Although the kitchen in the WH is very open and has loads of natural light during the day, at night I thought it could use a bit more uniform light. Back to Ikea for some wire lights (not sure what they're called). I've been trying to buy the wire (string?, suspended?, floating?) lights from Ikea for months, but every time I went there for other projects they were sold out.
Finally on trip 3 or maybe 4 they had the good hardware, the Norrsken (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80025855), but they didn't have the little saucer lights that went with it. I thought the saucer lights looked too heavy anyway so I opted for two sets of the Sansa (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20095262). I couldn't confirm that the lights where interchangeable, but I thought for the price I couldn't loose much to try.
TIME: 6 hours (felt like 10) not including the 1 hour spent at Ikea, nor the 2 hours in the car to get to Ikea
COST: $34 for two of the Sansas and about $60 for the Norrsken, so let's say $100 total
LESSONS LEARNED: Ikea lighting is great for the price, but as usual with Ikea products requires a bit of finesse for the install.
THANKS: To Clare for bringing back my ladder, and Dan for handing me tools and letting me bounce ideas off him.
Before there was a hanging light, which I plan on using elsewhere
Only two recessed lights and a globe lamp
The hardest part was mounting the hardware to string the wires across
Glad I got the upgraded hardware, it looks great
Ikea bracket needed to be modified by drilling a hole in its center and bolting it to the original bracket from the hanging lamp
Here's a pic of the main box and the Sansa lights, which are very delicate looking. They remind me of insects for some reason.
After shot. Still need to replace that globe with something cooler.
The new lights give off a warm light across the whole kitchen
Another shot of the hardware and lights.
Not really a house project, but a reason why I haven't done house projects this weekend. Actually this really is a good reason because not only did it take up a whole weekend, I sprung for the $250 VIP tickets.
What does $250 VIP ticket get you? VIP parking, which sucked since it was about a 5 min walk to the entrance and you had to park in the grass. Where's my red carpet treatment? The VIP viewing areas on North and South stages were nice, but the VIP tents were to the side of the stage and although there was a VIP bar/concession stand it was far from the action. It did feel good to get to enter all the VIP sectioned off parts, but I expected more ass kissing for $250. Guess VIP should have been labeled SIP (somewhat important person).
Saturday bands I saw, in order (couldn't do the two day thing, too old for that):
Incubus
Peter Bjorn and John
Danny Tenaglia
Sasha & John Digweed
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Beastie Boys
The Police
Incubus was great, lots of energy and maybe because everyone was still fresh and hydrated the crowd was pumped. Danny Tenaglia had a great groove going when Matt and I went to the Dance Tent, but there was a delay before Sasha and Digweed went on and they started up slow and trancy without a lot of punch. Later on walking by they sounded better. Also the Dance Tent had great horizontal equalizer lights that would look great as wall art or a super headboard (home project research at VMF!).
Ben Harper was so good he brough tears to my eyes when he sang burn one down. He ended with a new song, forgot the name and I didn't hear any gospel. He really poured himself into his songs.
The Beasties were ok, some technical difficulties with Adrock's guitar, and they played some older punk songs that weren't to my liking. I did like the brass monkey remix with missy eliot beats and some electroclash mixed in.
The Police, not my favorite band, but damn sting looked good. Guess all that yoga and tantric sex is worth it. They sounded great too, and played all the favorites. Didn't stay for Roxanne, which I presume they played at the end. Matt and I beat the crowed and jetted out of there about 30 min early. Overall a great show and the VIP passes were semi-worth it.
Flickr Pics
Why does brass or that cheap shiny gold exist as a house fixture color? I don't know many people who'd prefer it to silver, maybe it's cheaper to make? I was lucky enough to have a fan in each of the bedrooms in the WH. Only problem was all of them are colonial country kitchen style. But the one in the master bedroom did have some clean lines, all it needed was to have the brass ring and frosted globe removed.
Once again Ikea comes to the rescue with one of its inexpensive pendent lamps. I picked something small and simple and it sure beats shelling out $200-$400 bucks for a modern fan. I took apart the pendant light and mounted the halogen fixture into the base of the fan then glued the clear shade to the fan. Wha la!
TIME: 2 hours not including the 2 hours spent at Ikea, nor the 2 hours in the car to get to Ikea
COST: $15
LESSONS LEARNED: Ikea is the legos of modern decor
THANKS: To my parents who bought all those legos when I was little
I removed ol frosty globe the day I moved in, but this wasn't a good look either
Get the brass out
clear plastic > brass
Not bad for a quick fix
Up close looks like it came like that from the factory
So the master bedroom in the white house or WH (that'll be the name for my current home) had mirrored closet doors. Um, ya, no it's not the 80s. So I promptly removed those closet doors, but what to put in their place. I started dreaming of modern wood or metal paneled wardrobes until I realized that the ones I liked were over $1000.
Since the master bedroom isn't that large and I had a bunch of Ikea furniture in it making it smaller I decided to move all the furniture into the closet and then buy panels or drapes to cover the closet openings.
TIME: 2 weeks because I was lazy, but probably could be done in 1-2 days
COST: $150 for the Ikea panels
LESSONS LEARNED: It's hard to beat Ikea for style to price ration
THANKS: Big thanks to Mack and Gabe who moved all the furniture and removed the mirrored doors
Before (sorry no pics of the mirrored doors)
After shoving all the furniture into the closet
Trimming the Ikea panels
Looking good
What a lucky match for the wall color (not planned)
All 4 panels slide to the center for access
I've always wanted to have a super clean and organized garage. A place that you could hang out in and work on your car or project. Maybe have some music and a ping pong table in there. Well here is phase 1, The Floor.
After much research I concluded that epoxy was the best product to use within my budget. I ordered my kit from Epoxy Coat, but I went a little crazy with the flakes. The flakes or chips give the floor a stone or textured finish while adding a bit of color. The normal kit comes with 1lb of flakes, I used 7lbs and half were metallic. I ordered most of the flakes from http://www.floorchips.com.
TIME: 3 days, 2 to clean and prep, 1 to apply
COST: $280 Epoxy + $10 caulk + $60 Flakes = ~$350
LESSONS LEARNED: Don't put on too much flake, for a two car garage 5lbs would have been fine.
THANKS: Big thanks to Mack who helped me during the epoxy process
After cleaning and scrubbing
Ready for the Acid
After acid etching and caulking cracks and edges
Tah Da!
Show shine
Got Flake? (ok so I put too much on in some areas)
Mashmamdali is a term my Father use to use when my brothers and I would always take stuff apart and leave it all around the house. I'm not sure if is actual Farsi or slang, but I always liked the way it sounded.
I have been a tinkerer from an early age and I thought it was long overdue to start documenting some of my projects. I might try to dig up some pictures of previous house and car projects, but we'll see.
I hope this site inspires other tinkerers that like to "enhance" everything from their bikes to their furniture.