IKEA HACK - Play Gym

Now that E and I are having a baby, we get to spend lots of time and money on kijiji to get all our baby gear.  Baby gyms are one of the more common "first items" that you use with a baby for tummy time and.... whatever. I don't have any kids yet so I am pretty clueless.

What I am not clueless about is the cost!  The nice ones are really pricey but oh so cute - see here for only $160!  Most of them though are the standard "fun" ones with lots of green, blue, red, and yellow happening for about $60-$100.  There are lots you can get second-hand but they are mostly cloth, so you've got a "how can I really get this clean" issue since I don't think the whole thing can go in the wash.  Plus, they are hideous!  It's always too much red for me on kids toys.  After a bit of searching, I found the Ikea Leka Play Gym but it was still a bit expensive and I suspected since it was wood, I could do better getting is second hand, especially if I planned to "hack it".  I found one for $10 on kijiji so I zipped across town and picked it up!

There were a few great hacks of the Leka on the internet.  See here, here, here, and here for some fantastic examples and guidance.

What did I need:

- non toxic paint

- non toxic gloss glaze

- macrame cord (3mm)

- some brushes, some water, some fine sandpaper, some patience

- cardboard and paper scraps

Step 1: Break it down to the base

- unscrew the sides

- take off the wooden/plastic parts and cut the cords to seperate the pieces

- wash/wipe everything down

No pictures of this stage, its pretty self explanatory!

Step 2: Prep!

- sand down the parts you intend to paint.  For me, that was the bottom, and the wood pieces.  I just did a light sand so that the paint would "stick"

- put cardboard underneath the swirly things on the sides.

Step 3: Paint!

Soooo many layers.... of your chosen non toxic paint.  You might want to use painters tape to get your patterns on the swirly things looking sharp.

The best advice came from my husband - remember to water your paint down.  Otherwise you'll end up with globby parts.  It's more time consuming but produces a far better result.  I did it all on an upside down cardboard box so it doesn't need a lot of space.

Step 4: Add the gloss glaze. Ideally, this will prevent the paint from coming off the pieces in the long haul.  I took the suggestion from one of the blogs I linked to above.

Step 5: Once everything is dry, use your new cord to do up the pieces in a new way (or the same as it came, if you like).  Cut the loose cord ends and add a bit of gloss glaze to help the knot set.

Step 6: Admire your work!

Steps 3 and 4 took a lot of time and patience.  I think if I had watered my paint down it would have been less painful though (I ended up re sanding and re doing parts....).  I love the final result though!  I also really like that if I want to change it up with stuffed animals or similar, that option is totally available to me (I do have about 48 yards of macrame cord left...).

Have fun!

Sofa Banquette - IKEA HACK

Despite all the hard work I did on the dining room table a few years ago (here) E and I decided that we without a doubt, hated the table we had purchased.  Namely, I found it scratched my legs when we had it extended and we always had it extended because it gave us a nice amount of space and if we didn't the table looked so tiny in that large dining room.  In addition, I felt that we didn't use the dining room except for special occasions.  It was too formal and fancy to eat in on a more regular basis.  So, it was time for a change.  E loves me because he basically just accepts all the ongoing "projects" I have.  I think because 50% of the time it goes well he accepts the odds.

So, I sold the dining room table and chairs on kijiji.  I did not sell the hutch.  I bought that whole set because I loved the hutch.  I had originally posted them all on kijiji but at about the 15th request to only purchase the hutch I deleted the ad.  I have decided to refinish the hutch.... a project for another blog post.

So, I decided I wanted to make better use of the space in the dining room, and make it a place people would like to hang out.  Formal chairs were not going to work for that, and if I did use formal chairs I still would be stuck at a 9 person max dining table. I wanted at least 10.  So, the banquette idea was born.

Of course, this idea was not without three months of agonized research and planning and tape on the floor measuring everything out.  There are so many, and yet so few banquette options.

For example:

You have this amazing one from WestElm:

This of course, costs approximately a million dollars for any Canadian to import and ship here, and to triple down the bad luck, they don't sell some of the pieces anymore.  It wasn't going to happen to me with this, and I wasn't totally sold on the color for the dining room anyways (white or at best light gray on something you plan to eat on without a slip cover = disaster).

After a bit of research, I discovered that custom booths were also approximately a million dollars.  So I wasn't having any luck there.  I considered used restaurant booth ones but it seems like way too much money to put into something I couldn't return and might smell like rib sauce.

Enter.... IKEA HACKLAND.

Where there is a furniture need, there is a piece of IKEA furniture or an IKEA hack to meet that need.  So I found numerous blogs on how to make a banquette happen with ikea kitchen cupboards, the besta shelving, and even bookcases (determined by many commentators to not be strong enough, opt for besta for strength from what I gathered).

