Furniture Happenings

Thanks to a request from one of our fans, it's time for a J + A update!

We recently compiled a list of house update needs/wants that we've been working towards. After deciding on a 2016 upgrade budget, we've started checking things off the list.

Need/want #1: More kitchen storage, specifically for pantry items.

Last year, we made a big kitchen change by moving our kitchen table to the dining area adjacent to the living room and adding a big kitchen island with open storage on one side and a bar on the other side. This has been a huge improvement!

This year, we came to the realization that we need to optimize the storage space we have on the open wall in the kitchen. To this point, we've had a sideboard with open storage and a small cabinet we've used as a makeshift pantry.

We looked into adding built-ins along the length of the wall, but we thought it would be best to have the built-ins match the rest of the kitchen, which just isn't easily accomplished with our painted cabinets from 1970s. So keeping freestanding furniture seems to be the best option.

We would have been heartbroken to part with the sideboard we purchased a few years ago which is solid birch and strong enough to drive a truck over. Sooooo... this is when having a woodworking husband is especially awesome... J has been converting the sideboard into enclosed pantry space.

The sideboard before.
$199 at Ikea - one of the best deals we've seen there
(other than the hot dog combo, of course).

The sideboard in progress.
Doors, sides, back, and solid bottom added.
Full post on this transformation to come.

The next upgrade will be a larger pantry cabinet. More details to come once we figure them out.

Need/want #2: A real desk for our home office, along with much needed filing space.

When I say much needed filing space, I'm not kidding. I hate paper files and I currently have them all over the place... fire proof safe, milk crate in the closet, upright magazine holders with folders, office inbox, desktop standing file, random stacks, and the list goes on... There's even a wall filing rack in the garage with house-related and car-related paperwork. Seriously. This must end.

The solution!

DUDE. So much file space!
I'm in love! I must have this!

This afternoon, we ordered the mission 2 drawer lateral file along with a mission desk to replace the kitchen table we've used as a desk for the past nearly 7 years of marriage. J considered building a desk, but we got a fantastic deal on this desk which will perfectly match the filing cabinet.

A real desk!

We're super excited about this furniture. It's made by the Amish in Pennsylvania. Real Amish people. The kind that get their orders from a guy nearby who receives orders by fax and drives them over. We got to choose what type of wood we wanted (maple), the stain (harvest), and the hardware (black mission window pulls).

There's about a 6-8 week lead time on custom furniture, so in the meantime we wait and drool over the photos in the catalog (which was printed by a non-Amish printing company).

Need/want #3 which we didn't even realize: Room remix!

We came up with the great idea to move things around in the guest room/man cave/home gym and it's great!

We moved the sofa and end tables to the longest wall in the room which utilizes the floor and wall space more effectively. My internal industrial engineer is very pleased by this.

Best of all, Allie can snoop out of both windows now (she is so nosy!). She has a footstool under the front window or she can look out the side window from the couch. Much better than the arrangement where she had to become a double amputee to see out the window.

"Seriously?"
-Allie

I wonder how much money I could have raised for doggie prosthetics on GoFundMe by posting this photo?