My poor wife has been wanting to nest for the past couple of months, but it has been virtually impossible. Now that the nursery is basically done, she can finally start nesting. She has been washing, folding, and organizing all the baby clothes, and getting everything ready for the new kid-o. We didn't realize just how much clothes we had until we started organizing it. People have been so generous with their gifts, and loaning that we have plenty of goodies to keep the little bean covered. There will be lots more update about our nursery coming up. Stay tuned!

I have always loved the look of the commercial style kitchen faucets. Up until now there weren't a whole lot of affordable choices. We were pretty set on getting the Ikea HJUVIK for $249 even though we weren't absolutely in love with the look of it. That was before I came across this Pegasus Faucet at Home Depot. The K300 Series faucet is the same price, and looks a lot better. I installed ours last week, and so far we are absolutely in love with it.

Available at Home Depot for $247.

Graphic Design and print seem to be one of the big trends for the year. I have to admit, that even though this Linen Partridge Pillow from Urban Outfitters is a little quirky, but I really like it. This 18" x 18" pillow has a solid red back and a geometric print front with an overlay of a partridge and branches. Perhaps one of the best thing about the pillow is that at $26 it is not outrageously priced. It seems rare to find a good modern pillow these days for less than $50. Urban Outfitters has always done a great job of balancing price and style. Available from Urban Outfitters for $26.

Three weeks ago we started ripping our kitchen apart in preparation for putting in our sliding glass door. Two weeks ago we had a huge hole cut in the wall, and our last door installed. Last week we received a big shipment from Ikea, and this weekend I finally had time to put some of it in the kitchen. We didn't want to order too much from Ikea, since they will be opening soon here in Utah, but we also were going crazy with our kitchen half ripped apart. I had thought about building some cabinets, but in lieu of time we just ordered them from Ikea. We ended up getting the SORBO doors, and I really like the look of them.

After putting them together, I decided Ikea has the affordable modern kitchen cabinet market pegged. The quality is good, the price is great, and so is the look. We also installed some TUNDRA laminate flooring. The counter top is a NUMERAR birch butcher block. We cut a whole in it and put in a stainless steel undermount sink to go with it. It ended up turning our really nice.

Speaking of houses, I love this house from Sparkability. OK, so its basically just a big white cardboard box, and you could probably make something just as cool for a whole lot less money ($45- ouch). What I do love about it is that someone realized that sometimes the box is more fun than the toy, so they are just selling the box. House is extra sturdy, and made of recycled carboard. House is white, so it's up to you to decorate it the way you like. I would love to see pics of some homemade modern cardboard houses. If anyone has any, or is up to the challenge of getting a refrigerator box and making one, send them my way. I'll post them here for everyone to see!

Available from Sparkability for $45. (or make your own for free :) )

Everyone remembers dixie cups, those cheap thin plastic cups that we would whip out for picnics and parties. My grandpa used to have a little dixie cup dispenser in his bathroom for getting a drink. These Beaker Juice Glasses from CB2 have all the retro style of dixie cups, but they are made of heat-tempered, chem lab beaker glass, so they will hold up to the continuous use and abuse that would make a plastic dixie cup shudder in fear. Available from CB2 for $1.95

I have been slowly chipping away at the electrical for the past several weeks. It has been slow progress and has included many phone calls to my friend Ryan who is way more savy about electricity than I am. Last week we had the guys from Dibble Electric stop by to work on our main service change. As a home owner, that is one of the few things I can't do myself. This weekend I finished up most of the loose ends to be ready for our rough electrical inspection. Just for fun I threw a bulb in on of our can lights and hardwired it to the breaker so we could have some light. It was fun to see a more concrete reinforcement of all the wire pulling I have been doing. Our rough inspection will be tomorrow, and hopefully we will get the go ahead so we can start insulating this week.Click on continue reading for another pic.

We are getting ready to buy a stroller, and I think we have finally decided which one to get. I never knew it could be so hard to pick something that sounds so simple. One thing that I really wanted in a stroller was to be able to have it front or rear facing. Most strollers with that option cost a pretty penny unfortunately. We decided on the Britax Vigour. It does both front and rear facing, it has good sized wheels, and it is fairly easy to fold up. Plus I kind of like the lurpy look of it. Does anyone have the Britax Vigour? Do you like it?

Available from Target for $349.

There is nothing better than a pillow to add a simple accent color to a sofa or chair. If you are a lover of red like my wife, you will love this simple throw pillow from Chiasso. The Blossom Pillow is white felted wool with a cherry red felted accent. The best part about it is the price. It is currently on sale for $24 which is a great deal for any pillow, and even better of a deal when you consider it is felted wool. Available from Chiasso for $24.

While we don't really have any need for pendant lighting, If we did I would seriously consider the Cog Light designed by Blue Marmalade. Made entirely of polypropylene helps keep costs down on the Cog, but it doesn't effect the quality of the light at all. It is small and sleek at 11" H x 23" W, but it can take up to a 100w bulb, so it's sure to light up a space as much as you need. Best of all is the price, at only $35.Available from Design My World for $35

In an effort to speed things up a little bit, I had Benchmark Renovation come back last week to do a little more framing, and to install the last sliding door in the kitchen. It's amazing what a difference the sliding glass door makes in the kitchen. It opens the whole room up, and really makes the old part of the house feel connected with the addition. We also had them move the door into the kitchen over 18" to better accommodate the new cabinetry. That pretty much finishes up any framing. Hopefully this week we will have the rough electrical done so that we can get it insulated next week. The little lady isn't getting any less pregnant.

As the summer months approach it's time to pack up some of our favorite treats, and go on a picnic. Here are a couple of things to get you started off on the right foot.

