Not only are we on a toilet paper budget but we're on a moolah budget as well. However, it's no secret - I love shopping. Even if I can't buy the things I'm shopping for.

I found this cute set of retro dishes that are pretty much perfect.

Ceramic dishes, Urban Outfitters

I think something like this platform bench with a cushion, from Urban Outfitters as well, would come in handy and look nice under a window in our bedroom or living room.

They have various cushions in different colors.

But maybe something like this slat bench would be more versatile.

Urban Outfitters

We're finding the need for a step stool in the kitchen with our very high storage areas.

This cutie is from Target.com for only $9!

And for fun I found this Polaroid printer. Everyone that knows me knows I love a good Polaroid picture. I was devastated when they announced that they would stop producing film for the old school Polaroid cameras. I've stocked up and continue to see film in stores but know it will dry up soon enough.

So when I saw this gadget I thought it might be a good compromise - providing me with instant photos in a digital age. I wonder what the ink quality is like and how often you have to replace cartridges.

I would need this camera to go with it, though.

Also from Urban Outfitters, this is actually a digital camera!

Rollei Rollei Rollei. The Rolleiflex Mini Digital Camera proudly continues the Rollei Twin Lens Reflex tradition, pushing the famed camera into beautifully tiny territory! First developed in Germany in the 1920's, the Rollei 6x6cm Twin Lens Reflex Camera has always been a preferred tool for serious photography, especially portraits. And because it's as pretty as the pictures it takes, the Rollei has became a classic of 20th century camera design. Now, many of the original's unique features (and all of its charm) can be yours in a retro-miniature package too awesome to believe! A 5 Mega Pixel camera with autofocus technology, the Rollei Mini allows you to shoot from a distance of 4 inches to infinity, saving each image to a Mini SD Card. Still the undisputed choice for portraits, the camera features an up-facing 1.1" square display for waist level shooting, which encourages your subjects to go on looking and acting naturally instead of posing for the camera. Crank lever 'film advance"; JPEG image format; 4.9mm F2.8 Lens; 1/15-1/2500s Shutter Speed; Automatic While Balance and Exposure Control; Auto power-off. Imported. Wipe clean.

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I'll be gone for a couple days art directing a commercial shoot in Texas for an entertainment superstore.

So I thought I'd give you all an update and head on out.

Our plumbing problems have been temporarily fixed. Our wonderful plumber came out and unclogged the beast for us. He said it should hold us over for months, maybe longer, as long as we don't flush paper down it. I was thinking "psh, I'm not going to flush my magazines or bills down the toilet - no worries." Then I realized he was talking about TOILET PAPER. Uhm. Hm. HOW DOES THAT WORK? I won't go into details but we got the extra thick cushy Charmin and have put ourselves on a toilet paper budget. I think it's important that you all really know what goes into a remodel that "sounds like so much fun!" – TOILET PAPER BUDGETS.



It also turns out that both Jeremy and I were notorious as kids for clogging up the toilets and our parents have no problem laughing about it.

Needless to say, we'll be putting in a new sewer line sooner rather than later and I will be stuffing copious amounts of toilet paper down it.

In other news...

I forgot that I never posted a photo of our new entertainment credenza.

This isn't the most flattering photo in the world but you get the idea. It's working out pretty well so far.

We still have a huge to-do list but things are calming down. Now it's just a waiting game for our kitchen countertops and backsplash tile. We're also anxious for our sofa to come in. Hopefully it will be in the next couple weeks. Then I will finally reveal a full living room photo.

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We're making progress!

BEFORE


PROGRESS


BEFORE


PROGRESS

The cabinetry is done. We painted it all white with a sprayer, we got all the walls painted (Victorian Lace - Sherwin Williams), and we got all the doors and drawers back on/in the cabinets.

It's far from being done. We need to organize the contents of our upper cabinets and have glass put in the upper doors. We need to patch the tile on the floor where a peninsula was coming out. We need to have countertops put in and tile the backsplash. We need to put in the vent hood and install cabinet lighting (which will involve some of wiring work in the attic).

