Letter Six

Problem Spaces Episode 8 Recap

Ramadan

It’s day 3 of Ramadan as I’m writing this letter and I am not in the flow of things as yet! If you’re not familiar with Ramadan, it’s the 9th and holiest month of the lunar calendar in Islam when Muslims around the world fast from dawn to dusk. No food and no water! So this month is definitely going to be a slow one for me in terms of DIY.

I had big goals before Ramadan started and still plan on starting my kitchen project but it probably won’t be the fastest reveal I’ve done. So here’s the plan:

Build extended upper cabinets above existing cabinets that go to the ceiling
Replace vent hood and make a new vent hood cover
Replace faucet
Repaint all kitchen cabinets

I have yet to measure for the material I need, I’m just feeling so lazy about getting the ladder and going up and taking measurements. Send me all the motivation, guys!!

You know what I’ve already done though? Sample paint swatches. LOL. The best part imo. Here’s a sneak peek into the colors I’ve sampled and I already have a favorite.

Paint Swatches for Kitchen

From L to R: School House White, Drop Cloth, Stirabout all by Farrow and Ball

My favorite from these is Stirabout – it’s such a perfect creamy oatmeal color!

Also, Zaki kept his very first fast ever on the first day of Ramadan and it was a total surprise! He asked us if he could and we told him sure you can try but whenever you feel like you can’t do it please break the fast and eat! He ended up going the whole day and in great spirits! I made his favorite things to break the fast with (Iftar) and we put some string lights on him as a last minute garland, hahah. Back home in Pakistan, it’s tradition to wear a fresh flower garland on celebrations. So proud of my boy, please say a little prayer for him 🙂

Zaki's First Fast!

In other news, Eesa, my almost 2 year old, has been consistently waking up at 5:30am when we wake up to have our pre-fast meal (Suhoor) and insists on eating with us. Of course going back to sleep is always a nightmare after.

I wish you all the best Ramadan ever and I hope all your prayers are accepted ❤️

Until next time!

DIY

In case you missed it: My Media Room Makeover.

If you’ve dreamed of creating the perfect home theater room for your family, I am going to tell you exactly how I designed a cozy space for our home theater with simple DIY projects and elegant design choices. I’ll show you how you can turn a small space in your favorite room in the house!

View Project

DIY

Here’s how I DIYed my garage floating shelves.

Have you ever wanted to get everything off the garage floor and make your own DIY garage shelves? Same! My garage was an absolute mess before I did this easy DIY project. I’m going to show you simple, step-by-step instructions on how to make your own garage storage shelves.

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Decor

Spring Ramadan decor with a Bougainvillea tree.

I wanted to do something different for Ramadan decor this year and had this wild idea of creating a cascading bougainvillea arrangement on my tv wall. Bougainvillea flowers always remind me of home, Karachi, where they grew wild in abundance. My grandma’s home had the most vibrant pink bougainvillea branches intertwining into a beautiful living tapestry over the front gate. Watch the video to see how I incorporated a Bougainvillea tree to decorate for Ramadan.

View Tutorial

DIY

My garage is FINALLY done!!

I’ve been working on my garage for over a month now and it’s FINALLY organized! At the beginning of this year I made a resolution to get my garage/workshop sorted so I could actually do my DIY home reno projects. It took me way longer than expected but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

View Reveal

Ramadan