Buffet BOOYAH!!!! Hello Butcher Block!!

Ya'll - I CANNOT BELIEVE MY LUCK!!!

I have been stalking As Is for the perfect butcher block top for our buffet...remember, my challenge is to buy the entire thing in AS - IS by May otherwise I have to buy the missing pieces :(. This weekend I popped in to Ikea and found this Numerar butcher block just sitting there waiting for me to snatch it up. And snatch I did...literally - there was another man eying it the moment I left to go get my cart!! Back off, Buddy - you DO NOT want to get between me and my As Is miracle!! Here we are 2.5 weeks in to my challenge and, thanks to this great find, I am almost completely done!!

This is how we left off last week with the buffet looking a little on the rough side (check out the entire post here)...

My new Numerar counter top weighs in at a hefty 97lbs and is 96 7/8 x 25 5/8 feet - Oh man, am I in heaven!! This puppy is waaaayyyy bigger than the one I was hoping for which will leave me a big 25x25 leftover scrap as well as a 11x73 scrap that will be perfect for cutting into shelves. Oh, wait - it gets better...do you know what the regular price of this butcher block lovely is?? $169...do you know what this lady got it for??? $30!!! YES - $30!!! This, by far, is the best deal I have gotten in As Is so please excuse my over use of exclamation points and yelling!!!

via

OK - I think I am calm now... I loaded it up (along with a little something I'll tell you about tomorrow) and drove it home. We had to wait all week to buy the right blade to cut this piece (apparently not many places sell a 5.5 inch fine tooth blade...argh) but it was all worth the wait as we learned our lesson on the office counter top - we need a fine toothed blade to avoid splintering. Once we had the blade I was pumped to get cutting...with a little assistance from E, of course. If you haven't heard by now... E is the slow and steady go to man for projects like this as I am way too fast and careless to go slow - check out his crafty work on my desk counter top here.

Once I made my marvelous markings (all on a piece of painters tape so I wouldn't get permanent marker on the wood), E went to town cut cut cutting away. FYI - since this was a new blade and we weren't quite sure how it would cut we did a test cut on the end of the counter piece to make sure it wouldn't splinter. If you have enough extra material to work with I HIGHLY suggest doing a test cut!!

I forgot to take the picture of the edge but I can assure you it was clean and perfectly cut!! :) Yeah!! As for the rest of that big ole' block, I marked off 3 different cuts for E to make which would leave us with the 3 pieces I spoke off earlier. With some careful arranging and rearranging of our saw horsies none of the blocks were able to fall to the ground and get damaged once they were cut lose...so so so important when you plan on using every piece!!

See how slow and diligent my masked man is?? I could NEVER have the patience to work this slow!! :) We were a few inches away to being just about done when...chug chug chug...the 3rd battery was drained and the project was put on hold till the new one recharged...

Once we were all charged up, the last piece was cut and our counter top was ready for a mock run...

ooooohhhhh....

aaaaahhhhh....

Not so bad!! I am not done with her yet...lots of sanding the raw edges and a few coats of sealant will do the trick, but for now she is sitting pretty in her new spot in our house. Our walls are a little wavy but that has nothing to do with the counter top so when we figure out a back splash (I am thinking used corks?) you won't be able to see the difference. Oh, and see the wine rack I started putting in and the nice white backing to it?? That was a project in itself but, don't worry, I will show all the steps in my process in the next post...which I am hoping will be the end post for this project! :)

For now - I am actively searching out the rest of the pieces I need to get my buffet finished. The biggest problem will be finding the doors so I am keeping my fingers crossed for my Lidingo doors...can you keep your fingers crossed too?? Pretty please!!

Thanks for stopping in...I am off to sand and buy some sealant for our new buffet. What did you guys do this weekend? Anyone working on a buffet like I am?? Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your latest and greatest!!