However.  All this concern about strength had me thinking.  I know what can happen to a lot of wear and tear on normal IKEA furniture.  It can look like garbage in only a few years.  I knew that somehow making a custom banquette was going to just kill me, if I could even accomplish it, and then I questioned about the cost of getting  a custom made foam pillow for the top, and, of course, how inevitably the gallery wall would need to be repainted...

ARGH.

If only E knew how much thought went into things...

So, I thought... perhaps the solution to the problem is to use something actually (cough) designed for sitting on.  That seems crazy... but maybe it isn't.  Maybe instead of a narrow banquette, I could put a extra long sofa against the wall?  Has that been done before?  Answer.  Kind of...

I found the following images to inspire me to at least try:

Ok, this is technically a settee, I know.

But, it was a start.  Then I found this one, but it looked too cushy:

Then, I found it.  I call it my "green sofa inspiration" or "my justification that my crazy idea might actually work just let me try it out" evidence.

To get to the point here, I did a lot more research.  Then I did some more.  Then I taped the floor.  Then I taped the walls.  All with my proposed sizing.  I was also about to get from my parents an old teak table, so I knew mid century modern was the way I was going.

I didn't go with green.  But, I did go with a dark blue which is pretty adventurous.  IKEA doesn't sell the Norsborg series in the type of couch I wanted (long but no chaise lounge) but the helpful elderly lady at IKEA helped me order what I needed.  I knew, I just knew the IKEA legs would be hideous, but I also knew they would be too short for a dining area.  Yes, I am sure you were all panicky for me, wondering if I knew.  I knew.

So, I did what any good IKEA hacker does.  I ordered some legs.  Last time I ordered new legs they took forever from Bob's workshop.  This time I went with prettypegs and the service was fabulous. I would use them again in a heartbeat (and confirmation I am in the black in my checkbook as the shipping is not cheap!).

Here you can see the original IKEA legs that were I believe around 7 inches:

Note my green tape on the floor to mark the sofa and table outline.

Now, for the new legs:

ARE THESE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LEGS YOU HAVE EVER SEEN?

Thanks to Pretty Pegs, I was able to lift the couch up two extra inches with the Carl 230 and that seems to have done the trick in terms of height.  But also, these legs look beautiful.  This couch looks way more expensive.  I probably could have done a proper photo shoot but I am sure you will all survive with it as is.

It is going to work just amazingly as a banquette and look how cozy this is!  I can't wait to have friends over and just relax with some drinks in a cozy couch.  Yes, getting in and out with a party of 10-12 will be a pain, but I have never sat at a large table and had it been easy.  I am going to try and put a little charging station along the back as well so make use of the outlet.

I am finally posting pictures of what it looks like with the old antique teak table from my great-grandpa, I bought some modern chairs from Costco that were plastic (and easy to wipe down).  Below are the photos!  It's been used for over half a year now, and we love it!

The best part about the banquette is how we actually use our dining room now.  We work from home at it, we eat at it, we play board games at it, work on projects, etc.  It has gotten so much more use and its no longer wasted space.  So happy with it!

All in all - an excellent IKEA hack.

- C

Eat for Free

One of the ways I managed to "pay it all back" was definitely eating for free or alternatively, the ancient practice of "half eating" which I assume was a thing because it definitely works where you only eat half your meal and then eat the rest for dinner!  Also an excellent strategy for weight loss.

Example 1: You landed a job at a legitimate company.  Sometimes, they have free lunches!  Always take extra back to your desk.  Eat it as a snack or, alternatively if you can snag an extra leftover sandwich, your dinner.

Example 2: Your legitimate company hosts lunches or dinners for clients sometimes.  Always wait until the event is over and go up and grab some of the food.  Often this just gets tossed, so you are doing the environment a big favour as well as your pocketbook.

Example 3: You need to buy lunch.  You know you could have packed a PBJ but who has time for that sh!t you are busy at work!  Just make sure you get the bang for your buck.  In other words, buy sometimes that will cost less than $5 for lunch.  Meatball sub sandwich.  Soup and bun.  Pho (save the second half of pho for dinner!).

Example 4: Make an enormous amount of food on the weekend.  Bring it to work every day that week.  Pay $25 off your loan.

Example 5: Go to your parents place, if you've got some local.  They always feed you!

Example 6: Go vegan, or nearly.  Meat is expensive!

Example 7: Make your own bread.  It can actually be way cheaper than the storebought stuff and tastes about a million times better.

Example 8: When your friends want to go out to eat, choose a place with happy hour.

