Our IKEA Cottage

What’s that you said? You like IKEA sofas but their fabrics don’t go with your decor. Sigh… me, too. Bemz to the rescue! Go to http://www.bemz.com/ and order slipcovers in some really fun colors. I like the lime green sofa but I’m not sure if Kevin will agree with me on that one. A few caveats… they’re a bit pricey, they’re located in Sweden (but they accept US currency) and they don’t have slipcovers for the Ektorp chaise. I like the Ektorp chaise. And I want to get slipcovers for my Henriksdal bar stools in my kitchen – at my apartment – not at the cottage – and they don’t make slipcovers for my bar stools either. Oh well… we can’t have everything.

Here’s a cool idea. Jon, over at Happy Mundane, painted his IKEA Roger chair white while leaving the legs in the natural wood. It looks great! Others have commented that he may need to change the upholstery on the seat cushion. I agree. It either needs a bright color or maybe even a fabric in a rich golden color to bring out the wooden legs.

I have to say that I didn’t find Jon’s post on his website, I found it at The IKEA Blog. Thanks, IKEA Blog!

While visiting Apartment Therapy, I found a great slide show of lanterns for when we decorate the porch. I haven’t settled on a color scheme for the deck just yet but I’m leaning toward yellow. The cottage is grey with white shutters so yellow would be a nice color. And lately, orange is such a hot color. Yellow and orange might be the way to go.

Anyway, take a look at this slide show of lanterns from the New York Times Personal Shopper. The prices run the gamut from $780 at Gandia Blasco to $4.95 at – where else – IKEA. I like the recycled bottle lanterns from Anthropologie. But they only come in green and amber. Makes me re-think my yellow color scheme because so much fun outdoor decor comes in lime green. But then I see the recycled tin lanterns from CB2 that come in yellow and I’m back to planning a yellow deck. Oh, the possibilities. So many choices, it’s hard to decide… especially when it’s not my money! Just kidding. Kevin knows that I’m decorating on a shoe-string. And I like the fact that both of my favorites from the slideshow are recycled. Think green!

Last year, my landlord had some minor electrical work done on the house that I live in. He hired Pat Testa, a local electrician. I knew that Kevin and I would be shopping for an electrician come spring and I asked Pat for his business card. I’m so glad that I found Pat. We interviewed two electricians for this job. It was a tough decision because I liked and trusted both of them so much. But Pat is local. He lives only a short distance away in the Mulberry Point section of Guilford. We realized that he’d be only a quick phone call away if we had an emergency.

Pat met me at the cottage in mid-March. I told him – roughly – what we wanted done. The woman who owned this cottage previously shared this space with her mother – who was wheelchair-bound. The light switches and the switch for the air conditioning were in odd places, low to the ground, so that her mom could reach them. We decided to remove some of the switches and to raise up a few of the others. We also had to lower some of the outlets. And we wanted to add some accent lighting in various places. Pat was fabulous… very flexible and accommodating.

So… in the bathroom, we’re adding lights around the mirror. Pat wired those lights for us. I’m still deciding what lights to buy. I’m leaning toward this sconce – below – but haven’t made a final decision yet. It’s available at The Light Shop.

Pat also added a switch for these sconces as well. Plus we added an outlet next to the sink for blow dryers, curling irons, electric razors… whatever. We removed the overhead light from the bathroom because the ceiling is rather low and we didn’t want tall people bumping into the light in the middle of the night. OUCH! We wanted so very much to add recessed lighting in its place but it looks like it’s going to be tough. We don’t have enough room in the ceiling for recessed lighting. We bought Blixt recessed spotlights from IKEA but even they were too deep for our ceiling. Pat is trying to find us some puck lights but it doesn’t look promising.

In addition to the electrical work Pat did in the bathroom, he removed a very strange light switch from the bedroom. I called it “the lightswitch to nowhere” because it didn’t work. We had no idea what it was ever used for.

Kev ended up hiring Pat to put in a new service. We went from a 60 amp service to a 100 amp service. Our friend Pasquale took care of everything… getting the permit from the town… adding the service in only one day. It was – and still is – a pleasure to work with him. He’ll be coming back in a few weeks to install the outlets and switches.