Bianca Numerar counter top, how to cut a numerar counter top, how to cut a counter top, using a circular saw, Ikea Lidingo doors, Ikea buffet,
Linking up to the following: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, It's So Very Cheri, Thrifty Decor Chick, Keeping it Simple, Today"s Creative Blog, Organize With Sandy, Blue Cricket Design, New Nostalgia, All Thingz Related, Hope Studios, The Thrifty Home, My Backyard Eden, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, At Home With K, Sugar Bee Crafts, Coastal Charm, Young Nester, Someday Crafts, Night Owl Crafting, Creations By Kara, Sew Much Ado, Eisy Morgan, Pink Postcard, A Little Tipsy, Beyond The Picket Fence, It's FUN to craft!, The DIY Show Off, The Shabby Chic Cottage, What Allie's Making Now, Stuff and Nonsense, At The Picket Fence, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Blue Creek Home, My Cottage Charm, 504 Main, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, French Country Cottage, Home Sweet Farm, Finding Fabulous, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Between Naps on the Porch, The Girl Creative, mad in crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Skip to my Lou, Making the World Cuter, Dittle Dattle, Support Blog for Moms of Boys!, Miss Mustard Seed

Buffet Action... yup, it's a repost!

I posted this last week but had to remove it pretty quick do to technical problems - so here is the encore performance!

This weekend has been a blur starting with my Sunday trip to Ikea, a baby shower, dinner at grandmas, and a 3 day trip to Maine. I have been busy!! I'll let ya'll in on my trip to Maine tomorrow (Don't forget the Foodie Friday linky party!!) but for now I must shine the spotlight on my As Is purchase of the week!!

When we remodeled the kitchen (more on that here and here), our original plan was to include a buffet against the wall that leads you in and out of the kitchen...better said in pictures - see the red arrows?

It was to look something like this:

Actually - it was to look exactly like this with narrower base cabs... Of course, once we started construction things changed and we reconsidered. First, the electrician put a long 5 switch panel right about where the upper cabinets would have ended making for an awkward time trying to turn something on and secondly, we thought it might look a bit too cluttered. For the time being we put that big ole' Ikea Billy bookcase in the spot as a stand in pantry while we thought things over.

This weekend while perusing the As Is section I found the 2 bottom cabinets I would have needed had we gone through with the buffet. Of course, I couldn't pass them up...they were sitting there all alone and naked with no door fronts to keep them warm. I got the go ahead from E and brought those 2 - 30x30 Akurum wall cabinets home for $16 a piece. Oh - and in case you are wondering "why wall cabinets?" it is because Ikea only makes 2 depths and the 24 inch base cabinet is too deep for our walkway but the 13 (including door) works splendidly...that is exactly how deep Billy was so we are pretty used to that space ratio now! Thanks to the brilliant hacking skills I used with my office project (check it out here) - I have mastered the technique of substituting Akurum base cabs with wall cabs.

Don't mind the mess - this was taken right before I left for Maine! I was in total rush mode! :)

See the big light switch? Ooops. Anyway - our plan is to install legs for the bottoms and then stabilize the cabinets to the wall. We are still debating the counter top but I am about 95% sure we will use a 14 inch deep butcher block and we have also decided to nix the idea of upper cabinets so the walkway flows better and doesn't overwhelm the space. Maybe a long mirror for above or perhaps some photos?

Last Sunday I removed Ole' Billy and transferred him to his temporary new quarters in the guest room (Have you seen the latest transformation? Look here!). I am actively searching Ikea (as is my wing-man) for the proper Lidingo doors as well as the butcher block. With Ikea's big kitchen sale going on right now I am sure to have everything I need by the end of next month...yes, it will take time but it will also be CHEAP! This is the official beginning of The Ikea Buffet As Is Challenge!! :)

This area is going to make the perfect drink station for parties and get together's all while keeping people out of the main cooking zone of the kitchen. This is just a sneak peak but I can not wait to show off the end result!! :)

Are you guys working on something splendid? Want to share? Feel free to leave a comment and/or link to what you have been working on!

Bianca

$1.50 Well Spent...

...especially since the spender wasn't me!

Look at that tag...Oh...A Thing of Beauty!  Can you guess what it is?

