy

I've been searching for a visual tool to make searching on Craiglist easy. You'd think it would have been invented a million years ago, but every tool I found didn't work so well or seemed to be defunct.

My dining chairs are one of my favorite CL finds

In comes CraigsEasy, an app you add to your toolbar that lets you convert a Craigslist search into easy-to-see image searches!  Hooray, my prayers have been answered!  Now I can search to my little hearts content without having to guess what lies behind each poorly-written headline.


The app is a tiny bit tricky.  Install it on your browser, run a CL search as you normally would, then hit the "easy" button and it rearranges your search, photos first!

My CL sofa

Thanks to this post on Three Men and a Lady alerting me to this super-duper resource!

Let's Hit the Campaign Trail

Ok, I know flash photos are a no-no but I had to show off my latest CL score! Here in NC, pickins can be slim when it comes to furniture that's not straight out of 1989. Or particleboard stuff from Walmart. Another hot design style is country clutter. So I was happy to have randomly clicked on a listing for a set of campaign-style dressers. I swear, when I have the patience to dig, CL almost always delivers!

There was a short dresser and a nightstand, too, but they were spoken for. So I settled for this tall chest. Getting it home in my compact sedan was a bit of an adventure but with the station wagon rolling out to KY this weekend to see The Dude, I had no choice.

Did you know that campaign furniture was always made in separate parts to make it more portable? Clever!

Back to my find - I may repaint but I'm going to live with it for a bit. it's in the guest BR, which is in cream, green and brown so it actually kinda coordinates as-it!

Never Pay Retail

Found one of these Petrie chairs on Craigslist...hopefully it's still available, it would be perfect for the master BR corner here: