Storage Three Ways

June has been a slow month for decorating and repairs, but we revamped three spaces (bedroom, office, and dining room) that I've wanted to show off. The looks are completely different but in the end, all rely on the same sort of shaping element of a storage unit beneath a large, statement piece on the wall.

I've posted pictures of my dresser before, but now we've finally hung the mirror. My very talented mom did the tile work herself. We've already had a ton of compliments on it! The stars (like all the stars scattered around our house) are made of paper with a CFL bulb inside. I've seen them all over the place at independent home decor stores. Oh, and the lamp is Ikea (you didn't think I could design a whole wall without some Ikea product in it, did you?):

Design two is my super-amazing craft space in our office. You may remember from this post that I was planning to buy a cabinet with lots of cubbies. I stuck to the same Alve line by Ikea (yes, more Ikea) that I was originally considering, but what I ended up with is a lot larger and has a lot more space for my supplies. It was a much better value too, at $200 for a a 59-inch-wide wall's worth of storage compared to a petite 16-inch-wide set of drawers for $169. Drawers will always cost more than just a shelf and a couple of doors, and I really didn't need the drawers since my things are already sorted into Rubbermaid boxes. On the wall is my long-awaited world map--something I'd wanted since we lived in an apartment and didn't have enough wall space to hang one.

Lastly, our new sideboard, which is a Craigslist find by a local furniture dealer who refinishes things in lovely colors with distressed finishes. It was quite a splurge, just like the Ikea cabinets, but I think it works really well with the paint color and painting. A big plus for us was that it is very narrow--only 14 inches deep. We had limited space to work with and most sideboards were closer to 20 inches deep, which would make for a very crowded room. I also like that it is low enough to let me display my precious samovar. It looks a little lonely but I'm sure we will find other things to set out. The art is by this guy.

Overflow

While working upstairs, letting the mechanical water-mediated clothes thrasher (aka: washing machine) clean some sheets, I heard a strange noise. I went downstairs, holding the all-to-common homeowner pang of fear in my belly (oh lord, what is broken now?). Thirty six of out thirty seven times, it's nothing. Unfortunately this was the 37th time.

The washing machine vents the excess water into the utility sink. The water (and excess detergent) goes down the drain, to the sewer, and eventually ends up in the Chesapeake, contributing to its death. This time the compact was broken - the water (and suds) were just sitting in the sink. If I hadn't come down, the next water dump probably would have overwhelmed the sink. I opened the lid to the washer to pause it and began a series of futile actions.

1. I tried the plunger. That didn't work.
2. I tried to remove the trap. We don't own pliers large enough to fit around the bolt. Curses!

I decide to wet/vac the water out of the sink to let the washer finish. I now know that our washer (on permanent press) fills and empties the basin THREE times. That's a lot of water.

After returning from Home Depot with a big channel plier:

3. I remove the trap and find....nothing. Oh crap.

After returning from Home Depot with an drain snake (less awesome than it sounds):

4. I run all 25 feet and remove.....nothing. Double crap.

Now I'm all out of ideas. I'm forced to call in a plumber. He tries to clear the clog with his drill-powered 25 foot drain snake. Fail. What's next? More power tools of course. He cuts through the drain pipe (shared with the kitchen sink) with a reciprocating saw

and runs 10 foot long heavy duty snake segments through our pipes. He has five of these. The first three do nothing. Halfway through the fourth one, he hits the blockage. He clamps up the cut and I pay him $240.

To delay this from occurring again, I've installed some filters to catch the crud from the washer and other junk we put in the sink.

After the first rinse, I'm already seeing lint being collected.

When doing this load I used 1/3 the recommended detergent and even on the final rinse, there's still a lot of suds.

This article is right, I guess.