(very minor) home improvement

I am happily back in Ann Arbor and tackling the last of unpacking. This has actually been the most difficult stage – the rate limiting factor now is a lack of space to unpack into, not lack of time to unpack. As I moved in, I sold the bulk of my furniture; we resisted buying new stuff for the house since we know our home here is temporary. But we still have too many possessions, especially since we have to save a spare set for when I move to NY and set up a separate household. This has been especially difficult for the kitchen.

Dave made me very happy by setting up last night our newly purchased Ikea items. This spice rack over the sink has freed up a ton of cabinet space for pantry items!

Dave would like you to know that his arms always look this muscular. ;)

And here is our new "buffet/credenza/sideboard":

I really wanted a piece of furniture we could use to display our china and open up more cabinet space for food and utensils. Since we'll probably resell on craigslist, I set a strict budget of $150, which proved to be rather challenging. (Can anyone explain to me why furniture is SO expensive??) So we were quite happy to find this bookshelf for $99, and I think it suits our purposes quite nicely.

As satisfying as these little projects were, I found them kind of exhausting. Ummm, how do people actually FIX UP AN ENTIRE BROKEN HOUSE?? I have no idea.