My husband, E, knows how much I LOVE a good bargain.  Really, secretly, I think that may be why he married me!  You would be amazed what I can do with a few mismatched goods in a pinch...  Anyway - I have vowed to stop my thrice weekly trips to Ikea in order to spend more time creating and less time spending.  You will be hearing a lot more on that whole charade soon but for now I'll just stick to the topic at hand...

Since it is rare for an addiction, especially one as prominent as mine, to be cut off cold turkey and actually take - we are in the process of weaning me away from that brightly lit blue and yellow gem of a shopping land.  Baby steps.  I am still going once a week to peruse As Is and steal many a good idea but the rest of the week I need my wing-man to step in.

E works conveniently close to Ikea which means he could go there everyday on lunch if he wanted to...sometimes he does but on occasion Costco wins out as it is equally close and they have free snacks!  You know how we love free in this house!  :)  Last week my dear husband returned home with a few cheap-o treats for me all gracing the bright orange AS IS stickers I have grown to love like my own children...that is actually pretty easy as I don't have any kids but ya' get the picture!  He bought 6 white bowls for 50¢ each which were great but hardly the stars of this show.  The true stars were the 3 cork boards he bought also for 50¢ each...well, what he thought was cork boards - they were actually place mats but either way they were cheap!

This weekend I put those bad boys to good use.  I have been waiting for the right time to make a framed cork board to span the length of my office desk but I just haven't gotten around to it yet which, of course, made for a very messy desk very fast.  I needed something to tide me over...enter 50¢ place mats.  They are made of 1/8 soft and pliable cork.  One side has a black design but the other is plain plain plain.  I know I am going to junk these up with my own stuff so why add another design to distract the eye?  I took a few thumbtacks and went to town hanging them over my desk:

Not bad for $1.50, eh?  It is functional and cheap - just how I like it!  I can add a few more tacks at the bottom to keep them from lifting but in time they will lay flat...especially with all the crap-o-la of random notes and stuff I plan to hang!  Being these are only 1/8 thick I have to be a little careful when hanging things as the back of a tack can push through the wall but with a push pin it works perfectly if I go in at an angle and don't try to push it all the way through.  See:

Either way, even if I push through the wall, a pin hole is hardly a problem to fill.  Here are my new cork boards in action...

The boards actually come in handy to break up the space and also give me 3 different "note zones".  The left is my blog zone, the right is our house zone, and the middle is the me zone with inspirational things to keep me goin'!  I spend many many hours at this desk so it is nice to look up and see Bubba and the "Keep Calm Carry On" card I was sent one perfectly timed afternoon...oh, the little things! 

So that's it!  Did you guys get any good deals this weekend?  Can you beat my $1.50??  Give it your best shot - leave a comment and let me know what you've been up to!

Hooking up with the linky parties at these lovely ladies blogs + The Frugal Girls!  Pop on over to send them so LOVE!!

Bianca IKEA AS IS SECTION, CORK BOARD PLACE MATS, TYST PLACE MAT, CORK BULLETIN BOARD, OFFICE ZONES

Come on Baby Light My Sink

GET READY for the big $1 transformation!!!  First a few words from our sponsor...me...

When we remodeled our kitchen I was soooo unprepared for all of the little details that came with it.  Lighting was a biggie.  I waited until the last day to find the lights I wanted to use and, even then, I was not completely satisfied with my choice...big surprise to ya'll I am sure considering my recent indecision's here and here!!  :)

The lighting over the eating area worked well for us as it was centered with the space and gave off quite a bit of light to the bar area.  The pendant U chose for over the sink matched the other one so I snatched it up and went on my way.  Matchy matchy is not always the best way to go but in a pinch it seemed better (and easier) to do while the electrician (AKA E's cousin) was at our house waiting for the fixture.  I am sure we could have installed it ourselves but the lighting/outlets were all newly wired and part of his job in order to pass inspection.  Here is some  pics of the old pendant...It has been a nice light, maybe a bit boring, and gives of A LOT of light...too much, maybe, but overall - it worked for us.

See to the left over the sink?

Matches these lights over the counter...but kind of blah...

Last week, while in the AS-IS section at my home away from home, Ikea, I picked up a $1 lamp shade.  I had no idea what I wanted to use it for but this weekend it became clear.  I unscrewed the glass and light bulb from the old fixture, held the new one in place, and then screwed the light bulb back in...