There is a lot more work ahead of us but the progress we're making shows.

In other news. We're having some plumbing problems. When we bought the house we paid for an extra sewer line inspection just to make sure everything was in working order and we wouldn't run into any unexpected issues. It turns out they only inspected the line that runs water from the kitchen and basement. Not the line that carries all the scary stuff that comes out of our bodies AWAY from us.

After painting the kitchen we were washing off some materials in the bathtub when our neighbor came over and said that there is white milky water coming into her backyard. Awesome. We have no clean out on that side of the house so the water is just seeping up through the ground.

We called our plumber out - he's the same guy that redid the pipes in our bathroom and we both really like him a lot. After he showed us his new Texas Longhorn tattoo on his hand he dug down to the pipe to install a clean out. When he got down to the pipe he noticed that the pipe is basically constructed out of tar PAPER. It looks like he can give us a temporary fix by cleaning the pipe out but we're going to have to build a new line. It's a little ridiculous to try and repair the line or replace it where it is since even though it's on our property line it's in our neighbor's back yard. The other challenge in the way is we have no access under the house on that side. So he's going to have to create access through the floor of a closet. Then he's going to create a new sewer line that hooks up from the new pipes he installed in our bathroom going out to the main line.

Phew.

We're looking forward to having all of these major repairs behind us.

The bathroom issues seem far behind us. All of this will be behind us soon enough.

The pains of remodeling a kitchen and doing our dishes in the bathtub is FUN compared to sewer problems.

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In our kitchen all of our upper cabinets will be clear glass. I think with the help of some cute (or classic) dishes and Jeremy's OCD tendencies we'll keep it looking pretty nice.

So here are some cute dishes.

morocco dinnerware, CB2
I love the pattern and the orange.

It reminds me of this rug from Pottery Barn.

That would look nice under the dining room table, perhaps.

Which reminds me of this cute runner.

aman placemat, CB2
Of course, I would want to avoid being too matchy-matchy.


ibiza wine glasses, CB2
These wine glasses are interesting - but I'm not sure if they go with the more "grown-up" theme I'm trying to achieve.


hue dinnerware, CB2
This dinnerware is certainly "grown-up" and a little more understated. Or maybe just a little more boring. It would look nice with the porcelain blend tile we've decided to go with for the backsplash.

Ever since I laid eyes on these plates a few months ago I've been obsessed.

Paper Plates by Virginia Sin
These are porcelain plates cast from actual shredded paper plates. Wow.

The last kitchen item I would like to discuss is the following

Stainless Steel Oval Pot Rack, BB&B
We would love to have a hanging pot rack in our place to show off Jeremy's fancy Calphalon cookware but we just can't figure out where to fit something like that in. We almost left space to the left of our range empty to acommodate one but thought cabinets might be better for resale value in such a (relatively) small kitchen.

Of course, this is all window shopping until we can actually pay off the kitchen itself. But a girl (and guy) can dream.

I promise that by Monday we will have a sneak peak of the kitchen progress.

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This is an off-topic post that is not at all about the house remodel but I thought it was blog worthy.

A little fact you may or may not know is that I used to play roller derby.

KatAtomic 3000

I recently retired due to a few nagging injuries that weren't letting up. Also, the team I was on was going national demanding a lot of time that I just didn't have with work and family taking priority.

Well - about a year ago my friend and coworker Brian developed a comic starring KatAtomic! Here's an excerpt:


I like this part where I snap a guy's neck with my thighs!


Popgun volume 2, featuring Brian's creation with artist Dave Curd, BASTARD ROAD, is out in stores and Amazon this week:You can buy it here.
And here’s the link to the book’s site where you can read the entire story:

http://www.popguncomics.com/

WARNING: BASTARD ROAD features tartly-written sexual innuendo and fairly disturbing graphic cartoon violence. It was created with the Cartoon Network [adult swim] demographic (males 18-24) in mind, so it’s not for everybody. Feel free to be offended or to not read it at all if it’s not your thing.

