Kitchen Upgrade: Recycling Bins

Just a quick update: we replaced our large Ikea recycling bins in the kitchen with slightly smaller, more svelte recycling bins. Check out the new trash/recycling center in the kitchen:


Those are 2 units of Ikea's Retur line (large size). We like them quite a lot.

They are screwed into the wall, and they open to accept containers (top) and paper (bottom). Then the whole drawer thing actually comes out entirely for easy emptying. I think this is a nice upgrade. They're smaller in terms of footprint, but still hold a fair amount of recycling. We've moved the big bins out to the back porch for the occasional big recycling times.

Improvements, Swedish Style

So I finally got to IKEA the other day while Jake was on Lucy-duty, and I (surprise!) made a few purchases. We got a new dresser for Miss Lucy, but of course, we have to assemble it, so it will be a while until it appears in her room and/or on the blog. But in smaller, easier-to-install projects, I have two:
First, new curtains for the pink room.

Here is a close-up of the pattern:

I'm not sure about them yet -- whether to hem them long or short, or really, whether they're an improvement or not. The old sheers were OK, but they were too short, and on very sunny days, they offered little protection. I think these curtains are better on both counts, but I'll need some time to get used to them.
Small improvement Number Two: New recycling bins for the kitchen:

A huge improvement over the cardboard boxes we were using.