supercalifragilistic-EXPEDIT-alidocious: Our plans for an Expedit Changing Table

A crazy post name to accompany another "should have been super easy" type project!

Okay, first of all... Whose GREAT idea was it to discontinue the Expedit? I get that Ikea is trying to reduce it's footprint with all of its wood consumption, blah, blah, blah, but c'mon. We all know it's a ploy to produce a cheaper, but similar product with the new Kallax series. (Here's the link to Gizmodo's article explaining the change.) I'm being a little dramatic, but I want the Expedit back! And by the way, Ikea, you might want to actually want to have the Kallax in stock before you completely sell out of the Expedit. Just a thought.

I guess I should provide a little background here. A while ago, I explained that one of the items on my to-do list was to create a changing station for baby Cullen. Because we cloth diaper, I wanted an area with quick access to the potty when he gets a little older. (You know, for diaper spraying and whatnot.) We're trying to make cloth diapering as easy on ourselves as possible.

Cullen at 12 weeks old in his Albert print BumGenius Diaper

Justin (hubs) and I though that we would incorporate a sturdy floating shelf in the corner of the bathroom to hold a changing pad with all of the additional paraphernalia below. We even went to Lowe's and purchased all of the supplies. After getting home to begin our little project, we discovered it was going to be at the perfect height for one of our little people to bump their heads on. We spend enough time at the doctor's office with boo boos, and we'd like to avoid any more opportunities for disaster.

After realizing our initial plan was a complete failure, I remembered this post from Young House Love. (I totally wish we could be John and Sherry by the way!) Justin has to remind me constantly that we're not, and we can't do everything they do. Buuuuuut, in this case, we could totally steal a little page from their changing table book. We absolutely don't have the space for something as big as theirs, but I just happened to have the smaller 4-cube Expedit chillin in my closet. I threw all of the clothes out of it and lugged it downstairs.

It fits! It's perfect actually, except for the color...

Which brings me back to my rant. The Expedit has been discontinued by Ikea, and I just so happened to grab the last white one at our College Park store. I should have known better. Not only was is damaged, but was lacking the hardware as well. I drove the hour back to Ikea, got a discount since it was the last one, and picked up a baggie of hardware. Once home, we realized that this hardware must be the stuff for the new Kallax series because the screws were absolutely not long enough.

At this rate, I will never get my pretty white Expedit changing station. And in the meantime, my closet is a total mess with my clothes missing their nice organized home. Here's hoping we figure something out soon!

Tell me, how many of you are heartbroken by the demise of the Expedit? And what kind of non-changing table, changing stations have you come up with?

Ye Olde To Do List

I am an avid list maker.

Writing things down as the pop into my head helps me stay sane when I try to remember that thing I thought about 15 minutes before something shiny caught my attention. I'm a mom, and lists prevent me from totally loosing it. Who doesn't like a list for the sole pleasure of crossing something off of that list?

Today I share with you: The Master To-Do List.

This is a document that I add to in order to organize all of the items that we want and need to do around the house. I thought it might be good to share with you a break down of these things so that you have a better idea of what direction we're going in each space. In the past, I've tended to jump around from post to post showing you random projects that we've done here and there without an idea of the bigger picture.

Well, here's the bigger picture! Probably the biggest picture you could could get. And of course, this list is constantly morphing as we continue to live in the home and as our needs are changing.

Front Exterior

To Do:

• paint the shutters, door and trim
• replace the light
• spruce up the house numbers
• new roof 

Back Yard

To Do:

• power wash siding
• power wash and treat seal split rail fence
• add grass seed to bare patch where the previous owner had a trampoline
• purchase/assemble play set for the kids
• get patio furniture
• fix/paint or replace the shed

Living Room

To Do:

• paint
• purchase new slipcover
• hang new curtain rod
• hang curtains
• repaint or touch up entertainment center dresser
• organize entryway
• hang art or photos
• paint hallway and trim
• add window trim
• run electric into ceiling - the ceiling fan in this room currently runs off of a cord run up the wall from the outlet
• add crown molding
• replace carpet with hardwood 
• add a cute office nook to the closet

Half Bath

To Do:

• Paint walls and trim
• paint vanity
• replace faucet, mirror, light and toilet paper holder 
• add a changing station for baby Cullen
• hang artwork
• new toilet
• replace flooring

Kitchen

To Do:

• add an island with stools
• replace light fixture?
• paint
• refinish cabinets
• replace counter top
• replace sink
• replace back-splash
• replace appliances with stainless steel
• replace flooring

Pantry

To Do:

• organize
• prettify- paint and new shelves?

Dining Nook 

This picture is from the original listing and does not include our current dining set.

To Do:

• paint
• create accent wall
• replace our table and chairs
• hang art
• replace flooring

Stairs

 Pictured here are the basement steps, but the "to-do" items apply to our two sets of stairs.

