step to the edge

to be honest, i think this is the first ever post that i don't know the exact date of. i know it was sometime in september...or maybe august...who knows!

anyways, one day while i was out and about, dad came over and put the trim up on my step under the bar (which acts as a divider between my two levels). thank goodness! mom had been wanting him to do that for months. maybe even a year or more.

but now it's up. we didn't have many color options, so we decided on the metal finish -- which actually matches the stainless steel legs on my bar. and now the unfinished wood flooring is finally covered and protected from getting chipped.

it's raining pots & pans

it was a long time coming, but we finally installed my hanging pots & pans rack...making my kitchen one step closer to completion!

as you know, i bought the rack from ikea at least a year ago (probably closer to two), and once the hanging cabinets were put it, it was time for the hanging rack. i also bought a pendant light -- that matches the lights above my bar -- to hang through the rack. dad hasn't figured out how to hook up the electrical part yet, so that will have to wait.

breakfast bar

because there's no formal dining room table, i decided i wanted another seating area to eat at besides the bar. so i invented "the nub." it's basically a breakfast nook, an extra countertop in the kitchen for help with cooking, a place to set my laptop while i look up recipes, or a place to read the newspaper (star tribune of course!) while i eat breakfast.

although it wasn't our original plan, dad and i took a stroll through ikea to spark ideas for the nub. what we could make it out of, what color it should be, etc.

we were originally hoping to find a similar counter-top as my main bar, a rectangular, dark wood counter-top that dad would then round off one side. but as luck would have it, we came across this half rounded, half straight-edged white counter-top. it was exactly the length we needed, and only off in width by 3 inches!

of course dad still had to create the bottom cupboard and paint it white to match. but soon enough, he installed it!

luckily when i bought my adjustable-height bar chairs, i bought six. i had the other two stored at my parent's. dad brought them over, and voila, perfect height for the nub! i absolutely love how it turned out, and i love the extra counter and seating space in my condo.

next up is the upper cabinets to frame in the fridge and the hanging pot rack (also from ikea) to hang over the end of the nub...and maybe a pendant light to hang above the rounded end of the nub.

clink clink clink

i ordered two under-cabinet hanging wine glass racks from amazon and happily they arrived in one piece. each rack holds 12 glasses. i installed it right above my sink. perfect :)

walk with me, talk with me

here's a little walkthrough of my condo so far...

let there be light

the other day i picked out some pendant lights from ikea. but apparently they only sell plug-in pendant lighting (see above). what?!

but it didn't matter, because my amazing boyfriend turned to me and said he would hook it all up. so i bought two simple looking pendants and then went over to the home depot for two canopy kits.

finally chad had time to come over and do a little free labor :)

and after about an hour or so of work...VOILA! my bar lights are up and shining bright!