Pretty, don't you think?  A cheap and easy way to update your light fixtures!  I love the way this lamp shade glows.  The pendant was quite stark and it hurt to look directly at it...like the sun during an eclipse - now it is visually pleasing and offers some texture to the room.  I would like to shorten the metal rod a bit so the shade sits a little higher - E is just barely clearing the shade while doing dishes - but that will happen in time.  For now, this beauty is workin' her charm.

Anyone else updating some old light fixtures?  I have plenty more to do so I would love a bit of inspiration!!  Feel free to leave a comment and a link to your lighting project...

Bianca

PS -  I am linking up with some fabulous ladies at their Linky Parties + The Frugal Girls - check them out here and join in the fun!!  

Perfecting Perfection...

First off - I am happy to be back after a week long bloggin' break.  I needed to take some time off to enjoy our foster pup, Driver, as well as refresh myself.  For those of you who have never had a puppy, let me tell ya', you can't get squat done with one constantly biting at your feet or mysteriously quiet in another room.  Just like a kid - when they are quiet there is definitely something going on!!  Last Wednesday we brought Driver back to be neutered and adopted out and I am happy to report he was adopted the very next day.  As hard as it was to give him up (clearly shown by the tears currently streaming down my face typing this) we are VERY happy he found his forever home so quickly.  Good bye, Driver - you will be missed...

So now that Driver has left us, I got my butt back in gear and got some work done around the house...more specifically my office.  A few weeks back we finished my office layout and I actually began using my desk.  Feel free to read all about the desk, room, and overall layout here, here, and here.  Once I started using the space I knew I would have some tweaks to do so we didn't permanently fix it to the wall nor did we fix the cabinets to the counter top...It all just sit in limbo waiting for my tweaks to happen.  This weekend I tweaked away.

First step - paint the office.  I loved Benjamin Moore's Olive Branch but it wasn't working out for me...not for the bedroom (see here) or for the office.  Much to E's dismay, I decided to paint...again.  I picked a beautiful color, drove to Sherwin Williams without a doubt in my mind and my 30% off coupon in hand, entered the store and went straight to the color cards...bad move.  All my indecision came rushing back and I left with a completely different color than anticipated.  "Reflection" seemed like a nice shade of cloudy blue with a great office name to go with it but when I got it up on my wall it looked like baby blue.  Arghhh...   I needed new paint and quick.  It turned out my 30% off coupon wasn't good till the 20th which started a rift between Sherwin Williams and I so this time I went to Home Depot - again, with paint chip in hand.  I went straight for the paint counter where the guy was already working with 2 people - unfortunately that gave me time to browse.  Again -  I picked a different color.  Why I do this to myself I have no idea.  I know I could buy the sample paints and try them out but instead I get some sick satisfaction from painting the entire room (including edging it out twice for max coverage) then hating the color.  Anywho - I came home with Behr's Gentle Rain.

Reflection

Behr's Gentle Rain

Gentle Rain seemed like a better grayish purple for me.  I got it on the wall and, guess what?!  I still wasn't happy!  Against the baby blue it looked REALLY purple...lavender, really.  $60 in paint and I was no closer to finding my color.  It isn't that either of these colors was bad - they just weren't what I was looking for.  I thought maybe I should  switch it up and go with a muted yellow or perhaps...NO - E put his foot down this time and said to work with it and so I did...but first I decided to mix the 2 colors together THEN I worked with it!!  Today my office is painted in a Reflecting Gentle Rain - custom mixed by yours truly.  It turned out fine and I am sure I will paint again later...it is just an itch I have to scratch!!  Next time I will give in and buy the samples - you heard it here first...now try to hold me to it!!

