What the hek?

That’s what Nolan said when I returned with a Hektar pendant light from Ikea. When I went I told myself I only needed two things; frames for the basement and maybe a fiddle fig if they had one. I left with only two items, but it was the frames and the hek for above the sink.

My coworker has a really similar house and we often discuss the quirks about split entries. She recently knocked out the trim piece above the sink, so naturally when I was installing the faucet I was thinking about it. Then, when I was wandering through Ikea’s lighting section maze, a lightbulb went off. 😉 Let’s knock that sucker out and put in a new inexpensive light.

This is the oldest, darkest and blurriest picture I have of the original sink area. It’s totally normal to take house photos after probably making a frozen pizza and having a glass of wine…

Down the long winding home-ownership-road is a kitchen remodel, but until then I’m ok doing small, inexpensive improvements, like a $25 light fixture. As well as anything necessary, like the new faucet. And other random things like removing the cabinet hardware, taking down the wallpaper and painting the walls, un-installing the paper towel holder and knife sharpener. We’ve held on to the “Dirty” and “Clean” sign next to the dishwasher though. 🙂

The previous light was a circular tube florescent light, which I mistakenly left in while hammering at the trim and busted it all over me and into the sink. Whoops! At least I was smart enough to turn the electric off.

I’ve gotten pretty good at electrical work. Hairstyling… not so much.

With the light fixture installed, I had to go back and do some paint touch up.

Is that a faucet under there or are you just happy to see me?

After filling in some nail holes and sanding it down, I put on three coats of white paint. I also painted the ceiling and the small strip between the ceiling and the window trim to match the walls. And viola!

I’m keeping that gold vase there as a reminder to get some flowers next time I’m at the grocery store. Unless I can find gray flowers, that means I might actually introduce some color in my house!

Side note: You may have noticed I’ve been playing around with layouts and fonts. More exciting changes to come! 🙂