Plans and more plans.

Whew, the projects.

We needed a little stand next to the fridge for the microwave and toaster. I hate having the microwave on the counter because you have to always keep the counter clear not only around the micro, but also where the door swings open. Plus, our countertops are DEEP, so the microwave was not getting cleaned as much as it should (too far back).

So we bought this little unit for $15. Sanded it and painted it the same crazy blue as the dresser.
I want to post a before and after picture, but right now I do not know where the camera battery charger is (sad!! we haven't found it yet since moving), so I cannot take a picture with a dead camera.

We can't have a simple table unit because our house is small. SMALL. The main house is probably about 15'x25' or 30', so 375-450 square feet. I need to measure at some point. It has an attached 7'x9' laundry room and an outside attached little shed (about 3.5'x4.5'). So to justify moving the micro, we had to find something with storage underneath. Small places look cluttered fast, and we didn't want to have to deal with baskets or something like that under a table. Additionally, there's a big window above this unit, so we couldn't have something SUPER tall either (or else we'd have to move the unit whenever we wanted to open up the window (lame). This worked! And for $15 + paint we already had. I also re-did the hinges (using existing parts) to give us a bit more space and to better work and not stick.

At the same place we got the little micro unit, we also got this lamp:
Our house has REALLY tall ceilings. There is no attic space, so the ceiling goes all the way up to the A-frame top. One big beam is exposed in the living room, and 3 are exposed in the kitchen/dining room. The problem is that there is no overhead lighting in the living room. There are these two little track lights, but they do a pretty poor job. So, we found this old lamp. Something uber-modern would not have worked well in the space, and we didn't want something too barn-ish (since the ceiling is already covered in knotty pine). This has yet to be installed, but it's just a plug-in so it's just a matter of hanging the hook.

I also re-hung our coatrack this weekend, ONLY TO HAVE IT FALL DOWN AGAIN! So help me. Our studfinder is on the fritz, as evidenced by it NOT ACCURATELY FINDING STUDS! So frustrating. Of course this happened at like 10:30pm last night. I will not tell you the expletives I shouted when I found the unit almost falling down.

B is in the middle of digging up our front walkway. The previous tenants did not rake the leaves and the gravel walkway (about 8' long) became MUCK. Our front entryway is constantly gross. We can redo it with some sweat and minimal monetary expenditure on our behalves, so we're doing it. Plus, we figure, it's a good way for us to learn more about how to do stuff like this when we own a house someday. I've made pathways before, but B never has, and I think he's liking the creative liberty he has with this project! We should take some before and after photos and eventually will post the results.

On other notes... the projects continue. Right now on the list is:
* LAUNDRY (dear lord do we need to do laundry). But the laundry room needs to be organized, so grumble. Hopefully Tuesday night.
* Organize laundry room (hopefully beginning tonight).
* Dishes-- I was too busy doing projects to do dishes, so um, there are a bunch right now.
* Hang shelf in bathroom.
* Buy various clear storage containers.
* Decide whether to put shelf in kitchen cabinet -- and FIND MY JIGSAW!!! I have no idea what happened to it. Did we donate it?? I may just opt for clear storage containers in the unit and put the cookbooks I had intended for the unit in the bookshelf. Hmm.
* Paint the wine rack to match the micro unit so we have it for our bigger bottles.
* Figure out how to hang my two wine prints (one keeps falling down).
* Frame and hang up our four gorgeous Oregon prints (ours are the 9x12 size).
* sell shaggy rug.

We have yet to hear back from our landlords as to whether or not we will be able to have chickens. Within city limits, each resident is limited to 2 hens, but since we sort of share part of our backyard with our two neighbors, I could technically have 6 if the neighbors didn't want any. We'll see. I've become a big fan of an over-easy egg on a piece of toast, and oh, would that taste good with fresh eggs.

Hopefully, I'll find out soon. I want to build a coop similar to this one:
(sorry, I can't find the source of this photo)
We'll see. I like this coop because it's small enough to be moved so the chickens could scratch in various places. hmm hmm. It could also be safe enough to protect against cats and raccoons. I'll keep you updated. One landlord has no problems with this plan, but no news about the others.