I love it when a plan comes together

[emeraldsedai]

I've been so immersed in my bedroom remodeling project for the last couple of weeks that I'm dreaming about it. I can--for the moment--recite IKEA cabinetry dimensions and all the Swedish product names, as well as every measurement of my room.

Comments

[harrigan]

Yay!

I re-did my bedroom about a year ago, though nothing so dramatic as to require a sledge hammer - LOL! I'd bought the house 6 months before, and the bedroom came with heavy, dark-red velvet curtains and dust-collecting slatted blinds, possibly-20-year-old carpet, and dingy pock-marked neutral color walls. About 10 feet by 12 or 13 feet? I wish I'd taken before pics, like you are!

I saved up and replaced the carpet with wood laminate floors (all I could afford) and painted the walls a soothing pale green. Love it! For now, the horrid curtains have been replaced by cheap white curtains hung from tension rods. The closet is still too small, but that will eventually be addressed with better organization. (I don't have a lot of clothes that need hanging anyway, and other closet clutter needs to find homes in other rooms.)

Choosing what to put on the walls and floors is fun -- I look forward to hearing more about that piece of your progress when you get to it too!

[emeraldsedai]

Pock marked walls. Yes, there are just some things in old construction that you learn to live with. As extensive as this project has become, it simply can't stretch to new drywall. It's amazing, though, what a good matte paint job in a pleasing color can do!

Several people have urged me to restore the existing wood floors, presumably out of the strongly held love of real wood. I totally get that, but what I've discovered is that today's wood laminates are tougher, cheaper, and easier to care for than real wood, and they look very, very nice, too. The one I found is under $1.50 per square foot! I couldn't believe my eyes! The sample came the other day and it's wonderful--heavy and solid, with a impressively finely-engineered snap-together function. It seems almost too good to be true that I can have an attractive and durable new floor for under $500, and in a single day, but that's technology for you. Magic

[harrigan]

Oooh - I love that! For now, I kept the dark-red velvet curtain ties and used them to pull back the new white curtains, and I've used a pair of my mom's old earrings to latch them. My mom passed away a year ago so I like to find little new-purpose ways to remember her.

I love seeing your hacks. keep them coming! (And I particularly like the proposed ceiling!)

[emeraldsedai]

What a lovely way to remember. I'm sorry for your loss.

[emeraldsedai]

A big part of me still has an ingrained "Camera=film=expense" belief, and it took me ages to stop being reticent to "waste" pictures. The big ah-ha was realizing (or giving in and admitting) that the phone-cam makes perfectly good prosthetic eyes for fine-print instructions, serial numbers on the backs of things, battery-insertion markings, etc., etc.

And since I don't leave the room without my preciouss phone, I'm remembering more and more to use it for this kind of purpose. (Also? I've used the barcode-scanner to capture and remember little itty-bitty items in those bins at the hardware store.)

[helenajust]

I love Ikea, and I adore Ikea-hackers! It's great not only for seeing what can be done, but also the difficulties and how they can be overcome. For example, one tends to assume that it will be an easy matter to attach something different to an Ikea piece until one realises that generally they are not solid wood, and drilling a different hole can be difficult.

I've never reached your level of immersion, and I doubt if I ever could because I can't remember numbers from one minute to the next. But I love those weird names (even if I spell them incorrectly). PAX be with you!!

I too hadn't thought of photographing the Ikea labels - I always copy them down. And I do understand what you mean about feeling that taking photos should be reserved for more special uses!

[emeraldsedai]

I'm right on the edge about my proposed hack. The measurements are so tight that if I misjudge, it could be a disaster. And of course IKEA staff themselves will never recommend or advise on any alternate use of their products except the ones they create out on the showroom floor.

In the spirit of "measure twice, cut once," I'm measuring a lot and taking time to think through everything before I place an expensive order. Because, as you say, the particle-board is fairly unforgiving.