We just came home from Ikea and I’m so stoked about our kitchen. This morning I was reeling in shock from the quote our plumber gave us to repair of pipes. Thirty-eight- hundred-dollars. I can’t even look at the number cause it gives me the sads. I knew it would be a high number since the job includes having the dig out dirt under our house so they can access the pipes. We are also asking him to install our dishwasher, faucet, put our existing garbage disposal in our new sink and install a new showerhead in the loo. His quote was a direct punch to the gut, le sigh, there goes my upper cabinets.

But you know what? I’m gonna make it WERK! We will sand the shit out of the existing cabinets and paint them crisp, bright white. Actually it’s great that we won’t be taking out the old cabinets since our walls are crooked and old, as much as I dislike them, they are up there to stay. It would cost more than my budget allows to demo them and repair the walls to make them straight. Who wants to be straight anyways *holds hand up for a high five!* We are still doing the subway tile backsplash ourselves and I’m even considering taking off the doors like this guy.

Love all the white happening here

We can put our pretty stuff on display and it’s a good reason to keep our cabinets neat and clutter-free. Right now if I showed you the inside of our cabinets you would think we were Hoarders. Gross.

We played around with the 3-d kitchen planner and only getting lower cabinets is much more cost effective than I thought. I get my lovely dishwasher and these wonderful open shelves for my cookbooks and some tchotchkes. Win-win!

Is it a sign it’s called Perfekt?

I am still seeking an electrician and hardwood floor dude *or lady* but I need to get on it, the chick at Ikea said floors usually happen first during a remodel, so we need to get started on demo *so excited to use a sledgehammer* and moving everything out of the kitchen so we can refinish the floors. It takes about two weeks to get the cabinets and our plumber needs 3 days to do his thing. We will be kitchen-less for close to three weeks. Walls are last so I have a plenty of time to figure out my paint choices. My head swims with millions of paint swatches and fabric choices for the new curtains. We plan to add some wheels to this island so we can move it around the space.

I’m super excited!! We are moving Antz desk out of Liv’s room since he doesn’t use it anymore and it’s taking up space for her kitchen. This will free up space in the living room for a new dining table and chairs.

I am loving the Liatorp table and hopefully I’ll find some cute flea market chairs

Wow! We could actually sit down to a meal like a real family and junk. Why am I so excited to get all Donna Reed with this shit?

I watched a ton of Nick at Nite as a kid

Oh man, how fabulous are those twin beds? What I would give to have a bed all to myself. Right now my sleeping confines resemble this

Who else is doing the nighttime bebe shuffle? #5 is our specialty, no blanket, no pillows, numb shoulders all night!!

After Ikea we mosied on down to the new Highland Park Parklet on York Blvd.

Okay, this $30,000 parklet has become controversial. It definitely has it’s flaws, the location sucks. It’s right in front of a boring hardware store and an alley way referred to by my friend Connie as “Pee pee alley“. The drunks leaving the bars seem to use it a pop up restroom. I held my breath so I didn’t catch a whiff. This would be perfekt *that’s just how I’m spelling it from now on* closer to the end of the block near the coffee shop, cafe and the book store. I see why they put it there though, no one has invented hipster repellant yet so if it were in the area no one would ever leave. It would become a Hipster run utopia where you can only drink Pabst and ride around on a bicycle like you have an invisible bubble that magically deflects cars from hitting you. Oooh, burn baby!

I think it’s adorable. The mosaic tile is colorful and fun. There are pieces of found objects hidden and the wire does a great job of keeping my 2 year old from running into the traffic. I welcome anything to improve our city and make it less auto repair/pinata store-ish. We can all agree the price tag is a joke. California is “rumored” to be bankrupt and since I’ve been waiting for a park to be built on the corner for five years, I would have preferred the park. Eh, what can you do? It’s Parks & Recreation bureaucracy at it’s best.