You don’t miss $4.33

This really should be included in the “You Don’t Miss $20” section, but I considered that it really should have is own section because it is a whole new level of thinking.

The concept is simple and the same as the $20 concept – you don’t miss this money in your account.  So, after the $20 was sent over to my friends, I would check to see the amount I had left.  If it wasn’t an even number, then I would round it down and send that money to the student loans folks.  Honestly, I never see those extra digits.  They mean nothing to me.  If somebody said to you "What do you have saved for when you travel to Thailand?" you won't respond "$4,678.32" you will respond with "around $4,500".  Your mind likes to round down.  You want to be comfortable if you make an error, but you also just can't remember all those digits.  It isn't natural for most people.

So, every time I signed into my bank account, I would do the $20 trick to my student loans, I would make the required payments, and I would then look at my account balance.  $154.33? Perfect.  $4.33 into the student loans.  This was likely done three times a week, and probably averaged about $5 every time I did it.  Pennies, amiright?  Why on earth would I read this stupid blog with its stupid self-righteous voodoo on paying off loans.  It can't be done any faster than I am paying off my loans now, right?!

Wrong.

$5 x 3 x 52 = $780

In one year, doing this ridiculous round down function paid off to the tune of what is likely $780.  When you apply the same calculations, I was saving this much in interest:

$39

Hardly interesting, you might say.  But you are also paying off some of the principal.  Or, you are just paying off the interest and the rest of your $$$ will go to your principal.

Over five years, the savings on interest are closer to $200.  That means you are done paying off your student loans approximately 1 month earlier!  It seems like small potatoes but everything adds up.  Because $780 per year for five years means that you have paid off an additional $3,900 in your loans.  That means you have shaved almost TWENTY months off your student loans.  Yes.  That's right.  Suddenly you are debt free (or, student loan debt free) over a year earlier than anticipated.

I can’t emphasize this enough – it’s the small things as much as it is the big things, and its getting that money out your hands and into the hands of the person who will gladly suck at the teat of your interest payments if you let them.  If I walked up to you right now and said "give me $200" would you say yes?  Of course not.  But that's what you are saying to the student loan people (ie banks) every single time you pay interest when you could have avoided it.

My motto is always this – the best way to fight the banks is to pay them off.  They hate people who are debt free.

 

DIY - Reupholster Dining Room Chairs

We discovered we needed a new dining room table when E invited his whole family over for lunch in the not so distant future.  Doing the math with our seating options, I quickly discovered we did not have the space to seat more than six people, max.

I also desperately wanted a hutch to put in all of my Nana's gorgeous china.  From my quick review online, I realized that this was going to be expensive if we didn't do it on Kijiji.

I found the most amazing antique hutch in the world, that came with a nice dining room table with two extension leafs, and six chairs.  One of the chairs even had arms on it.  I was in love.



Original fabric - Salmon Tulips?

However.... the pattern on the chairs was a different story.  When we were looking at the set, the woman proudly told me that it had been recently re-upholstered. I could tell from looking around her very beautiful home that it was re-upholstered to her tastes, not mine.  Fortunately I still have one picture of the fabric... basically a salmon pink with weird little blue flowers on it.  We scooped up the set and I set to work researching how hard it was to re-upholster dining room chairs.

The answer?  It is shockingly easy to do!

I recommend watching some youtube videos, such as this one or that one. It was honestly so easy.  The only investment you'll likely need to make it a staple gun and some new fabric, depending on the quality of the stuffing in the chairs (because these had been re-upholstered recently, I didn't need new foam).



Using a "tool" to take out the staples

Basically, you start by popping out (or in my case, unscrewing) the fabric seats.  Then you flip them over and start taking out the staples.  This was a painful process as there was a LOT of staples.  From what I can tell, whoever re-upholstered these chairs was about as much of a professional as I was, and probably didn't bother to watch the aforementioned very helpful youtube videos.

I didn't take pictures of the whole process - at the time, I was really just obsessed with getting this done in time. The youtube videos will honestly show you the steps to follow. I will say that after I did it, I felt less nervous about the colour I chose because now I know that if I don't like it in five years I can just pop them off and change them!  It is quite liberating to know that I have that option.

The one thing I still have left to deal with is that bench...

 

 

You Don't Miss $20

One of the more unusual ways I found myself able to pay off my student loans was by paying $20 to my loans every time I signed into my online banking.  That was on average probably 3 times a week.  I figured that since I never seems to miss $20 after I had bought a big lunch, I probably wouldn’t miss it if I sent off $20 to the student loan every time I signed in.  Twenty bucks isn’t a lot these days, is it?  It's barely enough for a ramen bowl worth tip.  But let’s look at that number over time.