To Do:

• replace carpet, add runner
• spruce up banister with new stain
• update light in stairwell

Master Bedroom

To Do:

• paint walls 
• fix/replace ceiling fan/light
• run electric into ceiling - the ceiling fan in this room currently runs off of a cord run up the wall from the outlet
• organize closet
• paint stripes on focal wall
• hang artwork
• hang curtains
• purchase new curtain rods
• new bedding
• accent rug?
• finish Cullen's space (mobile, crib, fitted sheet, quilt)
• under bed storage
• create a tufted headboard
• make a bed skirt
• add crown molding
• add window trim

Master Bathroom

 This is a picture taken when we first viewed the house and does not include our stuff. However, I think it does a pretty good job of representing just how dreadful this space is. Yikes... I must also add that the toilet seat cover is definitely not ours and did not convey with the home.  Thank goodness.

To Do:

• paint
• replace flooring
• replace mirror
• replace light
• paint vanity
• replace faucet
• spruce up shelf nook 
• extend shower into shelf nook eventually - The little "trap door" beneath the shelving is completely empty and serves no purpose. It would be really nice to expand that itty bitty teeny weeny shower into that empty space.

Kids Bath 

 

Another picture from our initial viewing. Again, not our shower curtain, rug or toiletries.

To Do:

• paint
• replace/paint flooring
• replace mirror
• replace light
• paint vanity
• replace faucet
• replace towel bar with hooks for each kid
• replace curtain bar
• replace shower head
• hang new shower curtain

Girls Room

To Do:

• paint
• figure out a fun but classy and feminine design
• add crown molding
• find new bedding
• purchase new beds
• figure out organization solution for closet
• make bed skirts
• add curtains and rod
• hang art work
• add ceiling light
  

Boys Room

To Do:

• paint
• add crown molding
• organize closet
• refinish dresser?
• swap out curtains and curtain rod
• hang art work
• install ceiling light
• incorporate Lego storage

Laundry Room

To Do:

• finish space
• refinish cabinets
• refinish counter (Ardex Feather Finish?)
• replace w/d with front loaders and add counter on top
• come up with a new flooring solution
• replace water heater with a tankless?

Basement/Playroom

To Do:

• update lighting
• add HVAC
• new flooring (eventually)
• add built in storage?
• board and batten walls?
• paint
• new window
• organize sewing space
• add window treatments

To Do Throughout the House:

• replace all door hinges and knobs with non-brass hardware 
• replace all outlets, outlet covers and switch plates with all new white version

I think that about wraps up the current list and I'm sure it will change 100 times before we get around to all of the rooms. Wow, we have a lot to do yet!

Tell me, what's on your to-do list? Are you feeling slightly overwhelmed by it's length like I am?!

No More Orange Glow

Let's just start today's post by saying that I finally got the House Tour tab up and running! For all of those folks who haven't had a chance to check out our place, go get a brief glimpse of what we're working with here.

Since that item of business is now out of the way, we're going to start talking about one of the many projects we have started on since closing about a month ago.

First of all, I can't believe it's been over a month already since we closed. Moving with a newborn and 3 other children has not been fun. And I say "has not" instead of "was not" because we still haven't managed to fully unpack or even move all of our stuff here yet. You know, snow storms really put a damper in even the best laid moving plans. *sigh* That's a story for another day!

Amidst still working on unpacking, we have managed to tackle a few small projects here and there. The first week we were in the house, we started re-doing the half bath on the main floor. Did you see this pretty picture in the Home Tour?

Isn't that just a lovely shade of orange? When the light was on in the bathroom, it cast a strange orange glow onto the wall and carpet in the hallway. We decided that out of all the things we wanted to change in the house, this room absolutely had  to be the first!

See how the color just reflects onto every surface in the room?

On the to-do list:
- replace the mirror, light fixture, toilet paper holder and faucet
- replace the toilet with a more efficient model
- paint the vanity and replace the vanity hardware
- swap out the electrical outlets and plates covers
- update the door hardware
- update flooring (We plan to eventually completely swap out the flooring, but we are contemplating the idea of painting the linoleum like this.)
- PAINT!

During our very first trip to Lowe's as homeowners, Justin (hubs) was totally stoked to pick out new toilets. As a housewarming/Valentine's Day gift to ourselves, we got a new potty. Ahhh... the romance.

Oaken was pretty psyched to try out the pot at the store, too.

Unfortunately, the installation of the new throne did not go very smoothly. The toilet flange and below pipe joint, drain thingy were broken. Seriously doubting our plumbing skills, we thought it best to call in a professional. A couple of days, and $270 later, we were finally able to install the new toilet.

Fortunately enough, that was really our only hurdle with the bathroom. But, it is a small bathroom. Who would have thought we would run into any problems at all?! We thought that this would be a super easy, budget friendly bathroom makeover. We've kept it on track budget wise by choosing to paint the vanity rather than replace it, and live with the current flooring and vanity top for now.

This is what it currently looks like...

This is by no means the final "reveal", but it sure is a big improvement! There are still a few minor things to take care of yet. We need to at least paint the quarter-round, hang a piece of art, replace the cabinet hinges and put an organized cloth diaper changing station in there for baby Cullen. At some point, we just might tackle that linoleum floor too.

I feel like there is still a lot to do in just this room and we have the WHOLE house to tackle yet. Does anyone ever get to feeling like they are just so overwhelmed, they don't even know where to start? It's been difficult for us to stay focused on just one space. I guess we'll chalk that up to the ADD.