gray and green

Ryan and his partner, Jereme, are in the process of getting a new company off the ground. Trailhead Labs, a business that helps people connect with nature, is currently housed in a very white, very boring, and very empty office. It was my mission to bring some interest, and more importantly color, to their new headquarters.

Our first step was painting an accent wall. We chose the color Dover Gray. 

With accent wall checked off the list, it was time to head to Ikea. The trick is to get there right when it opens on Saturday morning. That said, our goal was one hour, and we were really there for three. It always seems to take longer than I think.

Nothing easy or graceful about setting up Ikea furniture

Ryan wanted nods to nature, so we decided to bring some green into the office as a pop of color. It's not finished, but it's definitely an improvement. 

Looking forward to more hints of green, adding more natural elements, and hanging art highlighting human use of natural spaces. Excited to get Trailhead Labs off the ground in style.

my new green thumb

This weekend I headed to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show down in San Mateo. I really didn't know what to expect, but what I found were lots of hurried suburbanites planning out their dream gardens. Since I have no outdoor space, I decided to bring a little green into our home.

Normally I have a black thumb when it comes to house plants. I can see them wilting as they cross the threshold of our home.  But, I figured I should be able to manage a few succulents, the easiest of all plants. 

I picked up five new plants, then swung by Cliff's and grabbed a cute wooden bowl as their new home. Here's hoping I can keep these little guys alive.

Succulents: $16.75

Dark Wooden Bowl: $10.00

Light Wooden Bowl: Handmade by my dad

Mason Jar: Free
Rocks: Left over from my fish owning days

Total: $26.75

dining room

After finishing up making improvements in the kitchen, I moved on to my next project: the dining room.

Despite my previous best efforts, the dining room still looked unfinished.  After much perseverating, I decided that what was missing was a bit of height on the wall opposite our built-in.  Although I love our cedar chest, it just wasn't the right piece of furniture to fill the space.  I started scouring Craigslist.  I ultimately decided on the Expedit bookcase from IKEA in black brown, my IKEA color.  This might be the best piece that IKEA makes.  It has infinite customizable options, and oh, so many uses.  Luckily, these are a dime a dozen on Craigslist.  

I ended up purchasing one for $90, and it came with two baskets.  A 4X4 Expedit sells for $140 new, so this was a savings of over $50, with the baskets.  I immediately posted my pick-up/delivery job to TaskRabbit, and as usual, easily found someone to complete the task.  Part of what works so well with TaskRabbit is the accountability.  Because both people posting tasks and people completing tasks are reviewed, there is follow through.  I wish the same were true for Craigslist.  The seller of the cabinet ended up forgetting to send along the baskets with my TaskRabbit.  Thus, I did not get what I paid for.  Sigh.  

As soon as my TaskRabbit had left, I started moving in.  I quickly realized to really get the effect I was going for, I needed the missing baskets.  I ended up borrowing a car and making a trip to IKEA.  Even though this was exactly what I was trying to avoid.  As it turned out, I ended up with some baskets that I'm digging way more than the ones I would have ended up with had my Craigslist purchase gone exactly as planned.  

And now, I have the dining room that I was imagining.

Kottebo Baskets

Kasset storage boxes

My goal is to keep the dining room as tidy and useful as it is in these photos, but Ryan and I own, and this is not an exaggeration, five bicycles.  I should also add that I only own one of those bikes.  Three of them hang in our laundry room, but the other two are our day-to-day commuter bikes.  Since we use them so frequently, they need to be accessible.  This means they live in the dining room.  

Lately, I have been likening the bikes to the war on graffiti in New York City.  Having graffiti around is just asking for more, and sometimes even less, desirable offenses.  Our bikes are the same way.  Having two bikes permanently parked in the dining room opens the door to other, and definitely more, heinous offenses.  Mostly, leaving mail on the dining room table, and stacking cast offs for Goodwill in the corner.  It can get out of control.  My next project will be attractive bike storage.  Preferably one where the bikes can be stacked in a corner.