$20 x 3 (per week) x 52 = $3,120

That’s right.  By depositing $20 measly dollars when I was already signed in to my online banking, over three grand was paid off my student loans within a year.  But that’s not the only benefit.

Interest on your student loans is essentially charged “per day”.  I remember realizing that for every day I had my loans, I was being charged $6 in interest.  EVERY DAY.  I couldn’t believe it.  By paying $20 a day, you are paying off more of the principal of the loan.  So, for the $3,120 extra I deposited to my loan payments, I actually saved (assuming I paid on the last day of the year instead of the first because even though I like savings I don’t like math):

$3,120 x 1.05 = $3,276 ($156 minimum in interest saved!)

But, that’s just for that year.  Imagine if you paid only the minimum on your student loan for the next five years and that $3,120 is the last to be paid.  The savings actually look like this:

$156 x 5 = $780.

So, you have paid off your student loans approximately (if your minimum payments were anything close to my minimum payments) 4 months early. Further, the student loan folks don't penalize you for paying $20 a day.  It is basically FREE MONEY because you won't even notice its gone.  Sick people like me actually enjoy the hassle of knowing the transaction is taking place for so little money.

I am hoping I have gotten your attention on the interest savings alone, but let's look at the payment on the principal.

$20 x 3 x 52 = $3,120

That is a sweet chunk of change in one year.  That alone shaves 15 months off your loans.  But just imagine doing that for five years: $15,600.  I don't care who you are or where you went to school.  You have paid off a significant chunk of your loans by paying $20 to the man every time you signed in to bank.

If your wallet is getting a bit tight, you will find ways to cut back.  You won't buy that new shirt.  You will drink wine at home with your friend for $10 each instead of $25 each plus tip.  You will opt for the soup instead of the prime rib meal at lunch.  Just put the $20 to the student loan every single time you sign in.  You won't miss it (unless you have a family to feed in which case much of my advice can be ignored as you have a real family to budget for). 

The pride you will feel in knowing that for every $20 you are putting in you are saving $1 in the next year should keep you going.  See it as the reverse savings plan and watch that debt chip away.

IKEA hack - Kivik Sofa (DIY arm wrap and side table)

Of course, with one Ikea hack, you find another, and it wasn't long during my research on Ikea Kivik sofas that I discovered the "custom arm wrap" on Etsy.  There are a few artisans who make these glorious items, at a cost of approximately $200 each.  Since I knew I would want at least two, I realized it was going to cost about $400 (plus shipping) I obviously put off this expenditure.

It wasn't long before I was really thinking about these beautiful wooden arm wraps/side tables again.  My lovely dog assisted in this, as she had managed to chew/mangle the edges of the sofa when we weren't looking. (I know, I know, don't let the dog on the sofa...).  All lack of dog-parenting skills aside, I was humming and hawing about how to hide the marks, and remembered the arm wraps.

But, again, the cost held me back.  So, when I discovered this blog on how to do an arm wrap DIY, I was intrigued and immediately saved it to Pinterest.  But I was nervous.... I don't know how to cut wood! I didn't want to buy a saw and two saw horses!  These small thoughts held me back.  

I started telling a colleague (the same colleague who gave us our lovely dog) about how she chewed the couch and how I was considering these wooden arm wraps.  I showed the blog to her and mentioned my concerns, to which she basically responded "that is literally three pieces of wood glued and then screwed together - just get Home Depot to cut the wood to size for you, a three year old could do this project".  With that inspiration, I made the trek to Home Depot.

Now, in hindsight, I should have brought a tape measure to Home Depot.  I assumed that 10 inch wide wood would be 10 inches wide, when it, in fact, is more like 9.25 inches.  So, the first piece of wood I got cut was sort of a waste (although I am trying to make some sort of artsy project out of it...).  Overall, the materials cost about $75 but if I hadn't made that mistake it would have been more like $60 (although I already had lots of sandpaper).  I used a cheaper wood (pine).  I screwed the pieces together instead of using other recommended fancy wood putting together techniques.  But, in the end, I learned a lot:
1. When they tell you to sand with the grain, sand with the grain;
2. Bring a tape measure to Home Depot to make sure you buy the right sizes regardless of what is indicated on the sign;
3. You can save big bucks if you are prepared to live with something that doesn't look as good/finished as what you see on Easy (less than $40 per wrap was the total cost); and
4. Don't let yourself get discouraged - you are so much more capable than you give yourself credit for.

I am not going to give a step by step on how I. made it, as there are lots of blogs out there that you can find (Google: DIY couch arm wrap).  But to encourage you, I want to post pictures of the end result, which I especially like because I managed to stain them to be a near-match to the legs!