When it comes to efficiently carrying food in style, no one has it down quite like the Japanese. I remember the first time I saw someone at work whip out a bento box. My tupperware has never felt so inadequate. There are about a million styles to choose from, and all very affordable. This two tiered yellow flower bento will run you $10 from the Bento Obento Shop.

If you are more of a sandwich, chips, and juice box kinda guy, don't worry, you can still picnic in style. The Mylarkey Lunch bag has got you covered. It's big enough to fit your standard sandwich or leftovers, and it's insulated so you don't have to worry about your cold food getting hot. It's vinyl and soft plastic free, so you don't have to worry about any nasty offgassing while you enjoy nature. It's available from Cascadelemonade's Etsy shop for $15.

If you are going a little more upscale than a tuna fish sandwich on white bread, make sure you check out the Oenophilia Picnic Stake Set. It make it easy to balance a bottle of your drink of choice and some nice glasses with out needing a table. Made of steel with a zinc finish, these should hold up to many romantic outdoor adventures. Available from Target for $19. Of course no picnic is complete without a blanket to lay on. Any old one will do, but if you are looking for something full featured to dedicate to picnics, Target has got your back. The Tiny Traveler Picnic Blanket is made of a soft fabric with a protective waterproof layer to keep the dew away. It also fold into it's own little carrying case complete with handle to make your life a little easier. Available from Target for $19.

OK, I think I found a winner for some outdoor LED lighting. It's called the NSL LED MiniDisc Light and is available from Brandlighting. They are small, simple, and best of all affordable. They even come in an aluminum finish so they will match all of our windows. Pricing is $40 per light, and $100 for the driver. One driver can power up to 100 lights.

MIDNATT from Ikea shown to the right. It's not anything to special, but it's only $25. When you need to buy 6 of something, the price difference between $25 and $100 is a big deal. These will mount near the tops of all the birch cabinetry, and will basically run the whole length of the hall. Does anyone else have any good suggestions?

LED Available from Brandlighting from $40 - $100. Sconce Available from Ikea for $25.

LG has always been one of my favorite appliance companies. They are able to think outside the box, and incorporate good clean design. Lately my wife and I have been thinking about getting a toaster. We have a toaster oven, which we like, but it is such a pain to drag it out just to make some toast. We would leave it out on the counter, but in a small kitchen, counter space is precious. Someone must have been thinking about the same problem when they designed this microwave/toaster combo at LG. They also have a model that combines a coffee pot and a microwave in the same way.

Available from AJ Madison for $150

Up until this point, the kitchen has been the only room that we have not started tearing down walls in. Thats about to change. Our original design for our house showed a sliding door from the kitchen to the courtyard as well as one from the master bedroom to the courtyard. Knowing that putting a 8' wide door in our kitchen right where our sink was would cost some money, we initially decided to wait until later to tackle that project. Luckily, on a last minute whim, I decided to order the kitchen slider when I ordered the rest of the windows. This essentially forces us to do a complete kitchen remodel. Saturday I ripped out the sink and about 8' of cabinetry that was where the slider would be. I even managed to get our sink and dishwasher plumbed in its new location. The wall you see in the picture above will basically become one huge window, and all our cabinetry will flip to the opposite walls. Now all we have to do is put in new flooring, all new cabinets and appliances, move light switches and outlets, patch drywall and paint. Sounds easy enough. The old cabinetry plumbed temporarily until we can get new flooring, cabinetry etc.

I am looking for some good outdoor wall mounted LED lighting, something similar to what is shown in this picture. They will be placed every 8 feet or so along the outside of the house to light the courtyard. The one shown here is from a UK store, and I would really prefer something stateside. I know that there must be some good ones out there. Do you guys have any good ideas? As usual, affordable would be nice!

It's been a while since I have posted anything about Curbly, but rest assured the community is still thriving over there. Good ideas keep rolling in like this Ikea hack from lilybee. After drooling over Iannone Sanderson's Signature 2.0 Console and realizing that she would have to rob a bank to be able to afford it, she decided to get a little creative. Starting with an Ikea Lack table and adding some artistic wood effect contact paper, she was able to get the same effect for a lot less.

See the whole post at Curbly

Here is another great simple table from La-Z-Boy. The fact that it is made of veneered MDF helps to keep the price down, but doesn't sacrifice the looks at all. It is simple looking, with it's straight lines and triangular legs. To help out with storage, it also has a hidden drawer. It measures 16 in. H x 17 in. W x 17 in. D and is available from Overstock.com for $90, which is 40% less than the normal list price. Shipping is only $2.95 which is a great value when you are buying furniture online. Available from Overstock.com for $90

I recently stumbled upon the Lotta Jansdotter website, and instantly fell in love with just about everything on their website. Her contemporary organic designs speak of her childhood in Finland and Sweden. Luckily for us, she is based out of San Francisco, which means all her great design is readily available to us. I am particularly fond of the cafe apron shown to the left, especially for only $19. Make sure you check out her ceramics and kids toys as well, they are equally delightful. Available from Lotta Jansdotter for $19.

OK, so I admit I am a complete sucker for pretty things. My wife and I have been looking for a cute diaper bag that I would feel comfortable toting around for a long time now. We have found a couple online that are quite nice, but I could never justify paying $150 for a bag. Yesterday we went to a local chic baby store called Babinski's and they had a bunch of Petunia Pickle Bottom bags. There was one in particular, the "Medow Lark" with its hand-woven tweed-blue/green herringbone design that I absolutely loved, and I made the mistake of looking at all the features and falling in love with it before I looked at the price. By then it was too late, and we walked out having spent $150 on a diaper bag. In hindsight, I have to admit, I don't regret a thing. The bag is totally sweet. Available from babypetunia for $158. Or for the locals, at Babinski's for $155.