wallpaper download

Home / All posts

my new AGA range

Posted by dasfseegdse Rabu, 25 September 2013 0 komentar

it has been three months since i have had my range, and i wanted to write a review on it after i felt it was fair to formulate an honest opinion.

here is some basic information about my range:

AGA PRO Plus APRO36DFBN 3 6-inch Dual-Fuel Range, (which means that the cooktop is gas and the oven is electric.)

here is some more detailed information on it that i am too lazy to cut and paste into this post.

we purchased it from an ad we saw on KSL (utahs very own version of craigslist).

we had seen another model in the ad, but when we called and described what we were looking for, we were pointed to this one, (which was recently discontinued) by jerry, the dealer.

when it arrived, it was crated and packed really nicely. the delivery was quick, professional and ON TIME. i was impressed.

just a side note:

we (of course) were on a VERY tight budget while looking for a range. these 36 inch and larger commercial style ranges are NOT cheap. one day, i walked into a local appliance/furniture store and when i asked if they had any 36" ranges for "around 2 or 3 thousand dollars", i felt like julia roberts in pretty woman when she walked into that rodeo drive boutique in her hooker get-up. the sales guy was not about to waste another second on an obviously deluded lady who was looking for a bargain. jerk.

anyway, on with my story....

before we purchased this range, i was not at all familiar with AGA.

(pronounced "AH-guh". yep. i even had to ask a pro the proper pronunciation!)

i had to google the brand and read some reviews to make sure we weren't getting the YUGO of ranges! i read some very mixed reviews on this particular model, but since we got it for such a steal, i wasn't planning on returning it even if it turned out to be the worlds worst range.

first of all, i love to cook, so this thing gets used every day. i have never had a "professional" range before, or a convection oven, so this was a big step up for me.

ok--onto the important stuff:
it's pretty to look at!
ha! just kidding of course! looks aren't THAT important, but i have to admit that i like the way it looks!
i like the simple knobs and display and the look of the door.

the cook top itself is pretty wonderful!
it is easy to clean, has plenty of space for multiple pans and it is very easy to control the temperature. i have been particularly impressed with the lower heat settings (for simmering).
the center area is for a large pan or a wok. i really don't do a lot of stir frying, so i use this eye less than the others. i would have rather had a griddle here, but i cant complain about having an area for an extra large pan!

the oven has two more racks that i have taken out. i think these would only come in handy of you were baking cookies for a small country. i took them out, because otherwise there would be no room for anything taller than a sheet pan or casserole dish. the trays have a telescoping feature, which makes getting things in and out of the oven really easy. removing the racks and changing the position is also really easy. i have read some negative reviews on this model on the glass door shattering, so i have been extra careful not to shut the door unless the racks are completely pushed in.

i am still trying to figure out the convection oven and all of the features. even without the convection on, it seems to cook HOT compared to other ovens i have had. i have stopped using the convection feature, and usually turn the temperature down 25 degrees from what is needed. even then, it seems a little hot to me. i really need to get a thermometer and test it out.
i also think that it takes longer to heat up and is slower to cool down than other ovens i have had...i am not sure if this is just the way "commercial" style ranges are, or because something is up with my oven or what?

this oven has a "weird" feature (and probably one of the reasons it was discontinued!) that i am certain i will never use...it converts from ONE oven into two smaller ones. i stuffed all of the gear used to convert the oven into the lower drawer.

kinda weird, right?
or is it just me?

the storage drawer is nice sized, and if i ever feel like i need more storage in my kitchen, i may remove the conversion kit and pack it up in a box and toss it in the basement. (as soon as my basement is organized. which should be sometime in the next 4 years. ha!)

the knobs are easy to use, as well as the timer and the light. the oven also has a "timed cooking" feature that i have not figured out yet, but i think it would come in handy on those days when i am running back and forth in the afternoons, shuttling kids all over town!

overall, i am really, REALLY happy with my aga range!

if you are looking for commercial style appliances at bargain prices, here is where we found this one:

jerry martin, owner of for your kitchen.

he always has some listing on KSL as well.

we had a wonderful experience with this company and would reccommend it to anyone!

