Ginger's room

Ginger has finally moved into her room, just in time for her first birthday!  It’s not *quite* finished as it still needs closet doors and a wall sconce,  but it’s definitely functional.  I’m a bit frustrated by my attempts to photograph it, however.  It looks so cramped and weird in the photo but it’s actually quite cozy in real life and doesn’t feel cramped at all!

When she gets a little bigger and moves into a ‘big girl’ bed, we’ll remove the crib and changing table and relocate the rocking chair to playroom.  I suspect when that happens, the room will feel positively palatial!

One of my favorite blogs is ikeahacker. It’s both entertaining and inspiring.  Sure, a few of the hacks are “whack,” but that’s half the fun!

Not being handy myself (Julio is power tool god in this house – I tend to avoid motorized tools at all costs. I’m actually quite accident prone - to the point that even electric can openers freak me out. “That’s right doctor. I severed my finger trying to open a can of soup.” But I digress.)  Where was I?  Oh yeah.  Not being handy myself, I especially enjoy “hackeas”: simple IKEA hacks you can do in 30 minutes or less. They are right up my alley!

In a previous post, we discussed our own hackea involving IKEA’s Deka curtain rod. Today I plan to wow you with my startling transformation of the Skimra lampshade. OK – maybe not so startling, but pretty cute, I think!

The Skimra lampshade before:

and my post-hack Skimra lampshade:

And its twin:

in Chloe and Ginger’s playroom:

Crafty, eh?

A year ago today marked my the end of my fifth week of “house arrest” (otherwise known as bed rest.)

Chloe, the older of our two daughters, was born prematurely and spent roughly six weeks in the hospital. So last May, when baby number two threatened to make an appearance two months ahead of schedule, I was advised to stay off my feet for SIX LONG WEEKS.

Being confined to bed rest in your third trimester is excruciating. Not in terms of physical discomfort (although there is a bit of that.) Rather, it’s the psychological distress that’s unbearable. Not only are you steeped in worry over your unborn child, but you’re locked in this perverse battle of wanting - or perhaps more accurately, NEEDING - to give in to the all-consuming “nesting instinct,” yet you know that your baby’s health depends on ignoring that desire/need. Ultimately, you end up glued to the couch for a month and a half, obsessing about everything that isn’t getting done. Continue Reading »

Ginger was born early Friday morning. This project, completed in just a little over 9 months, is one of the top two that we’ve tackled. The other project, of course, is the infamous Project Chloe. Here is a photo of the final product. For obvious reasons, we do not have a “before” picture for this one.