Next project

Expedit Shelving unit:  $90

Baskets:  4 for $68

Mirror:  Free

Decorative empty frames (left over from our wedding):  $6

Burlap table runner (left over from our wedding, the remainder being sold on Craigslist for $50):  Free

TaskRabbit:  $30

Total:  $188.00  

blue to gray

Our apartment.  Lech Naumovich Photography

I love to change things up, move, redecorate.  I just get antsy.  We've lived in our apartment for two years, which is the longest I've ever lived anywhere, aside from my parents' home.  With rent prices through the roof in San Francisco, moving is not an option.  Nor am I even interested in leaving our current apartment.  That leaves just minor cosmetic changes as an option.  One of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a big difference in home decor, is changing the paint color.  

With Ryan out of town on a bike touring trip, I was able to get down to business.  I already had change in motion after painting our new kitchen table yellow.  Next up was improving my counter space situation.  After weeks of full time Craigslist browsing, I finally found the kitchen cart that would essentially triple my work space.  The only catch, as usual, was I would have to pick it up.  I was also faced with the problem of having to move a large piece of furniture solo style.  

No worries, TaskRabbit to the rescue!  This was my first experience with this company, and I am a believer.  The gist: hire someone else to do your boring chores.  Everyone is reviewed by other users, so it feels safe.  I posted my task, and minutes later I had a bite.  Aldous, a TaskRabbit veteran, picked-up, delivered, and assembled my new kitchen cart.  All I had to do was chill out at home.  

That complete, I was on to the next chore.  Paint our blue kitchen gray.  I already had a painting tray, roller, and brush from previous painting adventures.  All I needed was some painter's tape and a gallon of gray paint.  I went with Gray Stone in a high gloss for easy cleaning.

We, luckily, have a toolshed in our back yard that includes a ladder.  If we didn't have access to this, I would have again turned to TaskRabbit to borrow a ladder, as the tool sharing program in the city closed to the public in 2008.

After taping around the ceiling and molding, I was ready to get painting.  My plan was to take two days to complete the job, but I was in the Friday evening, post work, zone.  I ended up finishing the whole job by midnight.  

Obligatory before and after shots:

Stella photo bomb

I think Ryan is worried to leave me alone again.  Who knows what will change the next time he's gone.

Painter's tape: $15.98

Gray paint: $32.00

TaskRabbit: $30

Kitchen cart: $125

Total:  $202.98

going yellow

For the longest time my kitchen, and all my kitchen gadgetry, have been light blue with red accents.  I love the 1950s feel of this color combination, but I'm ready for a change.  

I've decided to go yellow and gray.  I know that this is a pretty trendy choice at the moment, but I just can't get enough of yellow.  Plus, gray is such a nice tribute to my favorite element of San Francisco: the fog.

The first step was trading in my black/brown Ikea kitchen table for a white and yellow vintage number. Ryan has been itching to get a new desk.  Converting his old desk to our new kitchen table was the perfect solution.  

New desk

Old desk

After scouring Craigslist, I finally found a desk that fit my requirements: white, small, and more storage.  Then, as an added bonus, the seller was willing to deliver.  

Post desk delivery, I was off to Cliff's for supplies.  I needed a paint brush, and yellow and white paint.  Then it was back home to get started.  

My current background noise, I'm embarrassed to say, is Dawson's Creek.  I never watched it in its original airing, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Plus, I'm running out of shows available for instant streaming.  It's not great, but it fills the silence.  

After I threw down the drop cloth and watched Dawson and Joey's first kiss, it was time to get started.  This project was pretty straight forward: paint over the peeling sage green paint.

With my sunny new kitchen table, my black/brown Ikea chairs looked out of place.  So, it was time to paint those as well.  In order to get a good coat on the chairs, they needed to be sanded.  Just for good measure, I added a small yellow detail.

Then, just because I couldn't stop, I painted my clock yellow too.  

Kind of loving all this yellow.  Next step: paint the walls gray.

Desk: $60.00

Paintbrush: $3.99

Yellow paint: $12.49

White paint: $12.49

Total: $88.97