Baca Selengkapnya ....

lighting crush: west elm

Posted by dasfseegdse Selasa, 24 September 2013 0 komentar

just spotted west elms new lighting collection, and i have to say BRAVO!
there are some pretty fantastic finds:

capiz orbit pendants

faceted capiz drum shade

melissa joy manning chandelier

foxed mirror drum pendant

metal honeycomb drum pendant

how gorgeous are these?

Baca Selengkapnya ....

my first stenciling project

Posted by dasfseegdse Minggu, 22 September 2013 0 komentar

all-over stencils are a great way to get a high end wallpaper look at a fraction of the cost of wallpaper. i personally love the way they look, and think they are a smart and budget conscious way to add that extra layer of pattern to a room. since i have been renting for the last 5 years, i haven't tackled a stencil project...until last weekend. i am considering another stencil project for one of my daughters rooms upstairs, but decided to test out my skills in my closet first. boy, and i am glad i did!

after an exhaustive search for the "perfect" stencil, i stumbled onto a site called stencil boss and ended up purchasing this one, called the "ada morocco" stencil. this shop has a great selection, including many stencils that i have never seen before.

i wanted something that was feminine without being frilly, and i loved the balance of geometric shapes and softness of this particular stencil.

i wanted the paint to be a soft gray, and also have some shimmer to it, so i added some gold craft paint to a few gray samples that i had around the house. by the way, the gold paint did absolutely NOTHING to the color. nada. zip. i looked into buying a metallic glaze from lowes, but it was nearly $14 and i decided i would see if the craft paint would give me that slight pearlescent look that i was after. the soft gray was nice, but there was NO metallic sheen to be seen....so, if you want that soft, shimmery look, you may want to NOT be a cheapskate and get the metallic glaze!

anyway, onto the stenciling---
what i thought would take 3 hours took NINE.
yes, nine.
and by the end, i was pretty exhausted and feeling very impressed with all of those other people out in blogland that have attempted this project.
now keep in mind that i was stenciling around all of the closet built-ins and shelving, which make the task quite a bit more difficult than it would have been on a flat wall....but still--it was not easy!

about half way through the project, i had to stop and wash off the stencil, which took nearly 45 minutes, and made a mess out of my kids tub. i was not prepared for how long it would take to get the paint off of the stencil, but really impressed with how well it held up to my scrubbing!

after the major work was done, i realized that i still needed to get the corners!
ei--yi--yi!
it was already 10 pm at this point, and i was getting grumpy.

instead of cutting or bending the stencil to get into the corners, i decided to tape them off and paint a charcoal band around the ceiling, at the corners of the walls and around the closets shelving.

all in all, i am reasonably happy with the way it came out.
would i RATHER have a great thibaut or schumacher wallpaper in there?
yeah. probably.
and maybe one day i will cover up my masterpiece with something that i fall in love with, but for now, i love the dimension and personality that the stencil adds! it makes it fun to get dressed every morning, and adds the perfect feminine touch to a space than many of us neglect to decorate.

(another weird panoramic iphone picture. it was midnight and i guess i was having trouble keeping my hand straight!)

i will have some great finished pictures of this space coming later in the week, so stop back by!

what about you?
have you tried an all-over stencil project in your house?
any tips for me, since i will most likely still attempt another stencil in my daughters room?

Baca Selengkapnya ....

Tips for Creating a Warm and Welcoming Home (a guest post)

Posted by dasfseegdse Jumat, 20 September 2013 0 komentar

When decorating your home you will want to have a warm, attractive and welcoming atmosphere created that you will be able to feel as soon as you walk through the front door. This atmosphere will help you to unwind and relax whenever you are at home which is of course hugely important, but not just this it will also mean that any guests that you have over will also feel welcomed and able to relax too. This is sometimes something that you may have felt when you have visited a friend, and they will have achieved this tone and atmosphere through their interior design style.

There are a number of things that you can do to create this warm and welcoming feel in your home, but generally it comes down to planning and good decoration. It is a good idea to incorporate colours such as deep reds, browns and oranges, and then this works very well with wooden furniture too. It is also important to buy comfortable chairs and sofas but not clutter the area too much, and as well as this it helps to have some personal decoration in the form of artwork, family photos and more.

