IKEA Makeover

I’ve been on an organizing kick lately. I mentioned in my closet organizing post that I was at Ikea and picked up some more pieces for our apartment.ikea shopping

Since I bought this as a “Surprise! I organized our apartment” while The Boyf was gone, I didn’t have any help bringing these up from the parking garage to our place.

Mind you, I started putting together the chair and decided to wait for The Boyf to come back home before I broke anything or put it on backwards and taking it apart is probably worse than putting it together from scratch from the beginning. Everything from IKEA is hard to put together. I can’t believe even the cardboard storage boxes required mini screws and bolts.

I showed you my desk makeover. Details of my IKEA purchases will be below.

ikea-deskThis desk is much nicer than my old one. Plus it’s a little longer by a few inches which means that it doesn’t feel as busy if there’s a few more things sitting on top.

I haven’t really started organizing the drawers. But here’s a peek inside starting from the top:
set-of-drawers

ikeabookshelfThat bookcase? I laughed about the situation I was in while bringing it upstairs. I was literally slow dancing with this 6 foot tall box. It was … no joke, about 150lbs and I couldn’t lift it up, nor push it on its side. Getting it up into the apartment was a feat in itself. Afterwards I was sweating, a lot. But I managed to do it!

lower-ikea-shelvesLower part of the bookcase, we installed a set of drawers and a cupboard. All sold individually at IKEA.

top-ikea-drawerI knew I wanted storage space for all of my makeup and junk.

lower-ikea-drawerI used sturdy Glossyboxes to store things like facial cleansers, and razors.

inside-ikea-cabinetIn this bottom cabinet I have a tidy box and inside it stores extra foundations, shower gels and other beauty products. Plus my sneakers that I wear to CrossFit.

Ikea desk:

Ghost chair:

Ikea bookcase:

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Out with the old

Out with the old and in with the new! I showed you my ‘old’ desk and I’m surprised at how many people were saying that they liked that desk and I shouldn’t get rid of it. I bought it in 2006 from good ol’ Canadian Tire when I moved to Ontario that summer. I didn’t intend to keep for long term usage. Plus, I photoshopped the hey out of that photo to make it look brighter and crisp. Because it truly is an ugly desk. What I have now is a much better upgrade.

Just to remind you, here are a few photos of the old desk.desk-clutter

Ouch. What an eye sore. clean-desk

Looks much better, de-cluttered and photoshopped doesn’t it? ;) desk breakfast-on-my-desk

So I upgraded to a new sleek, white IKEA desk. I’ve had this desk set up for a few weeks and I’ve managed to keep it clutter-free, so hopefully it stays that way. I have a ton of drawers so that should keep it nice and tidy. I have more IKEA items that I purchased so I’ll be doing a separate blog post and what the names of the items are.

Just so you don’t have to keep scrolling, a before and after:

old-desk-vs-new-desk

Good golly miss molly, what an upgrade.ikea-desk

Notice how the top two drawers are the smallest and the last 3 are a bit deeper? I just noticed that as I was photographing.

You can’t just buy this desk in one box and put it together like you can other IKEA furniture. You get to actually pick out and choose which parts you want for your desk in this one section of IKEA. It was great. I had planned on getting a smaller table top but I really wanted high gloss. Since the smallest size didn’t come in that finish I got then next size up. You could also choose from a variety of table legs. But the best part was using the set of drawers for the other half of my table. You could choose from shelves, a book case, cabinets, or drawers, or regular ol’ legs. Man, IKEA is great. I think the entire table cost me no more than $130.

ikea-desk2I’ve accessorized the desk quite simply. I plan to keep it that way because clutter makes me annoyed to be quite honest.

white-keyboard-and-mouseThe wireless white keyboard/mouse combo was just $22 on eBay. desk-accessoriesInside the pineapple jar I store my pens! I picked it up from Bowring last Fall. The soap dish is from Anthropologie just a few weeks ago.

inside-pineapple

I purchased everything when the Boyf was away on a triathlon trip in the States, but I didn’t assemble any of it. In fact, when the Boyf arrived back home, it was then my turn to go on vacation and I flew to Newfoundland for 10 days. When I came back, he had put together the desk and surprised me with a new (massive) monitor. It was so sweet of him! The one I was using prior, was 17″ and a hand-me-down from my Mom. The middle part of the screen was going blurry and it was difficult to use.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more in depth post of what’s inside the pink bags on my shelves, and what are stored in the Ikea drawers in my desk!

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Hiking the East Coast Trail

My good friend Kerry and I decided that we’d hike one of the many East Coast Trails while I was home in Newfoundland. I left it up to her to decide on which trail we’d hike, and I also mentioned I didn’t have anything but some ballet flats with me. Thankfully, like Lori, Kerry let me borrow her hikers for this one. I’ve got some great friends! I didn’t even think twice about bringing home hiking boots since I never make it home during the nicer months of the year.

Hiking the Cobbler.970393_10153005678630176_1244730842_n

Can you believe that I took these kinds of views for granted when I lived there? Absolutely breathtaking, and I truly appreciate “The Rock” now that I live in a concrete jungle.1070048_10153005627690176_697916940_n

There’s the Atlantic Ocean for you. We spotted some whales a few kilometres out, spouting water up into the air.1016236_10153005673665176_173313006_n

Kerry, taking it all in.1016236_10153005673660176_456498134_n

Doesn’t Newfoundland look beautiful? Have you ever visited?1016236_10153005673655176_2055476782_n

Ocean for days.1016236_10153005673640176_1298673246_n

Hopefully this blog post about Newfoundland will catch you eye and make you want to visit my home province ;)1016236_10153005673645176_344997095_n

Newfoundland is known for its weird weather. On my trip home I brought fall and summer clothes. I was prepared for any kind of weather. This hiking day was a hot and humid one, with little wind. So Kerry stopped to cool down in one of the streams. 970393_10153005678620176_818483919_n

See the rocky boulders on the left hand ‘middle’ side of the picture? That’s where we stopped for lunch. 970393_10153005678610176_1857273972_n

Took a lunch break I’d say half way through the hike and decided to make this our turn-around point. 970393_10153005678645176_129389817_n

But not before posing and doing some yoga moves. I have no idea what this one is called. But I copied what Kerry did because I thought it looked neat. But man was it hard to keep this pose as she snapped away, ha ha.970393_10153005678640176_1231521315_n

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