Damn You Cookbooks!

Ever have those home projects...., you know, the ones where you think oh this is going to be easy. Couple hours tops, then you go out with "the plan" and you collect the items you think you need. You get home, tear everything apart, and begin. "This is going to be GREAT!" you say... then and hour into the project you realize, ah hmmm, hadn't thought about that one. Then, shit, didn't think about that either. Soon, it's late, and you realize maybe it wasn't such a good idea to begin a project on Sunday afternoon and you should have just had wine o'clock all day instead.

This, this was my afternoon today... it's really all the cookbooks' fault. I only needed a place for them, which meant moving a basket, which meant moving what was in the basket to a new location, which then gave me the idea to move my dutch oven to a new shelf.... near the cookbooks. and well the outcome? My spice - sauce - oil - random baking crap cabinet being reworked..... now, the cabinet is empty, and everything in it is on the counter (which is A LOT of stuff). Turns out, specialty build outs, not so easy, and well, trying to modge-podge wallpaper to melamine is not as easy as you might think. Not at all.

It's late, and we're hungry, the plans to make dinner, they are gone now, we're getting take out.... but the bright side, my cookbooks look really happy on their shelf. I guess I'll be Julia Child tomorrow.

Sweden's Story Hotel, a hidden gem

Stockholm's Hidden Gem:

This summer had the chance to travel to Stockholm, Sweden! A wonderful place in the summer, warm, full of sunshine and lots of people milling about the city streets. Stockholm has a lot going for it and that comes at one heck of a cost! People all wine about the prices and value in London, Paris, Vienna? I wonder if they've made it to Scandinavia.... if you plan to go be sure to budget a lot of money for your stay. I'd say if you want to go on a budget bring a tent and a jar of peanut butter, otherwise you'll be paying a pretty penny for just about everything.

I have traveled all over the world in my travels very few hotels have really grabbed my attention for it's uniqueness and value.. Story Hotel in Sweden most certainly did all of the above. Set off the main drag on a somewhat quiet side street the entrance is easy to miss and isn't for the faint of heart or the glitz and glamour seekers of a doorman with marble floors (if that's just do your hotel search for you dates and select sort by price high to low and pick the top one, since you will then me convinced it's the best hotel).... instead story hotel has acid stained concrete floors, a skinny entrance with Apple computers on the countertop to check you in... Story is eclectic, thoughtful, crazy, and sometimes reminiscent of scenes from the shining.... the hallway my room was in would probably look like a digitally remastered hallway. It's just the way I like it, crazy innovative, and somewhat creepy in a purely artistic way that is.

After checking in, you can take the crazy old iron grated elevator up to your room, or for the less adventurous group a modern lift has been retrofitted into the building, which actually fits people AND luggage at the same time!! Rooms are rustic, loft, and elegance wrapped into one. My room looked out onto the street, while I sat on my bed I was greeted by impressive wall sized artwork which just added to the overall flavor of the hotel.

Naturally while staying at such an amazing place I planned on visiting the hotel's wonderful restaurant.... However when I went down to check it out I was put off by the fact that there wasn't anyone eating in there? How could that be? Well it turns out, since Stockholm spends part of their year in nearly twilight conditions all day, the summer time is when people come outside, and frankly, they stay outside... sorta like hibernation in reverse, soak up the sun. So given that, the hotel evidently had a secret rooftop bar, which after learning about I simply had to try it out! The roof bar/dining room was amazing.... all the tables and chairs were different, tons of Swed's drinking white wines, and sitting under the sun at 11 o'clock at night... yes the sun. Unlike much of the traditional Northern Europe food, which is at best icky.... Story featured creative dishes that were bright and colorful like the people enjoying them ....



All in all my experience was wonderful there... if you ever have the chance to visit Stockholm and need/want an amazing modestly priced place to stay I highly suggest checking out Story Hotel. The design ideas you will get alone are worth the price of admission.

Wallpaper Inspiration

A few years ago my husband and I purchased a "fixer" upper... and the task of turning this mid-seventies architecture has been nothing short of a marathon. As in most home remodels, every project generally equals more projects, and of course the endless spiral of migrating crap which gets shifted from one space to another and then back again or hopefully sent on to the famous Goodwill, which when you've managed to clean a room out and see the mountainous piles of junk you've collected, you begin to believe that they must have goodwill to take this stuff off your hands. My weekend endeavor included a cup of coffee followed by, a trip to Target to by decorating magazines, which of course resulted in my decision to make over my master bath at 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon.

The idea that inspired it all WallpaperFileCabinet... I saw this post and it got me thinking, I wonder if this would work to fix my monstrosity of a bathroom vanity? Only one way to find out..... Mission Master Bath Remodel begins:

Tear Out:

Ugly ancient towel bars
Stupidly placed toilet roll holder
Big heavy leaded glass shower door
Broken mini blinds
throw away and dispose of particle board over the john blue light special
remove bathroom cabinet doors

Ok, READY! Remodel begins, crap....So funny enough, my husband being the sweet thing that he is moved all above mentioned crap back into the bathroom after we'd begun to tear it out, cause I forgot to take a before picture... Haha.... Ok the before pics.

Now my favorite part of the remodel, well any remodel, hell anything, the Shopping part!

Shopping list:

Medicine Cabinet
Shower Rod
Shower Curtain
Raw Silk Drape
White Plantation blinds
White paint
Mega awesome wallpaper
modge podge (to adhere the wallpaper)
New toilet paper holder, the slide kind, no one likes to screw with the spring holder...and especially not when it's 2am and you need a new roll
Fun decor stuffs for over the toilet

Let the fun begin!!

Ok so the directions for the medicine cabinet are simple.... sand and primer the wood and then paint to the color of choice in this case I had to do one coat of primer and two coats of paint to get a solid smooth finish. The inset of the cabinet doors are the most difficult part and even that was a cinch with a template.... You can use any paper you might have but in this case I used wallpaper. Create a template for the opening and cut wallpaper to size. Remove the paper and then paint a thin well covered layer of mod podge (found at most craft stores, avoid a long conversation at Lowes with someone who has no Idea what the stuff is and take my word that they do not carry it there) on the the surface. Place the wall paper and smooth out the bubbles, wait 15minutes to dry completely and then paint another thin smooth layer over the top of the paper and wait to dry. When the doors are completely dry you can reattach them and stand back in wonder at your amazing creation!



Behold the wonder of the finished project!



Wow, I know. I thought that too. See with some hard work and elbow grease you can get a lot accomplished in a weekend! I welcome any and all feedback and hope you enjoy the ideas as much as we have!