HANGING ONTO THE PAST

As I mentioned in yesterdays entry, we've made a long list of house projects we plan on attacking this summer and after reviewing it I felt a bit like the executives at Toyota; overwhelmed, exhausted and no idea where to go next! I had to remind myself, as I do anyone approaching big projects, to focus on the little pieces that make up the bigger puzzle. Attempting to fix everything at once will only produce negative results. The new room we've created by removing a wall between our old entry and old kitchen to create a Den/Family Room/Parlor (we have no idea what to call this room) has come a long way from its humble beginnings, but we've got a lot to do to bring it back to life. Take the electric work, for example. The old kitchen had track lighting which, while hip and trendy in the 80's and early 90's, needs a face lift more than Joan Rivers needs another tuck! If you've worked with an electrician you know they can cost as much as a European vacation, so this good German headed to my favorite Swedish store for a simple, modern, inexpensive solution. Ikea sells track lighting conversion kits (sounds complicated but isn't) which allows you to purchase any Ikea hanging light fixture and plug it into a track lighting system, quickly updating your rad pad. Can't get off the 80's track? Not a problem...they're still trendy!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: One minute to install

COST: Must be used with an Ikea hanging lamp. Purchase both at http://www.ikea.com/ or in-store. Adaptor is $7. (simply plug light into adaptor and slide adaptor onto track)

STRESS LEVEL: Embracing my past to give myself a bright future: LOW