The Benefits of a Wood Burning Stove

Another top tip for creating a welcoming atmosphere in your home is to have a wood burning stove in one room, as this can make any room feel instantly ‘homey’ and relaxing. We all find fire very appealing and even hypnotising, and with your own wood burning stove in place you will find that you will spend time simply watching the flames flicker. This is not the only advantage however, these stoves can also act as a terrific heat source for your home, and they could help you to save a large sum on your energy bills each month, and this way you are also being eco friendly too.

Wood burning stoves can look great in any home, and you can also find ones that will fit with whatever interior design style you have too. By visiting wood burning stove suppliers, like Glowing Embers, you will find a wide range of stove types like cast iron stoves, contemporary wood burning stoves, enamelled stoves, inset stoves, flue systems and plenty more.

Following these tips will help you to create that all important warm and welcoming feel in your home, and by bringing in a stove you will also be bringing in a fantastic heat source which could save you money as well. This makes it a great investment and something that will add a huge amount to your home in terms of aesthetics and practicality.

Baca Selengkapnya ....

custom closets on a budget

Posted by dasfseegdse Kamis, 19 September 2013 0 komentar

custom closets are expensive. if you have ever played around with one of those online closet planners, then you have probably been astonished at how much it can cost to outfit even a modest sized closet.

however, you can get a high-end, custom look on a TIGHT budget!

let me show you what we did!

since the time we drafted up the plans for our house, we had always planned on building the closets ourselves. (and when i say "we", i really mean my husband allen, and a talented friend of his from work.)
HOWEVER, we had the worst winter here in utah since 1945, which delayed a few important projects during the construction, which in turn delayed us building our closet shelving.
we went ahead with the projects that HAD to be completed, and put a few "non-mandatory" things--like the closets (and door knobs) on hold. you can live in a house without closets, but you might have a hard time passing the inspection without a retaining wall or plumbing!

so, we have been making do since we moved in with drawers and wardrobe boxes. (and there might have been a tension shower curtain rod involved on a small wall in one of our closets as well....)
anyway, we were finally able to complete the closets in the master bedroom last week, and i am beyond thrilled! (you really never appreciate simple things like a place to hang your clothes until you don't HAVE a place to hang your clothes!)

here is another look at the floor plan, so you can see the spaces we were working with:

as you can see, there are HIS and HER closets in the master bedroom, which is something that we have never had before. we may never be able to share a closet again. ha! ha!

one of the things that i knew i wanted in my master closet was a "dressing area". i wanted some drawers, with a mirror and a place to store my jewelry and perfume. these items have always lived near the sink/vanity in my bathroom, and i wanted them to have their own little space inside my closet.

i used the martha stewart closet planning tool here for my preliminary layout:

in order to control the cost, i decided to use a chest of drawers from ikea. after visiting ikea, i decided to use the 4 drawer malm dresser instead of the cullen 5 drawer. i liked the proportions better, and the malm was available in white, which would match the MDF that we planned to use for the closets.

after purchasing the malm dressers, and talking over the budget and layout with my husband, we decided to tweak the plan a bit....
since the malm dresser is wider than the cullen dresser, we nixed the shelf on wall C, and then swapped the location of the long hanging area on wall B.

we purchased an obscene amount of mdf from lowes, and drove home veeeeeery carefully.
the mdf was made into a few boxes, that were then installed on the wall. the most complicated box was the one with the adjustable shelves for our shoes.
in order to make the slots for the adjustable pins, we made a spacer that went on the drill bit. this allowed the holes to be drilled the perfect depth to allow the shelf pins to go in.

a sheet of pegboard was clamped to the sheet of mdf, and the holes were used as a guide.

isnt that handy?

a grove was routed out for the fixed shelves, as well as the top and bottom of the box.

here is the shoe tower, ready to be hung!

the total cost for each closet, INCLUDING the $100 ikea dresser was $300. just for reference---when i priced it out my closet with pre fabricated units, the cost was between $900-1200, depending on the site! so, we built TWO closets for about half of what it would have cost us to buy a single one. not too bad!

**note: FREE labor definitely helped to keep the cost of this project low!

thanks sweetie!

a few progress shots---the pictures may look a little odd. i was playing around with the panoramic shot on the camera on my phone.

sorry i didn't get any more progress shots---as soon as i could, i started to hang up my clothes! after months of not having a closet, it felt like christmas.
i have some great "after" shots coming in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Baca Selengkapnya ....