Tag Archives: Ikea

Home Improvements

IMG_2045Hello and hope you had a great weekend!  I feel like my blogging has been a bit sporadic, but I promise it’s with good reason:  my hubby and I are remodeling our room!  We aren’t doing any heavy reconstruction, but we are upgrading our room design and greatly improving the aesthetics.  The idea really started with a spark of inspiration from all of the records I’ve been posting on Instagram (the “Record A Day” photo challenge).  I wanted a new record player (post here), which then lead to wanting a “listening station”.  While our boy was in Las Vegas all of last week, my husband and I went to work on the room.  We are still working on sorting through all of our things, but two sections of the room are pretty much complete.  Pictured above is our listening station (designed by my hubby), and we are still waiting for my Crosley Executive Portable USB Turntable from Wayfair to arrive (which it should as this posts).  The picture below is the mural of Paris we bought from Ikea (you’ll notice a lot of our new furnishings are from Ikea, as they are practical and attractive).  The little pictures at “The Chen Listening Station” and the mural are the places we went to on our honeymoon.  I will be resuming my normal blogging schedule soon, but I hope you all pardon the interruption!

IMG_2059Photo 1:  Kallax shelving system, floor lamp, letter tray and pictures from Ikea; coffee cup clock from Bed Bath & Beyond; table lamp from Walmart; all records are from our personal collection (the ones on the wall are from my husband’s collection)

Photo 2: Expedit shelving system, mural, bed and bedding from Ikea (headboard custom made by me); clock from Walmart

Wanted: The Crosley Radio Executive USB Portable Turntable

Crosley Exective Turntable

With all of the vinyl I’ve been posting from my personal collection lately on Instagram for the “January Record a Day” photo project (and now the “February Record a Day” one), I’ve been trolling the internet for a stand-alone turntable with built-in speakers that doesn’t require a hook up to a receiver, but that can be hooked up to better speakers as necessary.  I remembered my mother-in-law’s vintage inspired radio from Crosley Radio, and my husband reminded me that they make turntables as well.  After checking out their official site, I found the perfect little record player:  meet the Executive USB Portable Turntable (but I’ll most likely get it from Nordstrom here).  It comes in three color combinations, but I adore this brown & black one because it looks like a vintage piece of luggage.  In addition to the turntable, I’ll be purchasing this cabinet stand, and these shelves to start moving some of our vinyl to our room (our records currently reside on the empty book shelves in our son’s room).  My next purchase from Crosley will be the Audiophile Shelf System (most likely from Target here).  I know Crosley has full consoles with turntable, radio, CD and USB capability combined, but I just can’t get over how adorable that portable one is.  I’ll be sure to post pictures of our mini music area set up once it’s complete!

(Photo courtesy of Vale Vinyl)

Home Brewed

Everyone is trying to save a little here and there, including myself.  Rather than going out on a regular basis to coffee houses to get that specialized espresso drink, try making a home brewed version.  Because of my love of anything coffee related, some of my friends used to think that I have a really pricey espresso machine at home.  I actually have a more inexpensive way to get the kind of caffeinated drink I like whenever I want.  My aunt who lived in Italy for many years (but now lives in Toronto) said this is the only way they made espresso, and was pleasantly surprised to see this is how I make my espresso when she came to visit.

Here’s an idea of how much you can save:  A great new machine from Illy called the Capresso Café Espresso and Cappuccino Machine costs around $159 and uses the E.S.E. pods (pre-filled), as well as regular ground espresso (coffee not included).

Total cost for my home brewed version, including coffee (Ground Espresso Dark Roast $28 for a pack of 2 cans on Illy.com):  $50

The Moka Pot is used to “cook” the espresso on the stove top (basically a percolator).  This sized Moka Pot makes around 4 shots of espresso (1 cup).  Bialetti Moka Pot $20 on Illy.com 

 This battery operated device is from Ikea and will froth milk, making it foamy (for you mommies out there, you can also use it as a formula mixer!).  Produkt Milk Frother $1.99 on Ikea.com.

To create your favorite espresso based drink:  Make the espresso using the Moka pot on the stove top (1 heaping tablespoon of ground espresso, 1 cup of water), medium heat to prevent boiling over; remove from heat once the liquid fills the top portion of the pot.  Heat the milk in a microwave safe cup for about 1 minute, then froth.  Add shots of espresso and flavored syrup to taste (my favorite is Torani).  Serve hot or add ice and enjoy!