Tag: ikea

Everything but the kitchen sink

Rather, everything for the bathroom sink is the focus of today’s unique endeavours. My man went to The Home Depot and then IKEA to look at bathroom sinks. We only were going to spend the money to purchase a new cabinet and sink and all of we found something we genuinely liked and wanted. Otherwise, we were just going to get the right kind of glue and stick the current sink and vanity/cabinet back together. (No, we don’t particularly like them at all, nor are they practical in terms of size and storage for the actual bathroom, but they came with the house and are already here.)

However, after not a terrible amount of back-and-forth over messaging as he looked in person and I looked online, we ended up with quite the happy combination of items that make up a bathroom sink and vanity cabinet. I was keeping each tab open as we picked each piece. When we’d picked the final one, I sent the links to him in physical structure order from top to bottom, so we could both see a spaced-out display of all the items together, just like how they’ll be in real life (but with space between them, of course). I sent it all in one message, but each link delivered separately, I think, which kind of drive him nuts. So, he wasn’t a huge fan of it, but I thought it was really cool, and also helpful. So, there’s that. 😛 😀

So far, he has removed the sink basin last night) and has detached the cabinet/vanity from the wall (it was only caulked on at the top, really).

Next step is to detach the water connections and to remove the cabinet/vanity entirely from the bathroom (and house!). It’s in good enough condition, he intends to re-glue the sink to it and resell it to someone who’ll appreciate its shape and size and all.

After that, I clean the floors really well, and then he gets to work constructing the IKEA masterpiece. Hoping this can be done before Thursday night, so we aren’t still having to use the guest bathroom while we have a guest that night… we shall see what happens, though.

Wish us luck!

Post-a-day 2023

Another late night

But we got the pantry up and mostly together and attached to the wall! Woohoo! It only took a month for it to happen, but it has happened at last. Now, just to put a final few screws to make sure it really stays on the wall, and to set the shelves and the top door (my man had to go back to IKEA tonight to exchange it, because the guy had ordered the wrong size last month). Then I can transition the stuff in our current make-shift pantry into the real pantry, and then use that shelf for normal things again.

Whew.

Thank you, God. Help us to sleep well tonight, please, and help us to release whatever is in the way from pursuing your will. Help us to choose this life and to love and to love it. Help us to experience your love and to experience being worthy of receiving it. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Way too cold in the bathroom*

One of the greatest experiences of my life is still, on those cold nights in Japan, snuggling into my bed on the floor, the lamp on beside me, next to my book of the moment, and curling into my comforter and wool sheets (sheets, of course, brought from the US for my Ikea full-sized mattress) and fancy, cool-warm pillow (due to the memory foam and the intentionally not-wool pillowcase), after touching the tatami floor with my fingers and through my socks when rushing to the mattress, and shivering that initial full-body shiver as it begins its efforts newly to warm itself. Those moments of first relaxation, cuddled up like that in my bed, so lovingly and cozily held, those are some of my absolute favorite and most fulfilling moments of experience. It is as though, despite all the struggles and pains and aches of the day, as well as those yet to come, those warm and loving arms of my bed were there for me, ready and willing and able to hug and to hold me exactly as I needed, and whether I’d known it or not beforehand.

So, the cold and bitter winter bring back some of the best of memories.

*Which is why they sell the toilet seat stick-ons everywhere for wintertime use. And, of course, they are all different patterns on the fabrics, so they are included in the ridiculously cute nonsense known by all in Japan.

Post-a-day 2021

Slightly a mess

I don’t do well with “storing things”. Winter sweaters or not-so-often-used items that usually are stored away, perhaps in a closet or the back of a shelf, usually end up staying in the back of that closet or shelf for me. Even when I need them, want them, the hassle of pulling them out and finding a new, daily use spot for them is usually too great for me to make the effort. Plus, I tend to forget about them. I meander around my clothes, bummed and uncomprehending why I cannot seem to find clothes that I love for the current weather. I notice that I need the heavy sweater as I am on my way out. at that point in time, I am ready to leave, and do not mentally or physically want to spend the time to pull out the big sweaters. So, I find the easiest-to-reach one that will get me by in the day, and head out the door. If I remember later – and that’s a big “if” – when I am back home and not busy, I might rearrange to put the heavy sweater box into an easily accessed spot. But it usually takes me a couple months of needing them consistently to do that.

I know, I know: it is rather ridiculous. But I’m not doing it intentionally, necessarily. It kind of just happens that way, and I am noticing it right now as I contemplate why I never seem to wear all my cool sweaters in Fall and Winter (aside from the fact that our temperatures change constantly from cold to hot to cool, even on a single day, here in Houston).

But I also notice it with other things. If my guitar is in a case, I will pull it out rarely. If it is sitting out on a stand, I will grab it and play it regularly, and often. Basically, I guess I just use what is out, easily accessed. If it is put away or hard to reach, I tend not to use it unless using it is a necessity.

Keeping that in mind, I think a sort of room organization overhaul is coming soon…

Especially considering that I will be getting back an awesome chair and ottoman that I had lent to my cousin year ago, when I moved to Japan for a while. I would like to have a functional space that includes the chair and ottoman, anyway, so some rearranging needs to happen for that already. And the sewing machine and its table… forgot about that again… haha

Post-a-day 2020

My Elephant

I snuggle at night with a large plush elephant from IKEA.  He’s kind of a temporary substitute for my cat, his trunk usually resting across my neck throughout the night.  My cat, who usually sleeps across my neck (when he is with me, of course), is kind of a temporary substitute for a person, I think.

But I still can’t imagine, no matter how creative I get with ideas, how a person could be as comfy or as cozy as my big stuffed animal or my soft, fluffy cat.  Or be as adaptable as they are.  I feel like I would just tell whoever it is to get off me and to give me space.  Yet these animals are currently acting as sorts of placeholders for said whoever… quite a thought, me thinks. 
Post-a-day 2017