As far as the house goes - the kitchen is amazing! We just need to hang the cabinet doors back on before I'm willing to share! I promise - we'll have it done in the next few days.

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I don't have much to update on - YET. We have made TONS of progress in the kitchen by getting everything that needs to be painted white done. This include the cabinets, cabinet doors and drawers, windows, and ceiling.

So in the meantime I found Wordle via Making It Lovely.

This is what I got when I put in our blog URL.

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Here's the auction chair in it's place next to the Frankoma fireplace. Ignore the shelves in the background - they haven't been given much consideration yet.


Mister Scooty Boots (right) and Dinah Saur (left) love the auction chair.

Jeremy and I carpooled to work yesterday. When we got home we discovered a Target delivery on the side of the house. As we were standing over a very heavy box discussing big trash day* we hear a "meeeoooww". We were both a little confused because it sort of sounded like Dinah... but not. For good measure we called out both of their names. A couple of seconds later we hear another scared "meeeoooww".

We head inside to find Dinah sitting on the auction chair. Check.

A few minutes later Jeremy comes walking through the front door holding Scooty saying "look who I found." Apparently Scooty had been hiding under Jeremy's car. With a little coaxing he got him out.

Together again.



So how did Scooty get out? We think he got a little too brave and snuck out the door while Bob the Builder was working on our cabinets. We're glad he made a safe return with no scratches or bruises. And fortunately, he's been fixed so he wasn't out there making babies.


Note the drawers on the bottom, door frame on the uppers (they need glass inserts), and solid doors at the very top. Only a few more doors and they'll be done! Then painting will ensue.


Oh la la.

*About big trash day. Here in Oklahoma City on the Wednesday after the second Monday of the month you can take anything non-hazardous out to your curbside and the garbage men pick it up. How convenient.

Also, that big box from Target contained this:

We really needed a new media console. We tried to find something local and vintage but it just wasn't happening. We got this piece for a steal and were pleasantly surprised to find that it is solid wood. What wasn't pleasant was discovering huge cracks in the wood on some of the major exterior pieces. Hopefully, Target will send us replacement pieces.


In general, we've just continued to unpack and clean as we go. We still have a somewhat daunting to-do list that is slowly getting checked off day-by-day.

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This morning, while I was eating my cereal and Jeremy was brushing his teeth, I had the fabulous idea that a cowhide rug would be PERFECT in our bedroom.


I haven't eaten beef in over 13 years. I'm a terrible vegetarian.

I also have a crush on these rugs from IKEA.

Stockholm Rand


ALVINE TRIANGEL

For a much more tasteful selection in rugs check out Pencil Shavings.

In other news Jeremy and I have decided on the porcelain blend for the kitchen. Thanks to everyone for your input! It was a tough decision but we decided the porcelain blend is a little more safe but will still have a lot of overall impact.

We also had our countertop measured yesterday. It should be installed in about 4 weeks. Jeremy set our kitchen up enough so that we were able to bake brownies in our oven! We're still doing dishes in the bathtub but we can now cook. Brownies. All is well in the world.

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This weekend we went to our first auction ever.

We (I?) went in wanting this

Eames style lounger

and this.

Auqa and green swivel chair

When ash trays started going for $100 I thought there was no way I would get either.

Things were going slow, so Jeremy decided to get up to grab some food and drinks. And right at that moment the blue/green swivel chair is brought up to the stage. My adrenaline spiked and I texted Jeremy to come back. He didn't get the text and the bidding started on the chair. I'm hearing "50, 50, 75, 75, 100, 75, 100, last chance 75" so I raise my number and win the chair for what I thought was $175. I've got no poker face whatsoever and the barker says "she is SO happy to get that chair!" $175 is a little more than I wanted to pay but I really wanted that chair and was all caught up in the moment.

The Eames style lounger was auctioned off for more than we could afford, but I was okay with the loss.

