The Apartment With The Gorgeous Light

*Edit: unplanned by anyone, COVID-19 has hit the world, and caused us to have to move significantly sooner than we had planned. I am so thankful, in retrospect that I took the time to take these photos and write this post, as it's the only closure I am getting at this time.

We are moving. This is an exciting time, but I'm sad to say goodbye to the place we've called home for the past 2 1/2 years. This apartment has been good to us. The light is just phenomenal, which makes every picture I take just that much better. One whole wall is windows, and even though we are in the city, our view is of a church and cemetery (I love cemeteries!).

Dan and I have very similar taste in style and design, which makes life a lot easier in that regard. We have a few "tricks" that we use to make our style affordable and yet unique. Today, I'm going to share some pictures of our space, and then share them with you.

Okay, now for the tips!

1. Inexpensive furniture - Okay, so most of our furniture is from IKEA. The table and benches are an exception, as well as the "coffee table" between the two mint colored chairs. Especially with kids, there is no reason to shell out a bunch of money on things that are more than likely going to get ruined.

2. Unique details - We get our furniture from IKEA, but then complement it all with more unique pieces. We find these pieces at antique markets, flea markets, boutiques, from local artists, online, on Etsy, Zara Home, Magnolia, etc. This makes it so that our home doesn't look like a page from an IKEA catalogue, that it doesn't look like everyone else's home, or so "sterile".

3. Neutral base palette - by keeping the color scheme in a neutral palette, this means that we can switch out pops of color with the seasons. Add some light-colored or floral throw pillows in the spring, those yellow billy ball flowers in summer, beautiful autumnal oranges and dark greens for Thanksgiving, and sparkly metallics and red and green for Christmas. I really love light teal, which lucky for me is actually in the neutrals, so that's great! Those chairs by the window are some of my favorite!

4. Consistent, running elements - another one of my favorites is lavender. I love the look of it, the color and especially the smell of it. So, I use it in our bathrooms, and in vases in the living room. I also love (specifically the Slovenian) mountains, so I have those sprinkled around the place. Same with driftwood. The reason these are great, is because I can move things around and rearrange them in different ways throughout the apartment. 

DIY LEGO Mini Figure Display

About a month ago, my husband made our son the coolest LEGO table for his birthday.  We completed the look with a LEGO mini figure display.  Today, I have the instructions for you!

What you'll need:

- mini figures (at least 12)

- hot glue gun and sticks

- ruler (with centimeters)

- 9x9 RIBBA frame (one for every 12 figures you want to display)

- spray paint (we used black)

- 12 2x4 LEGO piece in color of your choice (you can buy loose bricks at your local LEGO store, or online - where you can basically find every brick, ever. Yay!)

Directions:

1. Take apart RIBBA frame, you can see all of the pieces.

2. Remove protective film on plastic insert.

3. Spray paint the pressed board piece on the side that does not have the hook for hanging.  Allow to fully dry.

4. Attach the mini figures you want to display to the 2x4 pieces.  Arrange them on the plastic insert at the intervals you would like. 

These are the measurements we chose (measuring INSIDE the frame):

- 1.5 centimeters from the edge
- 6.5 centimeters from the top of the frame to the bottom of the LEGO piece on the top row.
- 2 centimeters between each brick in a row (the bricks are 3 cm each, by the way)
- 6.8 centimeters between the bottom of one row to the bottom of the next
- 1.8 centimeters from the bottom of the last row of bricks to the edge of the frame.

5. Hot glue them in place.

6. Reassemble the frame, BUT put the spacer in first, then the plastic insert, then the backboard. (Essentially going from shadowbox to frame.)

7. Attach to wall, or set on shelf! Ta-da!!!

We really liked this, because it made it so that our son can take the mini figures off and play with them, but also have all of the ones that he's worked hard to collect out, so he can show them off!

And there you have it!  Your very own LEGO mini figure display instructions! :) Play on!

IKEA Hack LEGO Table

Our family dynamics have changed a lot this past year.  Aidan is of course getting older, and getting into "big kid" toys, which are super fun!!

On the other hand, we have this new little peanut of a girl, who is going to be mobile sooner than you know it!  As much as Jocelyn adores her big brother, I know she's gonna want to get into everything of his - and I think it's important to protect his stuff, and avoid possible frustrations.  Aidan can't get enough of his baby sister, but I also know that that could change drastically if she were to constantly mess up his creations.  

Up until now, we've had a LEGO table set up in the living room/family room.  However, whenever Aidan and Dan built something, it would need to get put away, which inevitably meant it had to get broken down, rendering it unable to be played with.

SO, we wanted to move the LEGOs into Aidan's room, where we could shut the door to his room, and keep the baby out.  But we also wanted it to be cool, and mobile.  So, Dan, being the incredible  dad that he is, got to building one!

Here were the criteria we had:
- on wheels to make it mobile
- LEGO base for building onto 
- storage
- ability to set it up a couple different ways, since we will probably not live in this exact space forever.

If you would like to create one of your own, this is what you'll need:
- 2 IKEA KALLAX 77x42
- 2 sets of RILL wheels
- 4 DRONA bins in denim (the denim was new, and I am so thankful for it!  We were going to settle for gray, but the denim looks great in his room!)
- 4 LEGO Gray Baseplates
- Drill with a phillips bit
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

1. Build the KALLAX shelves according to the directions.

2. Attach 4 wheels to each shelf, in the corners, on one of the long sides.

3. Using a hot glue gun, adhere the baseplates to the top of your "table" - 2 on each.  They're not quite an exact fit, the table is about a 2 cm wider than the baseplates, so just make sure you line it up the way you want it before you glue it down.

4. Slide in bins, and you're done!

Here are a couple extra thoughts:
- we made some mini figure displays, instructions to come later.

- we bought a little wall-mount shelf at IKEA too, to add another dimension - in this case a "mountain" for the ski lodge.

- Eventually we plan on gluing baseplates in the cubbies as well, so that the bins can be slid out, and the space can be used to play on.
- We bought some smaller storage elements, and organized the remaining pieces by type - Ninjago in one, Batman and friends in the other, LEGO City in another... you get the picture. :)

- initially we had it in an "L" shape, but prefer it all against the same wall.  But I love that if we ever WANT it set up differently, we can change it!

Anyway, it was a HUGE hit!  

Dan and Aidan have spent every afternoon in there building, and playing with the sets.  I love that there is the ability to keep the built pieces out, and if needed later on, it is easy to make another addition.  I also love that it is mobile, and that we aren't "exiling" Aidan to his room.

Yay for LEGOs!!