More of the laundry room done................

We had a trip to Ikea at the beginning of the week to pick up some units and countertop for the laundry room.  As we only have a medium sized SUV we figured it would be a two trip visit, but we did manage to get everything in the car in the one trip.

We picked up 3 units and a countertop.  Now everything was flat packed and was to put together!!  So there were multiple boxes.  Good news though, we ordered everything in the kitchen department upstairs, then took the paperwork downstairs to pay for it all.  Then the order was sent through to where it's picked for you.  It didn't take too long and I crossed everything off our list while hubby put it in the car.

The units are from the Sektion collection.  The doors are Enkoping.  The countertop is Ekacken in gray-beige.  The handles are from Rona, and are these and come in a pack of 10.

We are super pleased with the quality of these units.  Very sturdy and well worth the money.  Now ask hubby what it was like to put everything together and he was glad when he got everything together; but overall very happy with how everything went.

We purchased an 8 foot countertop and that was super heavy to carry, but again super quality.  We priced out similar units from Home Depot and this came in cheaper.  All in all for everything it came in around $1,200.  We want it as a make shift sewing area/work bench; as I want to move my sewing stuff out of the upstairs bedroom eventually.

I will give you a full tour, when I get everything else sorted out in the room.

Another purchase from Ikea.....

 As I was looking on the website prior to going to Ikea I came across this:

It's plastic doves and leaves made into a wreath.  Very sturdy and ever so pretty.

It takes 3 x AA batteries and has the option to be on all the time or for six hours.

It doesn't give off a whole lot of light, but it does look lovely and is quite flat, so easy to store.

New set up on the hall table......

I have had the bottle brush trees for a while now.  I decided to add the tray as a new thing.

I purchased the tray from Ikea, it's this one which they are calling a candle tray.  I went to the dollar store and picked up the two parcel ornaments.  The "snow" is stuffing that I use in my sewing.  I looked at the dollar store and they were selling something similar, so wanted to use what I had on hand.

The two silver trees, are also what I had on hand.  The ball is one of my Waterford Ornaments, that I just lay on there.  I also had some mini LED lights leftover from another craft, that I laid underneath the "snow."

Super simple and very effective.

Random photos from Ikea

 Had to go to a doctor's appointment in another city the other day, so we popped into Ikea which was a 10 minute drive away to pick up some bits and bobs.  Here are some random photos from Ikea.

One reason I took this photo was that if we forgot where we'd parked I just had to refer back to this photo!!😉

I got a few things, some that I'll share over the next few days......

I'll take one please!

I was in Costco the other day and saw the viral Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar.  I LOVE Lindt Chocolate.  It's around 5 feet tall and yes $249.99 CDN.  So of course I didn't buy one.  One, I am diabetic, and two, I have no room for those extra calories; but boy would I love to eat one of those!!!

We were at Ikea this week and I picked up this advent calendar for myself.  At $14.99 that seemed reasonable.  I am not an expert on Scandinavian  chocolate, so it'll be interesting to see what it tastes like.

Do you buy an advent calendar for yourself, and if so which one do you get?  I am going to pass this year.  I do enjoy the regular Lindt one though.

Ikea

 I haven't been to Ikea in forever and a day.  We don't buy a lot there, but I do love looking around the place.  I mentioned back in January here, that I wanted to re-jig our closet.  After looking on the internet for suitable storage solutions, I found something I liked and that would work in Ikea.

So on Sunday morning we made the 40 minute drive to Ikea.  We arrived just after opening and it was nice and quiet as everyone was having the $1 breakfast.........or is it still $1?  I have no idea.  Regardless the restaurant area was super busy.

Ikea always has the quirkiest things don't they?  I took some random photos.

Didn't know Ikea sold hats made of plastic with their name on it?

It's the same material as the bags.  I guess they'll be waterproof if nothing else?

This display caught my eye.  Love the green and lemon colourway.

In the "Gamer's" section, yes they have a section dedicated to people who spend their lives gaming.  There was this neat head light that changes colour.  I caught it during it's "blue phase!"  A teen would love this,

These hands also caught my eye, especially as a way to hold your headphones.  It too was in the "Gamer's" section.

