Checking Things off the “I Should Do That” List

This past Sunday I had the house to myself while Garrett was at work. As tempted as I was to just crash on the couch and catch up on some TV shows, I knew I’d be kicking myself come Monday morning when I didn’t have anything done.

I dug out my beloved power drill and started chipping away at the “I should do that” list. You know, that list of things that you think of doing every time you walk by, but never have the time. Well now I had the time and I was going to do it!


1. Install a Kitchen Towel Rack

Ever since we moved in, we’ve been hanging our towels over the cupboard door below the sink. As handy as this was, it was also a bit of an eye sore. And if someone was washing dishes you kept having to ask them to step back every time you needed to use the towel.

We picked up this BYGEL Towel Rack from IKEA for $3. I put it on the wall with the spice racks, by the fridge, which is just behind you when you’re washing dishes. Now I just have to turn around to grab it.

It works well with the fixtures in the room and it was wide enough to hold two towels – one for hands, one for drying dishes, which I prefer.

2. Spruce up the Kitchen Decor

Above the sink, I freshened things up too. My Andy Warhol “John Wayne” print finally found a home in the kitchen, tucked in beside my little red Le Creuset tea pot. My stack of current favourite cookbooks (Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond, My Father’s Daughter by and How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson), sit under a vintage-style milk jar full of flowers. Another faux plant, along with my white birdie salt and pepper shakers take up the right side.

3. Fix the Garbage Bag Holder

We installed this under-sink garbage bag holder right when we moved in last October, but sometime around Christmas it fell off the door (too short of screws). Since then we’ve just hung a bag on the cupboard door knob (classy, I know) and then just hid it under the sink if company stopped by,

To fix it, I drilled new holes, filled in the old ones and then screwed the unit back on…with longer screws this time. We’ve also made a deal not too let it ever get heavy enough that it would pull out again.

4. Hang more Artwork in the Living Room

Another picture that found a new home is my New York building frame I picked up from IKEA years ago. It used to sit above the bookcase in my old apartment and its been hanging above my dresser in the bedroom for the past few months, but it never felt right there.

I brought it into the living room to test it out and immediately thought it should go here, above the TV. A quick install of a hanging hook and it was up. Its hard to see in this photo, but the proportions work really well on this side of the room. Do you recognize our TV stand? Its the bench from the landing at the old apartment. I love finding a new use for a piece you love.


5. Hang Pictures in the Front Hall

The last little fix up was a total fluke. I came across this picture while I was going through some frames for our upcoming gallery wall. It’s a picture I took during a trip to Greece in 2009 with two of my former roommates, as they skipped down that pathway of a garden in Athens. I always smile when I see it.

I hung it up here in the front hall and then felt like something was missing – my bird hook! I’d been looking for a home for it since we moved in and now I had one. Its perfect for hanging Whiskey’s leash and collar. Now we don’t have to open the closet door (which sticks right now) when we want to take him out for a walk.

I know it looks a little weird, but we don’t keep Whiskey’s collar on when he is in the apartment. Why?

June 2009

When I first got him he had a ton of neck hair with little tuffs of white fur under his chin, but over the past few years it all wore off from his collar rubbing on his neck.

August 2010

Tonight, Whiskey and I are headed to my parents’ house to grill up some burgers with my Dad and help him paint their basement. It’ll be nice to help him get something checked off his own “I should do that” list. Without my mom around to veto a movie choice, we may even watch a horror film afterwards.