Things that have turned out suprisingly well

My biggest project after painting the basement was rearranging the kids room/Bruce’s office. If my kids aren’t sharing a bed then they are sharing a room with their dad’s office space. That can be kind of a bummer since the toys must be kept to a minimum in this space. Art work is always welcome though. I found the giant magnet board at the same second hand furniture store where I bought the school supply cabinet, it was 7$ (what a score huh?). There are no overhead light fixtures in this room so I bought a large Japanese paper lantern, some reproduction cloth covered braided electrical cord (looks kind of like a rope), a plug and a socket and designed my own hanging lamp. I borrowed my parents projector to trace the words on the wall with pencil and then painted them. The large wire baskets (from etsy vintage) are for holding reading books and treasures. The closet is small but big enough for a Malm dresser from IKEA and a few hanging dresses and shirts. I moved Bruce’s desk under the large window along with the two huge filing cabinets. The back wall is floor to ceiling books and bookshelves. It is a long way from a dream bedroom but I am pleased with the result.

The new mirror in my bedroom was kind of an afterthought, we had another much cheaper /smaller mirror that was adequate but not really great, and I had nowhere to clip my little lamp. What a difference a big mirror makes in a dim basement room! It makes the space feel bigger and it reflects all the light from the window back into the room. I am so glad I did it.

In our bedroom we have been using some hand me down wall lamps from my parents, which have been in this same bedroom since 1984 (about the same era as my hand me down living room set, but that is another story). They were gold and shiny, and they made me feel old. I bought this pair of lamps on ebay. I don’t know very much about them except that they are vintage, Italian, and someone had spliced in two huge (hideous) 12 volt transformers on each lamp cord so they could be plugged into an American outlet . Honestly electrical repair is new territory for me, I have only re-wired two lamps before, but I loved they way they looked so I gave it a whirl. I found two 12 volt transformers for halogen lamps small enough to fit in the base of each online (oh internet how wonderful you are!). Add two new black lamp cords from the hardware store and voila! The only tricky part was salvaging the original switches from the old cords. I managed to pop them off without damaging them (so lucky), and with my dad’s help I was able to splice them into the new cords (very tricky stuff since both of us have poor eyesight). Bruce, who does not always share my aesthetic sense, loves them. My success is complete.

After I painted the kitchen it was apparent that the art table was in need of a face lift. Nothing major here: a new coated table cloth, and some new storage a la IKEA for art supplies (that up until now have lived mainly on my desk). I punched a hole in each bucket, bent some left over Grundtal hooks that I had and called it perfect. Next to the bathroom this is the most used space in our little home.

I have been gathering and organizing all of the school supplies into our cabinet, all the while trying to figure out how to create some type of work box system for Emory. I didn’t have any room for drawers or bins or boxes. Then it came to me, magazine files (I am sure that I am not the first person to have come up with this solution, but that doesn't diminish my eureka moment one bit). These are the Flyt boxes at IKEA, I think they were 5 for 1$ or something like that. Another frugal success story.

Lest, you think I have the midas touch or something I am considering another post “Things that have turned out surprisingly bad” it would be a really long post though.