Now I did buy a couple of things.  These cookie scoops make sure each of your cookies are the same size.  I have always wanted some and at $7.99 they weren't too bad of a price.

I needed new plastic chopping boards and a two pack was around $3.

Hubby also found this cool bag, that will keep my frozen stuff cool when I am grocery shopping, again less than $3.  Also it's the same material as that hat!!

I picked up a couple of units for the closet and will show you them when we have finished the closet.  It's a long weekend this coming weekend as it's Family Day here in Ontario on Monday, so it will give hubby an extra day to get stuff done.  It's an easy job this closet, so should only take us a few hours to do.

Cleaning out the closet will be the longest job!!!  I need to be firm with my decluttering!!

More Ikea finds..........

Ikea has all sorts of neat things.  I took a shine to these dog butt hooks........but I decided to pass on buying one. 

I have given up trying to grow anything live in my Llama planter, so decided to buy a fake plant.  They have a great variety in Ikea.

Finally this came home with us.  Isn't it cute, it's to hang our "small's" on the washing line.  It was only $4.99 couldn't pass it up, you can buy it here.

I will pop by Ikea again soon, as they had some neat things in there.

A visit to Ikea to upgrade a room

We had a trip to Ikea on Sunday, as I wanted some shelves for my sewing room.  However not just any old shelves; floating shelves and I know Ikea keeps the perfect size.

One of the aims of this mini reno was to clear off my sewing desk so I have more space.  Now to be fair, the desk does not always look like this!! I had actually piled everything onto it, to move my desk out for dh to put up the shelves.  My desk was actually dd desk growing up and it's similar to this Ikea desk.  As mine is probably 20 years old, they have changed the design.

 Below is when we he got the shelves up and already my sewing table feels so much bigger.

 This has to be my favourite thing and that black metal shelve cost a whole $14.99.  You can find it here.  It has a lip on it and the bar, so it's perfect to hold my rulers.  Have my glue and my ironing spray.

 The other shelves are the floating shelves and we bought the Lack shelves in a white stained oak finish.  These ones are just under 4 feet and were $24.99 each.  I picked up the two green plastic lidded boxes, not 100% sure what I am going to put in them you can buy them here.  I also got the lovely artificial plant, which you can get here.  I need to find a pot to put it in.  Filling the shelves will be a work in progress, but I am up for the challenge😉

Overall I am super happy with this mini reno and it cost under $100 for it all.  I haven't been to Ikea in a while, and was pleasantly surprised at all the great things I saw at very reasonable prices.

Mixed bag of things for the week......

This has been dh's last week of vacation.  He will be back to work on Monday and I know I will miss him.  However it's been a miserable three weeks of vacation as I have been sick the WHOLE time.  Seriously I have no idea how this happened.  On Wednesday I came down with a head cold and stomach flu to add to everything.  I think I am that run down that I am catching everything going.

Although I take an iron pill everyday I decided to start taking a multi-vitamin to see if that helps.  I asked the pharmacist and he recommended this one:

We will see how it goes.  I am back at the doctor's next week for a follow up, so hopefully will feel a lot better by then.

It was dh's birthday this week.  I took him to Ikea for the $1 breakfast only to discover it has gone up to $2.99!!😋  Haven't been to Ikea in ages, so it was nice to have a look around.  By the time we had done that I was exhausted, so had to come home, so a rip-roaring exciting time dh had on his birthday.

The weather is stinking hot and humid at the moment, which I am hating it just tires me out more.  Tomorrow will be 39 oC with the humidity, so I will be hibernating again.

Dh signed up for Sports Net World again so Saturday morning we will binge watch the British Soccer games.  I will read the Toronto Star newspaper and continue knitting my hat.  It's for a prize for a United Way fundraiser that dd is organizing at work:

Loving the yarn I am using, it's Sidar Freya, which is 55% Cotton, 31% Acrylic and 14% Polyester and so, so soft.  I got it from The Knitting Basket.  I used this pattern, it's free from Raverly.

I think dh will be glad to go back to work as I haven't been the best company these past three weeks.......

I hope you had a better week than we did?

