It’s Go Time! (Studio Cabinets Are Here!)
Things got real yesterday. After talking about my studio, making plans, changing plans, and weighing the various ideas and possibilities for literally years, the time has finally come to actually get things done. I came home from lunch with my mom and brother yesterday, and guess what was sitting on my orange front porch!
Those are all of my IKEA cabinets that I ordered for the studio. As soon as I drove up and saw those, things got real. I can no longer stay stuck in the studio planning stage indefinitely. After dragging it out for years, that stage is finally over. Now it’s time to actually put a plan into action.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this order. The IKEA order confirmation said that everything would come in 25 packages. Ummm…that’s not 25 packages. That’s 71 packages! 😀
Each cabinet carcass comes in a box, each pair of shelves comes in a package, and each individual drawer front and cabinet door comes in an individual package. And then each pair of hinges comes in an individual package. So if we count the hinges, that means that 83 packages were delivered to my front door yesterday.
It took me a while to find a place to store everything for the next few days, bring all of the packages inside, and then take inventory of everything to be sure that my complete order was delivered. And much to my amazement, every single item I ordered was delivered. That’s a pretty amazing feat! I have to admit that I was impressed with that. With an order consisting of 83 individual packages, I expected at least one mistake, but there were none. I have yet to open all of the packages and make sure everything arrived in good condition, but things seem to be packaged well, so I’m not expecting any problems.
Anyway, all of that to say that as of today, my awful orange front porch has to be put on the back burner. I’m on a tight time schedule because right now all of the cabinets are currently stacked in the living room and entryway, and they all have to be out of there by next Wednesday since we host a group from our church every Wednesday night.
For the next week, my focus is going to be repainting the ceiling and walls in the main part of the room (i.e, not the back entry yet, since that area doesn’t affect the cabinets), and then cleaning, prepping, and painting the studio floor. The room is huge with a high ceiling, so it’s going to be a really big job. But I do need to paint the ceiling and walls before I do the floor.
And speaking of the studio floor, I’ve narrowed down the design options to these two…
I’m having a hard time deciding between those two, but I still have a couple of days before I have to make a final decision. If I were forced to choose right this minute, I’d probably go with the floor from The Winsome Nest. It’s simple and classic, and I think it would look great in the room.
And I’ve also made a decision on the cabinet color. I’m going with this one…
If you’ve been following this decision-making process, this is Option 3 lightened. (You can see the other options on this post.) Of course, once I get the actual wallpaper in hand, I might have to make some tweaks to that color. But what I learned through this process is that I like the color just a bit on the brighter side rather than the grayed, toned down side. But I also don’t like it too bright and saturated. There’s a fine line there for me, so finding that sweet spot may require some trial and error.
I made the cabinet color decision while standing in my kitchen where I could see the living room, breakfast room (sitting room) and studio all at the same time. So this was kind of like this view, except that when I’m standing in the actual room, I can obviously see much more of these rooms.
But I love the idea of the pinkish colors carrying through from the pink living room curtains, to the magenta breakfast room curtains, and then to the studio cabinets. I think the rooms will flow together nicely, and I think that color will look great with the painted floor.
So it’s time to put all other projects aside for a while, and finally get busy on the studio. It’s the room I know a lot of you have been waiting for for a very long time now. I’m right there with you, so it’ll be amazing to finally see some progress on this room!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
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It’s such an exciting time and we are right there with you! My choice of color was #3. I’m thrilled you chose that. And seeing all those drapery colors and knowing that vibrant pink/coral will be a complement is just right.
Just for the record I vote on the more traditional floor since wallpaper is really the star.
Exciting! I like the Winsome Next floor the best. The Jenkins one just seems too busy to me. I would think the Winsome Next would be easier to execute as well.
I agree with you 100%!
Me too! I also agree with you 100%.
That is a LOT of boxes. I can’t wait to see it finished. Your room is the room of my dreams!
I bet the driver just loved you yesterday!😋 its very exiting to finally get your studio done!
I so wish I could have been here to see them unloading everything! 😀
Good morning, Kristi. From order to delivery, how long was the wait time? And for obvious reasons, the focus is on the cabinets. Once installed, however, are you going to return to the front porch before it gets humid? And THEN paint the cabinets? Or complete the porch? Ah, the highs and lows of DIY home-ownership.
It looks like I ordered on April 6th or 7th, and they were delivered on the 19th. BUT…that was my choice. It gave me several options for delivery dates, and one of them was last Wednesday (a week ago). So I could have had them on the 12th. I chose a week later because all of the options were on Wednesday, and I’m gone on Wednesday afternoons, and then we host our church group on Wednesday evenings. But we didn’t have our group last night, so it was the perfect time to schedule the delivery. All of that to say that it could have been as few as five days between order and delivery had that day worked out for me.
