Moving!

GOALS AND PROJECTS

Since Trevor and I both work from home (did I mention he is a fantastic musician? www.trevorlarkin.com), Trevor and I made the jump to a two-bedroom. FINALLY! We sacrificed nothing in terms of location, although I do miss my balcony. However, the space is ripe for new projects and new goals.

A couple of goals:

Minimize
 
I discovered that I was almost too good at storing things in a one-bedroom. As we moved, we discovered that we have WAAAAAY more than we ever anticipated- and we didn't even have a storage unit!


- Keep the favorite pieces and let the rest go. Several of my projects reflect the decisions between keeping or donating pieces of furniture.



Ground and Center
The first thing to develop after we moved in all of our big things was my meditation space. I've always put off creating a place designed specifically for being quiet, either because there "wasn't enough room" or it  "wasn't important". This time I didn't want to ignore how important it is to  center oneself daily. This falls in line with my desire to work with "Jackie" and "Jill" in partnership; this space... is for JILL.  As an added bonus, people are almost immediately drawn to the space when they see it, so I've had the chance to observe how much other people crave a quiet space like this. Homes should really build it into their design nowadays...

Matsu, too, enjoys the space for doing Corpse Pose:

Function plus Form

 Forwarding my favorite aspect of design: a thing becomes beautiful in serving a purpose. 

See my:

Kitchen Cork Board

Magnetic Spice Rack

Book Case Crates

Bookcase Crates

IT'S A SMALL SPACE- SOMETIMES YOU CAN KEEP SOMETHING THAT LOOKS COOL

OR KEEP THE BOOKSHELF

As we've moved into our new pad, I've been confronted over and over again with the choice of keeping beloved junk (to some) or keeping actual furniture or clothes.

It may seem like an odd choice, but I spent many hours walking about the neighborhood and dreaming up projects that would put this crate or that bottle cap to use. The items are an external collection of my wanderings, plus I think they look cool (in case it isn't obvious, I passed on collecting the "boring and ugly" items).

So when our Ikea bookcase broke for the SECOND Seattle-area move in a row, I decided not to replace it (again) and set myself the task to come up with something else. (Actually, I was going to leave all of our books in storage except that I noticed Trevor and I were both regularly searching through the various boxes piled in the hallway so something had to be done.)

A solution clicked into place when I realized that I would have to get rid of my wonderful wine crates, on which I lovingly added casters and painted with chalkboard paint, unless I could find a new use for them; like our books, they too were taking up our dwindling space in the hallway.


I decided to use them as bookshelves, of a sort, and placed our most-reached-for books (I keep telling myself I'll study for the GRE's) in the front:

Genius
and SO much cooler than our old Ikea Expedit bookshelf!

Corkboard Tiles For Practical Decor

WHEN POSTED ON A BULLETIN BOARD

 One of my first jobs in the new apartment was to tackle the kitchen and make it look... less cookie-cutter and, if possible, more tailored to us.

I removed the doors on a few cabinets (I really love the sparkle of light shining through clean wine glasses). Next, since I'm a gal who takes pleasure in texture, form, and function, I added cork tiles to the side of one cabinet. I'd call it a budget, tailored effect:

(side view)

(kitchen view)

And yes, future Recipe's of The Week are posted on the board right now!

Magnetic Spice Rack

The organizer in me loves this kind of magnetic spice rack because of the accessibility, industrial look and addition of color to the kitchen. HOWEVER, I don't like the prices; some of them go for over $100 (NOT including the cost of spices)!

The main impediment to this style is price if I want: (1) 20 plus spice jars, and (2) To spend under $50.

On the left is an example of these spice arrangement for that achieves #2. However, it provides for only an assortment of 12 spices. Similarly, for $20 could purchase a set of Kamenstein 6-Canister Magnetic-Strip Spice Rack, but I would still spend $80 if I wanted over 20 spice jars...
 

... Thus, and perhaps not surprisingly, I've decided to make my own...

Although this DIY Wall-Mounted Spice Rack from The Kitchn is cool, I wanted the containers to have clear tops like in the above images. I discovered this Instructables only after I finished my own magnetic spice rack. Here's my own, amateur solution:

Supplies:

- 25 x Tin Flat Containers 2.5 oz w/Clear Top = $15.75 plus shipping
- 25 x Neodymium magnets = $16.25 plus shipping
- Some double-sided 3M tape (I was lazy- I would have used glue, but this is what I had laying around the house.)

- An erasable pen like the kind your teacher used on the whiteboard (again, it's what I had laying around the house and I didn't want to wait until I got around to buying a labeler). I actually like this feature since it means I can use the containers interchangeably.

VOILA! For a total of $32 plus shipping, I managed to get 25 magnetic spice jars. They're currently on my fridge, but I may get a magnetic sheet for them once we're more settled into our new digs.

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Moving - Del Sol Style

I discovered that I can carry anything in my Honda Del Sol, as long as it's a nice day. Who says my car's not practical?!