With our new Ikea couch in our living room we had only one more wall where we wanted some good seating. Our challenge was it had a low window right in the middle of the wall so a sofa was pretty much out of the question. We ended up going with this nice white Greene Daybed from Exclusively Home. It has a great classic look to it with the tufted leatherette and the Chrome legs. The price was quite reasonable at only $825. Shipping was free and it includes a 5 year furniture protection plan, whatever that is.

Available from Exclusively Home for $825.

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When we built our addition, we knew that the secret to making a small house feel big is lots of storage. Thats why we planned over 40 linear feet of floor to ceiling storage. Unfortunately when we decided to finish our kitchen with this project we used up all our budget and were left with no storage. Over the weekend we splurged and bought about 12 feet of Ikea wardrobe for outside of our bedroom. We went with the Pax Nexus Birch wardrobes. All the cabinets are 23″ deep and 93″ tall. With all the cabinets and some interior parts we spent about $1,300. It was a big splurge, but it makes such a huge difference to have so much good storage. I can only imagine how great it will be when we get the other 30′ installed!
Pax Nexus Wardrobes from Ikea.
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It’s 2008 and new years resolutions abound. Ours is to finally get some decent storage built into our 1,300 square foot house, and we’re well on our way. We spent the weekend assembling this Ikea GORM shelving and filling it up with tools and other random stuff that had been hanging out in our hallway upstairs. We managed to fit an amazing amount of stuff in our small 6′ x 10′ mechanical room. We installed about 8 linear feet of shelving for just over $120. Best of all, we were able to get our hallway cleaned out so that we could start installing the cabinetry that we had planned for it….
8 Linear feet of GORM shelving from Ikea for $120.

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We have been doing a lot of shopping at Ikea lately thanks to our 20% cash back sofa credit. We bought two KNAPPA pendant lights for our front room, and last night I put one together and hung it. It comes with a plug end, but I cut the cord and hard wired it into the ceiling. I have to say that at $25 the KNAPPA looks 10 times more expensive than it really is. It totally transformed the look of the room, although admittedly the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling wasn’t doing much for the ambiance. Not only does it look great, but it was fun to put together too. I think it actually gives you a little bit more appreciation for the light having put it together yourself.

Available from Ikea for $25.

Over the past couple weeks we have been slowly collecting all the pieces to do the next major section of cabinetry in our kitchen, and it’s finally done. The new part is the section with the MUSMIG oven and Bosch cooktop. Like the rest of the kitchen we used the NUMERAR countertop and SORBO cabinets. After getting it all put in we quickly found out that we would want a backsplash, so we got two IMPERATIV stainless steel wall panels from Ikea for $18 each. They were very easy install, and I think they look great. We are thinking about doing a chalk board section just to the right to finish of the length of the counter.
As far as the quality of Ikea kitchen cabinets go, I have been really impressed. The actual boxes themselves aren’t anything special, but all the hardware is pretty high end Blum self closing. The quality of the drawer fronts is quite good as well, and it is all very easy to install. I’d definitely do it again in another house.

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I mentioned a couple of days ago that we were getting ready to finish our kitchen. For our stovetop we ordered the Bosch, and originally we were going to get a Bosch oven too. That is, until we saw the price tag. The Bosch oven we wanted was close to $1400, which was way out of our budget. So we did what any reasonable person would do, we went to Ikea. The Ikea MUSMIG oven is a steal at only $700. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the Bosch, but it is a good solid oven, and it looks pretty good. I also figured it should fit perfect in an Ikea cabinet, since it is made for Ikea. We went ahead and ordered it and all the cabinetry we needed for less than the $1400 price tag of the Bosch oven.
Available from Ikea for $700.

Even though we have done a lot of work in our kitchen, it’s still not complete yet. We managed to relocate the sink and rip out most of the old cabinetry and put in new Ikea cabinetry on the opposite wall. We have been waiting to finish the last leg of cabinetry and ditch our old electric stove for a gas cooktop and built in oven. In looking for a good affordable yet stylish gas stovetop we were delighted to find the Bosch line at Lowes. Not only does Bosch make some of the more stylish stovetops out there, but the prices were way lower than any others.
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By now, you should all know that I am somewhat of a Craigslist junkie. I have to admit it is mostly out of necessity, as that is the only way we can afford to landscape and furnish our house affordably. I was lucky enough to come across this Japanese Maple a while ago for only $60. That’s a great deal, and we had been wanting a japanese maple for a while now so I couldn’t resist. The only catch was, I had to go and dig it up. Luckily for me, it had only been planted the year before, and most of the roots hadn’t strayed far from the original root ball. We have had it in the ground for about a month now, and I am happy to say it likes it’s new home. So do we.

When we ordered our siding we had to order a whole pallet because we were having it painted at the factory. We knew it was going to be more than we needed, and figured we could find something useful for the excess. This weekend we put it to good use. We put up around 24′ of fencing on our side yard using the same detail as we did on our siding. It looks really nice compared to what used to be there, and best of all, it only cost us around $200 in cedar and concrete to do. Once we get the back done, I think it will really change our yard. I’m just trying to figure out the best gate to use so we can still park in our back yard if we need to. Any suggestions?

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When it comes to affordable modern furniture, there is no better price than free. I’ve been lucky enough to come across some good free stuff lately. These Danish modern chairs I found sitting next to a dumpster and quickly snatched up. It’s funny because just a couple of weeks before I saw almost the exact same chair on apartment therapy listed for $200.
The LAKT tables were another craigslist freebie. Some of you might remember that we got half of our back yard sod free from craigslist a month or so ago. We love craigslist and frequently watch the free section. Unfortunately “free” is the only kind of furniture we can afford right now.

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