The next step was to rearrange the desk cabinets...actually - I had to build 2 new base cabinets out of other cabinets as they were a custom size Ikea did not make.  I decided to center my workspace under the top cabinets therefore leaving a 15 inch cabinet to my right and 45 inches to my left with a 30 inch opening between the 2 for my legs.  This made a lot of sense for 2 reasons.  1. Symmetry - I hated being off center from the top cabinets - the bottoms I don't mind as I will need the space to the left of my desk for sewing...it makes it easier for the fabric to be laid out and not drag on the floor.  2. I can access the cabinet doors to my immediate right and left much easier now - the hinge placement didn't work on the other configuration...

The third and final fix of the weekend - a drawer!!  I missed my old desk and the drawer it had right over my legs - all desks, in my opinion, need such a drawer. When I had done the original plan for my office I included a drawer from Ikea but it was not ideal...that method would take $90 and it turned out not to work anyway due to the drawer being too deep my legs wouldn't clear the space under it.  Then my mind got to thinking...picture tapping finger on the side of my head...

I took my old drawer from my old desk and we attached it to my new desk.  I simply removed the drawer and rollers from the old desk and measured where the holes were.  It took some finagling and we had to drill the holes twice due to an error in calculation (mine, not E's) the first time but overall it worked great and my old drawer was new again!  I just have to paint it and it will all mesh wonderfully!  Perfection.  Oh - and don't worry about my old desk...it will be a perfect table somewhere in the house - you can't event tell it is missing anything if you look at it from the other side!

Overall not too shabby of a weekend!

Next to do - hang the HUGE mirror I have been obsessing over, work out some magazine holders, and a photo wall.  Things are looking up!  What are you guys up to this week?  Any big rehab plans or small detail oriented ones?  Feel free to share in the comments section with a link back to your blog.  I would love to see some new inspiration!!

Bianca

FYI - I am linking up with some fabulous blogs this week - Please jump on over HERE to check them out!!  A special thanks and big smooch to the following blogs for being my top referring sites in March:

  

"Goods" Time Weekend

This week was a big yahoo for gettin' me some goods!  Lots of cheap and FREE goods!!  Here is my weekend rundown...

Last Saturday morning, super early morning, I was presented with a fabulous gift from Craig and his list ...the chance at 2 brass lamps and 2 picture frames (only one of which I liked) in the FREE section and better yet - all by the same owner!  One stop shopping!!  I immediately emailed hoping to hear back right away...I didn't.  It was many hours later during my perusing of the Ikea As Is section that I finally got the email.  The lamps and frames were mine if I wanted!  After a few emails back and forth I was granted a Craigslist MIRACLE!!!  The lady would hold them for me until the next day - almost unheard of in Craig's Land.

After Ikea I headed over to Marshall's to check out some accessories and maybe bedding for the office.  No dice on the bedding but a heck yeah for the accessories.  I found a bunch of things I could use and some I really really liked but, in true me fashion, I gathered them all up and then put them all back...sometimes I just can't quite commit!  One thing I did commit to was a bell.  That's right, a bell.  Not just any old bell - a ship bell.  I have no idea what drew me to this bell or why I have the sudden yearning to play ship mate but I know that it was the one thing I could not put down...even at $14.99 - such a splurge for me!  Here it is in all its glory:

Walmart helped me a bit in the bedding department with this giant body pillow for 10 bucks.  The polka dots ain't really my thing - I feel a slip cover coming on!

Of course, with all this going on last Sunday was a complete blur.  I woke at 5am to get the house in order for the Oscars Showdown party and be able to make it for my CL pick up by noon..  I cleaned and cleaned and then took a break from cleaning to begin cooking.  Spanikopita, carrot cake and a cream cheese dip were all cranked out in no time.  E woke around 9am to help me finish cleaning.  By 10:30 am I was ready for a nap but E was ready to break out the circular saw for my office counter top - check that project out here.  It took me all of 5 minutes to decide he was right...damn him and his sudden blast of DIY energy.  We grabbed the counter top from the car and struggled our way to the living room for the big cut down.  By 11:15 we were done and cleaning...again.  I ran out the door at 11:30 to pick up my new set of lamps and picture frame...feast your eyes on these bad boys:

FREE!!!  FREEE!!!  FREEEE!!!  They may be brass but they are in perfect condition and screaming for some spray paint!!  The frame could use a coat or 2 as well...it smells a bit smokey and musty...   I am so excited!  I actually checked out some lamps today at Target and the same shape and size were around $30...granted they had shades but I plan to find some shades soon that are more to my liking then the ones that came with these.  They were dark blue, dusty, and really stinky.  I tossed those out immediately - smell ya later old shades!

