BrightWall's Profile

My husband and I installed white Ikea cabinets 4 years ago, and they have held up extremely well. When we remodeled our rental property this past December, we went with Ikea cabinets as well. The soft closers for the door hinges are a fab addition to the cabinets, I wish they had them available when we installed ours. The ease of assembly and installation, plus their sturdy nature, makes Ikea cabinets a great option!

The only caution I have is that if you don't live near an Ikea store, it can be a slight gamble. The employees who pull together your boxes at the store are great, but they are only human - we have left the store with parts missing and needed to make return trips. If it's quite a drive to your nearest store, know that you may need to make another run. Otherwise I'd recommend their cabinets for sure - go for it!

My husband and I own several rental units, and always allow our renters to paint under the stipulation that they return their walls to white upon moving out. We personally like brightly hued walls, but not everyone does. We have spent some real fun weekends cleaning up after inconsiderate tenants, including one who decided to SPRAY PAINT her walls with hideous metallic spirals. Understand that the security deposit is there so that the landlord can purchase paint to do it themselves if a renter moves out without repainting. This takes time and money, plus lots of sanity. If you choose a nice wall color, did a good job painting, and there aren't wall holes to patch, your landlord will likely be happy with the improvement!

I was immediately drawn to your home tour when I saw a photo of your desk chair. My husband found the exact same chair (handle and all) in the rubbish and refinished it. I've never seen another one just like it - until now! Really cool space you have, keep on living handmade!!

Sweet, I have that mousepad (in yellow & gray) AND that calendar. I love my desk space!

I found a pale green vintage dress form at a yard sale last summer, but she scares my dogs, so she stays in the attic until I need her :)

My fiance's Etsy shop specializes in hand painted suitcases, too! I can't imagine traveling with brand new cases now - the old ones are amazing, especially with some personalized art!

Ooh, I agree, the orange fabric was much more fun.

But that coffee table is awesome!

I love your place!!!! It's very 'Northern Michigan' and you've made it untraditional with all of the great vintage items! (I'm sure you have more than one Apartment Therapy reader who is insanely jealous that you're a full-time TC resident...it's just such a great city.)

Before I read about how to rid of fruit flies, last summer we were infested. I used the red wine method and it worked exceptionally well and we have very few flies this year. (They're all stuck under plastic wrap in the teacup of wine!)

This is the perfect solution to my window covering dilemma. Excellent!