So we made our trip to Ikea this weekend, and this was my first time every going there... our Ikea is 1 hour away in Atlanta, not a trip we make a lot... but I am in love! I want an Ikea in our area sooo bad! I know you can order online, but their shipping costs are through the roof, and it's just not the same as going in that amazing store! But we got the pantry, and it will be fully put together tonight -- hopefully! I will get it stocked, and the kitchen will be almost put back together -- still eliminating a mouse or two, so our pots, pans, and tupperwear are strewn about... But I will post pictures soon! Finally... after almost 2 months, I can get my kitchen the rest of the way out of boxes! Woo hoo!
So the pantry doesn't match the kitchen - wrong stain... but it met the other 2 criteria - under $300 and made of real wood... I can always restain it or paint it later... in fact I'd like to reno the kitchen cabinets and paint them either white, and paint the walls a light green... of course this will be a future project, EXTREME future, but for now, it's functional and it will do the trick... I was just glad to get a sturdy piece of furniture, not made of particle board, in our price range! I heart Ikea.
For our colors we're going with Home Depot's Behr paint. Walls will be Torchlight 290B-5 to really brighten up the dungeon of a basement. Ceilings & trim will be Vanilla Delight W-B-220, also to make things brighter. The floor, if we go with the final decision to paint instead of put in tile, will be Brown TeePee 700D-4 for a neutral color to bring things back down to earth.
So we've come a long way in the past month and a half... and it feels longer than that! We moved on October 31, 2009 (yup, Halloween...) We had to move, paint, and trick or treat all in one day! Well it took 2 days to finish painting, but we weren't moving anything into those rooms anyways. But we'd come a long way, if everyone recalls the trouble we had closing on the house to begin with! Clear to say I had plenty of time for pre-planning...
So we lived in the family room, and the kids camped out on the living room floor on a matress & in a play pen... it's suprising how much stuff you really can live without. We lived out of boxes, clothes baskets, and suite cases for that week, and we had hardly any food in the house... 
The new carpet came, and we could finally move all the way in... the unpacking began - a 2 car garage full of boxes... We still aren't 100% out of boxes, but we're close! And hubby didn't think we'd be this far in this short of time... but I was determined to be most of the way moved in & have the house decorated even a little bit for Christmas! I knew Thanksgiving wasn't going to happen... But I reached that goal. 10 days until Christmas and the tree is up, outside lights hung, wreath on the door, stockings hung, and even a few extra indoor decor spread around (pictures coming soon, I promise)... presents are 95% wrapped... 100% purchased (well mine, hubby still has some shopping to do this week...) I think I've outdone myself considering we just moved in the house not even 2 months ago. :-)
