projects abound!

...it was high time to finish the kitchen-- no more corners of ugliness and clutter. The "nook" was the last bit left, and we schemed for months about how to tackle it. So, we took our first day of the week to run to ikea, buy all the needed bits, and start assembling. This morning, we got crackin' on mounting it all up and it dawned on me ... there is this strange happiness in the clutter of a project. I just fuels productivity and good outcomes. And yeah. Maybe I should remodel people's kitchens for real, or something...

I love seeing it all come together, especially as little pieces of the final project get hung, leveled, and secured. I don't mind cleaning up all the mess afterwards, one piece at a time, because it's just one step closer to revealing the *final* product.

By noon today -- here's what we had: A lovely, tidy recycling center and planning desk!

I still need a handle for the cabinet, which opens as one single door. And also, the countertops aren't exactly the same (I actually like the Walnut woodgrain on the new one better) but you didn't notice that, right?

And... and... our new lovely TV on the wall!

My stipulation for a big tv was that I wanted to see NO cords, no mess, no components, no speakers, ad nauseam... so we're (Jed's) working on running wires through the wall to our little stair nook, where we can keep all components, dvds, and other players. It looks great, and the room looks alot bigger without a big honkin' piece of furniture holding the tv.

Here are a few mock-ups for the future. What do you think?

My goal is to help circulate this piece of room a bit- have it less one-sided towards the tv.
This option is the asymmetrical one-- a small side chair with table for drink/book, etc. and maybe small ottoman. This can be be pulled up near chair, or sat upon, or pulled up and used to hold a plate of food, if for instance, we *ever* at dinner in front of the tv or something...

I'm trying to possibly avoid finding something in dark brown/leather/wood, because it's SO EASY for us to do that-- ie,our dining room table, trim, sideboard, etc, etc.... It's a challenge for me to see if I can crack the habit of dark walnut.

Option 2 has two ottomans and some sort of low piece of middle furniture that can hold drinks, books, whatevs... A bit more casual looking. And also we can pull the ottomans over to the couch for some foot support/dinner plate support, etc. The hesitation here is that all that nice spaciousness we gained by moving the tv cabinet, we're replacing with another piece of furniture...