For now, the porch is protected, so it’s not so much as a priority anymore. I do hope to get it finished soon, but the studio will be priority until I get the ceiling and walls painted, the floor painted, and the cabinets assembled and put into place. When I get to that point, I may go back and finish the porch since I’d actually like to enjoy the porch over the next few months, and I’d have a very hard time enjoying an orange porch. 😀
Oh WOW! That is A LOT of boxes! Like I said, when ready it is a lot of unpacking and cutting boxes and piling high for recycle, and organizing the contents. That will take you hours and hours, but I am sure you will be doing it in an organized way, so it will be fine. I’m excited for you as this room will be wonderful for your projects, and we will be right there with you, to learn new ideas from you. So glad you are not stressing about the porch for now…I think once you put things back in place it won’t be as big an issue anyway, for the time being. Best wishes on the entire project.
So thrilled for you to have all those cabinets in hand! Since you will have so many large boxes to dispose of, may I suggest that you break them down and store them somewhere until you are ready to do some garden work? They will be very useful in building your garden beds through “sheet mulching”. If you’re not familiar with this method, google it to go down a gardener’s rabbit hole!
Motion seconded! Those look like fantastic mulching boxes.
I know I must have missed a post, but why are you painting the studio floor?
This is the post you missed: https://www.addicted2decorating.com/my-studio-floor-decision-im-going-to-paint-the-whole-thing.html
I like the first floor pattern for itself, but think the second would be calmer in your studio, esp. with the wallpaper. But I’m curious: Are you planning on the same grey/white colour pattern (which is fairly distinct in the Winsome) or are you going for the lighter combo? or something else entirely? It’s great that you are starting on getting this space done and being able to fully use it in the forseeable future. I would love to have a set place for my sewing machine and guess you will love that!
My plan right now is to use the same colors I used on the guest bedroom floor. Those two colors are throughout the house, so I think it would lend to a nice flow from room to room to use it on the studio floor. And those colors are so neutral that the floor won’t fight with the wallpaper.
I am in love with your color scheme! Can’t wait to see your studio.
I’m excited for you! Strangely enough, my mother’s new IKEA kitchen cabinets were also delivered yesterday and I finalized my own new IKEA kitchen order yesterday as well. I’m sure you will get yours together much faster than us and we’ll be watching for helpful assembly and installation tips. 😁
Luv the Jenkins floor– the design and softer coloring allows for creating a great esthetic with your wallpaper and cabinet color, imo.👍🏻🙂
Doesnt your guest bed have painted floors using close to the first pic’s colors? I highly rec that palette. I used what looks like the 2nd and it fights with everything I tty to put in that room.
Those IKEA boxes are a lot! Take lots of breaks and hydrate.
I still love The Winsome Nest floor and option 4.💕 I’m so eager to see how it all turns out.
Take care!!!
What a great space is coming – so much beautiful storage. I can’t wait to see it completed!
I’d ask some of my small group to come 15 minutes early and help me tote and haul. People love to help people they love.
Well, what fun work awaits you. Yep, I am one of those who has been anticipating the studio project. Too bad your loyal fans can’t swoop in and help you with those boxes.
I don’t think you are asking for opinions or votes, but just in case, I like the more subdued Jenkins floor. Subtle yet interesting, allowing the wallpaper to take center stage.
Great choice on the cabinet color, which as you say, may need some tweakifying. Easy peasy for you. It is going to be so gorgeous. I hope you enjoy the process. We will sure enjoy the chronicle to come as you work day by day and report your progress.
My experience with a black and white checked floor was that it never looked clean. All the light color drips on the black tile and then all the dark scuff on the white tiles seemed so much worse that when I had a monotone floor.
I would go with the grey and white.
I’ll be using Behr Polar Bear (white) and Benjamin Moore Classic Gray (a very light gray), which are the same colors I used on the guest bedroom floor.
I wanted to ask you a question about painting a ceiling. I am height challenged as you and every time I paint a ceiling I can see the roller marks. Drives me crazy! How do you do it? By the way, I’m a teal person and also love pink. Getting ready to paint a bedroom Valspar Frosty Berry, ceiling and main wall. So any suggestions you have will be helpful to me. Cannot wait to see painted cabinets!
That’s one of the reasons I only use Behr ultra flat ceiling paint in pure white on my ceilings (with the only exception being the hallway bathroom and music room). That seems to hide roller marks better than anything else, and it helps that I love white ceilings.
Kristi your porch really does not look orange. I mean from the photos it looks lovely. Anyway it will probably darken with age and dirt and then in a couple of years you can have another go at it! I’m glad you’re working on your office space now rather than redoing that porch stain.