IKEA Hack?

Hello Loyal Viewers...I am shocked and yet not totally surprised that it has been a year since I blogged...well, just about. I guess I should add it to the list of things to improve on in 2015. Starting...now.

So, I wouldn't say that I LOVE IKEA, but I do appreciate it. When I first moved into my own place it was my best friend to furnish my living room and provide home from my clothing. It was a great and inexpensive way to get a clean look in my new home and even I can put the furniture together. Oh, I wish I had pictures of the TV stand that I put together...you would all be so proud. 

Anywho, a couple pieces from that first place (to my surprise) have survived a few moves and served me well. This week, as we were packing away Christmas and putting away the tree, we decided to turn one of these faithful pieces of furniture into kitchen storage so that we will no longer have to search all over the apartment for hidden kitchen appliances, bake-ware, stemware, etc (first go to place to look was always under the guest bed).

So, we headed to IKEA to see what we could find. Here are some pictures from the project, if people want to know the details, let me know. I will say that the bookshelf is from a line (Besta Vara) that I believe they are discontinuing, which is unfortunate because it is so versatile.  

Here is the original bookshelf in all of it's glory. Well, actually this is its twin because I forgot to take the before picture of the one that we transformed, but you get the idea. :)

The during...

The after!!!!

A rack to hold cookbooks, some stemware, pots/pans/lids, bake-ware, small kitchen appliances and anything else that might come to mind.

We used the Grundtal Series for the hooks and rods.

Two hanging rods with hooks to hang pans and a utensil box for extra utensils. 

A drawer for lids and splatter guards. 

Lower storage for Kitchen Aid Mixer, Crockpot, and other bake-ware

Some things to note...

1) IKEA does not provide the screws to drill in the hanging rods, we (and by we, I mean Dan) used sheet metal screws (3/4 inch).
2) We purchased the stemware racks at Home Depot, because the ones at IKEA did not fit our glasses (the bases were too wide).  There are also a lot of options online.

I am so thankful to have Dan and all of his tools to be able to help our ideas come to life. Not to say that I couldn't have done this, but it definitely wouldn't have come out so nice and it might have fallen apart over night...the perks of being with an engineer and having a partner in crime. 

Happy New Years!!!

Spring Cleaning

Every year I decide to take a month or so to clean stuff up, although not your typical spring cleaning, we are talking about our diet/drinking habits/etc. I wouldn't say I drink a lot and but I go threw spurts of lots of social events and whatnot. I also tend to get lazy when I am  busy with work (I just finished my year end audit). So, once a year I take some time to say good bye to booze and worse of all good bye to chocolate. I also may or may not be doing this so I look fabulous for a Mexican vacation (hopefully to be in May).

So what do I do? I stop eating entirely for 40 days and live off lemon juice.  Just kidding, not quite that crazy. Each year I do it a little differently. There is definitely some calorie watching and usually a limit on the starches/carbs. Each year it changes based on what I thought was good the prior year and things that I learn during the year.

This year we are going with a low carb/lean meat/no dairy/lots of veggies kind of thing. I also like to throw in some overpriced juice cleanse days.  :) 

For example...here is what a cleansing cart looks like, although this is kind of what my cart always looks like because if I grocery shop I eat pretty healthy...I just usually tend to eat out.

As I have mentioned multiple times...I love Blue Print juices, although the price is sometimes hard to justify. I have found the best way to have kale is to make kale chips, break it up and remove the stalks, cover with olive oil, your favorite spices/seasoning salt and maybe a lil garlic. Put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 mins, just keep an eye on them till they are crispy. 

Key things I learn after these cleanse/spring clean up;

• I feel great when I am not hungover and eating right gives me a lot of energy and keeps me motivated to get things done.
• Not going out on weekends and drinking results in some serious savings in my banking account and as I have made that a huge priority that is a great thing.
• It is fun to find fun ways to cook healthy. 
• You do fall off the grid a bit socially, especially if you have friends that do drink (which I would say is most of us or at least all of my friends). They will be there when you are done and some will even be crazy enough to spend time with you sober.
• Throwing some work outs and what not in there is a good idea as well, just make sure that your calorie intake isn't too low.

On the plus side for my MILLIONS of viewers...it will lead to more blogging...in theory. Wish me luck tomorrow I start day 4 of 40.  Try it out sometime...you will feel awesome. 

Happy Spring Cleaning!