KonMari method anyone?

On Frugal Queen's blog on Thursday she was talking about the KonMari method of folding.  Personally I had no idea what so ever what she was talking about.  So I watched the You Tube video that she posted with interest:




As I am still sick and most things tire me out, I thought an hour of t-shirt folding wouldn't kill me.  Here is the before and after photos.

Before:

After:

Took me all of 20 minutes to sort them out and fold them and I have a lot of extra space; plus I can see things better.

She has a book called: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo   

Did you know there is even a You Tube video on how to fold your socks correctly?

I was quite surprised at how many organizational videos there were on You Tube.  I quite liked this one.



Saw this article on Facebook on 37 Clever Ways To Organize Your Entire Life With Ikea it's quite good and interesting.

All I need to do now is do these things.  Are you organized?

Chalkboard and lost for words for a change.....

Chalkboards are all the decorating rage at the moment.  Dd has had one for a while now, she made it herself and it looks great.  You can see more of hers in this post.

I wanted one, more for the fact I could write things down on it, in the hopes it would help me remember things.  Dd made hers by buying a picture frame from Ikea and painting it with chalkboard paint.  I bought mine ready made at Michael's on sale for under $30.

Underneath it you can see I have hung a bar with a couple of pots on it.  All that is from Ikea  The bar is here, the hooks come separate here.  The two tubs and the plant is also from Ikea.

A close up of the faux plant.  It is quite realistic.

 I got the chalkboard markers from Michael's.  They are around $20 but I got mine on sale.

 Here is a close up of the detail on the frame, it is a weathered look.  Dd was up and wrote on it.

All in all very pleased with it all.  I have one spare hook on the rail, I want to get a small heart sign for there.  I have seen something I like on someone else blog, so just need to source one over here.

Now why was I lost for words.  I am not well; it's all in the head, ears, nose and throat.  I was up for nearly three hours through the night on Monday night.  My right ear is killing me, and I have a silly cough and moisture in my nose.  So I decided to go to the walk in clinic in town.  Believe this was not undertaken lightly, as I personally have better things to do than sit in a room for hours with sick people!!

It is a three hour round trip to go to our doctors office and see him; and as I don't have the energy to do that trip off I went to the walk in.  Will say it's a lovely office, super staff and very clean.  It is in our local Wal-Mart store.  Didn't have to wait too long probably around 1 1/2 hours.

The doctor came in told her what was wrong.  She looked in my ears and said they are nice and clear.  Looked in my throat and said that was fine and told me there was nothing wrong with me.  I said are you sure there is nothing wrong with my ear as it's really sore.  Nope, it was fine and take Sudafed to clear any congestion.  I said I am on blood pressure pills and was told not to take them.  Again, she said they would be fine for a couple of days.  And that was it......

Believe me when I say, my ears feel awful, my throat is on fire and this tickly cough is bloody annoying.  Something is going on.  So Sudafed it is, not sure for how long.  I'll give it three days and if I am no better, I will try and get into see my own doctor.

More of what I have been up too, with photos.

On Tuesday I decided to strip down the book shelves in the family room and clean behind them.  The story of how I came to own these shelves is on this post.  It took me a while to get everything off, cleaned and put back on, however it was a good job, jobbed as I say.

By the way the kids photos are their Grade 12 Graduation photos, which was 9 years ago now; gosh time has flown by since then and they have changed a lot since then.

On Wednesday afternoon, I headed into the attic to tidy some of my sewing stuff up and discovered a few things I had forgotten about. I also sat down and did a bit of machine quilting on this quilt:

I must have been on with this quilt now for nearly three years? I found the original post of when I started to make it back in January of 2009.  To the right of the sewing machine you can see a purple fabric box, I wrote about how too make it on this post.

We bought a new chest of drawers for the attic last month and it is in complete contrast to the one in the spare bedroom:

This one is from Ikea, although I did buy nicer handles for it from Lowes, as I didn't like the ones it came with.   The toiletries are for my brother when he comes over at the end of  the month.

I must say I am enjoying pottering around the house getting odds and sods of jobs done.  That's one good thing about the weather being colder and wet, you get more done inside of the house.