Kitchen Face lift - botox not included

I made a little trek to IKEA the other weekend, which I had been wanting to do for a while. I had an idea of one thing I wanted and as it happens everytime, I come out with more than I need! It's like Target! I can never go into Target for just one item. It's probably a good thing I need to make an hour trip to get to a Target around here.

To see how far we have come, click here to see what our kitchen looked like originally. Then to see what a little color and rearranging furniture can do, click here. Finally, below are some pictures of the ALMOST completed project.



I am very happy with our little kitchen. It's a bright and happy place. I even scrubbed the floor vigorously the other week, so now I feel like I can legitimately buy a new rug to replace the current one. The current one was a sale pier 1 purchase, but the two greens clash, so I feel the need to replace it. After that, I can honestly say that I don't feel the need to buy a single thing for the kitchen except groceries from here on out. Let's see how long that lasts, shall we?

Attached below are more photos of the apartment. Although a new change will happen over spring break (cross your fingers for shelving) that will hopefully revamp the entire look, I decided to add a few pictures showing more organization and less "clutter" in our little space.

One of my new favs in the bathroom is NATURAL LIGHT. Before, Lyle had put up "temporary shading" in this small space since we didn't want to add a blind or curtain. The window is so tiny, yet our bathroom is so private, that we didn't know what else to do (inexpensively). After a fun trip to Home Depot (seriously, I love that place) I found window covering "liners" that are a type of plastic that sticks to the window, but not permanently. I chose a pattern that was translucent so that light can pass through, but you can't see a clear image. HALLELUJAH! It worked great and wasn't super cheap, but not too expensive to pass up either. Lyle and I love the added light to the bathroom even if we have to look at the ugly paint spilled windows.Here you see our new-ish rug (thanks Lorna)! I was complaining that we needed super plush one like we had at the fam's house in Sacramento, and Lorna got us this one. Like she said, "it's the little things that make us happier." We love it and I think I'm going to macy's to get a few more to replace our little white ones.Pictured are some curtains from IKEA that you cut and "hem" yourself. You use the iron on hem whch is my kind of hemming! It keeps the cool air from coming in and hides the ugly windows. I'm glad I finally broke down and bought them.
I also picked up a few pillow covers at IKEA. They were pretty inexpensive and can come off the pillows when I want a more conservative look. And here is Lyle, doing what he does best, becoming a dentist.
I am into getting these IKEA boxes and hiding all our junk in them. I put all my purses that were previously hung up all over the walls, and stored them in these boxes. Note the humidifier next to the boxes. You KNOW we blast that thing all night every night to keep ourselves as unstuffed and healthy as possible. We just can't take any risks! Oh, I also got a new duvet cover at IKEA for $15. It doesn't compare in quality with our other one, but we needed one to switch out when we need to launder our bedding, so this one does the job. Again, we'll see how all this changes come the end of March!
Sorry for the picture book you just went through...you might just want to skip any posts that say "apartment" in them next time.