Yesterday I found some great pillows at Ikea ranging in price from $1-$5 in the As Is section.  SCORE!!!  Who doesn't need a few extra throw pillows...14 in my case!  This is just what the doctor ordered for my otherwise bare daybed...

What did you guys find this weekend?  Any good freebies or cheap-o stuff you'd like to share?  Feel free to leave a comment or link below!!

Bianca  Walmart body pillow, craigslist free section, brass lamps cheap, ikea as is section, target lamp shades

Decisions Decisions and Hacks!

Well - so much for my big set forth and conquer statement at the end of yesterdays post...I am no further along in my office though I managed to sprout a few more ideas to confuse myself even further!

Because I am a Realtor, and a thrifty gal, I could not get over the idea of using my office for JUST an office.  I just can not wrap my head around the whole room (and a dedicated "bedroom" in our floor plan) would be wasted on an office.  I know, I know - I need a space to work!  I picture one side of me looking around with half a bottle of wine sloshing around in a goblet saying, "Be selfish - claim it as your own!"  The other side is wagging a finger and saying,"You know, this doesn't look good for resale value.  Bedrooms should look like bedrooms to potential buyers. What about when you have kids?  Where are you going to put them when they grow up?  What if you have two kids and one is a boy and one is a girl and they need to be separated for privacy reasons and what not...."  And the list of cons goes on.  I wish that relaxed, wine drinkin' lady would speak up and give me some more pros...she has since forgotten the office and moved on to the cheese plate...damn her and her lack of focus!  The other not so fun gal is still whispering not so sweet nothings about kids I don't have and selling a house we just moved into...WTF!

So here I am - at a crossroads.  Claim it as an office or try to do it all!  I came up with another mock concept today...you know it makes it easier for me to make decisions...or does it?

FYI - in case you haven't figured from the photos above - the bottom cabs are in place and the top cabs are resting on the bottom but would eventually be hung from ceiling height.  This layout works on a few levels - I can get the daybed in which would be lovely when my latest addition of BH&G arrives so I can lay back, relax, and flip through it nonchalantly during a work break...perhaps even with a goblet of wine! ;)  The office portion of my room would be a bit smaller and narrower but with almost as much storage as the L shaped design.  How much crap do I need to store anyway?

On the other hand - I really enjoyed the L shape due to being able to look out the window AND being able to see 2 computer screens at once.  I also like that it looks nice from the kitchen but, then again, so does the daybed...

I have looked at it every which way and then decided - why not have both?  My original reason for not doing the L plus the daybed was that the depth was too, well, deep.  How about I chop my daybed up and narrow it a bit.  Instead of being 41 inches I could make it 24in deep.  I realize that wouldn't be deep enough for normal human beings to sleep on but surely it is good enough for my BH&G nonchalant reading and daydreaming...  It would be like having a settee (which I also looked into but they are muey expenseevo...E's Spanish, again).  Or perhaps a chaise.  It wouldn't be a complete loss to mess with this West Elm daybed.  I got it on Craigslist for $125 due to the past owners crazy mutt using it as a chew toy...

Can you imagine?  How pissed would you be?!  Either way - a little lot of wood putty, sanding and a fresh coat of white paint and this baby will be back in prime condition soon.  Now - to chop or not to chop...that IS the question.  I have enlisted the neighbor men (both engineers) to see if I chop it up how I could reattach the shorter portions while still maintaining the overall strength.  Our round table meets tonight and you will be the first to know the outcome!

Until then - please feel free to leave a comment (just under the posts title) on what you would do!!  Do your best to dissuade me from taking saw to wood!  Or help out the wine drinkin' gal with some more pros to ditch the dual space idea all together and go with a straight up office space!  She needs all the help she can get...off the cheese and onto chocolates.  Aiy yai yai...virtual eye roll...

Bianca