So we go to check out and the manager rings me up for $75! What a pleasant surprise. I guess in all my nervousness I misunderstood the "75, 100, 75 75, 100" for $175. We'll be getting the chair today or tomorrow. I'll make sure to post another photo that shows it off a little better.

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Jeremy spotted these chairs on Craigslist yesterday just minutes after they were posted. They were listed at $40 for the pair. I was the first person to call on them and told the buyer that I definitely wanted them.

The seller warned me that they're a little worse for wear and shouldn't go to a home with children and unless I'm a "little flower" and all my friends are "little flowers" they probably shouldn't even be sat in. I told her that was fine. That I'd probably stare at them more than I would actually sit in them.

By the time Jeremy went to pick the chairs up the woman had had 18 calls on them. A man even called her while Jeremy was buying them and told her to pass along his number to Jeremy in case he wanted to resell them but "probably knew what he had" and would hang on to them for dear life.

The problem is... we don't really know what we have. There is no designer stamp or tag.

I sent a photo to our friend that sold us the H-W dining set and he said:
"They look to be Plycraft designed by George Mulhauser. Very nice find.
Valued at around $400-600."

Though, I'm not entirely sure that they are after looking through some photos online. Either way, I love them, beat up and all - designer or not.

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Every day, when I come home from work, I take a deep breath and hold it before walking into the kitchen.

But now it's actually starting to look like something.



Our cabinets will be all white with glass doors.

This evening we went to Lowes to order our countertop and decide which tile would compliment it the best.

LG HI-MACS Acrylic Solid Surface in Seafoam Quartz


It will be perfect with the white cabinets.

After receiving samples, we were thinking we would go with this tile for the backsplash.

Mint Ice Blend
The greens in this blend don't match the green of the countertop but they don't clash. I think it will just be too much going on. But that could be a good thing.

But after looking at the counter top today we're thinking maybe this.

Porcelain Blend
Surprisingly, the countertop has all these colors in it.

Here's an example of the porcelain blend in a room.


The wall color is a white with a greenish cast to it. It's from the same color family as the dining room. So overall the entire kitchen will be very white. Maybe the more colorful backsplash would make the room a little more fun and not take itself so seriously.

What do you all think?

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Searching for the perfect couch has been quite a challenge. We had to find a couch that was comfortable (I typically sacrifice function for form), modern to suit our style yet traditional enough to fit the style of our home, and fits within our budget constraints.

On Saturday afternoon we visited four different showrooms featuring everything from overpriced and modern to overstuffed (and quite stuffy) sofas.

We narrowed down our search to two upholstered pieces.

The Indivi 2 from BoConcept. This sofa is beautiful and the fabric is perfect. However it is very "Danish" when it comes to comfort and price - that means it's firm to sit on and a little pricy.

Then we found this sofa at a local furniture store.

It is large, comfy and a little more affordable. I think it will fit into our space nicely. We ordered it just like you see it here but with the chaise lounge on the right side. And we ordered the pillows without the embroidered flowers. The only problem is that it won't be in for 12 - 16 weeks. Other than that we are really excited about this purchase.

EDIT: It looks like our sofa will make it's way into our home in as little as 4 - 5 weeks!

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We received our Heywood-Wakefield covered in Eames Dot Pattern in sand last weekend. It was like Christmas morning when we unwrapped the the plastic off the table and put in the leaves.

For reference here is this room before:


We painted the chandelier and trim white and painted the walls Shagreen from Sherwin Williams. Last night we got the vintage collage on wood hung on the wall with no problem.

Now, the side of the dining room you can't see is now acting as our mini kitchen.

It's fun. We'll just pretend like we're camping.


The fridge is working nicely, though. I should note that Jeremy's favorite food is cereal. He could probably eat it for every meal for the rest of his life and be perfectly happy with it. For my birthday I requested powdered donuts and pizza in bed. For his he requested Cinnamon Life and Chocolate Soy Milk. Aww...

And now I will leave you with a scary part of our kitchen.

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