Tag Archives | furniture
3
Sep

Found my camera battery charger!

posted by , September 3, 2010

Hooray! I found my camera battery in the bottom of one of my purses, and I was so happy to discover it there. Relief! Now for the big reveal of a few things.

Here’s the coffee table base that just needs a piece of glass on top. Or a mirror, I guess, if I were so inclined. But I think I’ll go with glass so I can get safety glass.

I moved my grandmother’s green buffet from the front entryway into the living room. Admittedly I am a little shocked that the TV took up the entire space. I really didn’t imagine that it would. It’s a lot taller than our old IKEA cabinet that the TV was sitting on previously.

So in the entryway, I put the campaign-style desk that I had purchased off of eBay. I kinda like it there. Just a different vibe. Oh, the runner in there is at the rug cleaners’. It got lipstick on it. :(

However, there is a toy-a-palooza going on now on the fireplace. I swear the toys reproduce and multiply overnight. I don’t even know how they get this out of control. I totally hate it. A plastic explosion.

The books don’t bother me. I’m thrilled to pieces that Jude loves books, so I have no problem having books lying about anywhere and everywhere.

But sometimes I just get so sick and tired of picking up the same toys over. and over. and over again. Like footballs.

So my mom got me this at Hobby Lobby and I love it. It’s so true:

See, before, the toys all lived inside the TV cabinet. They were hidden. Said TV cabinet is relegated to the corner for the time being, along with the old kitchen table. The kitchen table will go upstairs for crafts, etc. BUT, the old iKEA tv cabinet is going the way of the dodo. Or Craigslist.

All in all, I guess I am grateful for the hail storm because it allowed us to change up things, and it was all covered by insurance. Hooray for insurance!  Rug by Madeline Weinrib. Drapes found on clearance at Ballard Designs. Coffee table was previously in the other living room – an estate sale find for $30.

I’m trying to interject pops of turquoise into the room to link the front living room and the entryway with this room.

Also, I would like to say thank you to everyone who chimed in with their opinion on the dining room chair makeover! After much hemming and hawing and indecision, I went with the cream. It matched our cabinets and it will be easy to match fabric to at some point. For the time being, I haven’t planned on recovering the chairs because (1) they’re pleather and easy to clean and (2) my child likes to smear nutella and peanut butter right now. So I’m probably not going to freak out too badly if he does it on these chairs for the moment. I’ll recover them later. I also need to paint the table base. I did all the painting of the chairs while Simon was out of town, and I just couldn’t get the table out of the door all by myself without doing damage to myself or the table or the house.

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2
Sep

Coffee Tables, etc.

posted by , September 2, 2010


You know what would be cool? Finding my camera battery charger. That would be cool. Because I have so very much to photograph and zero battery life left on ye olde camera. Hmmm.  I’ll continue to turn the house upside down til I find it.

Anyway, last week was a real doozy what with work busyness, Simon going out of town, and more. On Wednesday, my coffee table was delivered from HSN. I’m glad I held out on ordering it because it went on a great sale, so I really saved a lot of money. A pleasant surprise.

But you know what wasn’t a pleasant surprise? Opening that sixty-pound box up (literally 60 lbs) and finding the glass shattered into a billion tiny pieces.

Oh, did I mention that I opened up the box on top of the new rug that was the replacement for the old rug that had glass shards embedded in it?! UGH. Thankfully the glass was enclosed in a plastic bag so there was no more glass to be scattered about the floor and caught up in precious 2-year-old feet.  I’m also glad that Simon’s brother was here to help me clean it up. I thought, “Wow, what a pain this is going to be to pack up this broken glass and lug it to UPS and then have to ship it all back to HSN. No way.”

I called HSN and they offered me that very option, but they would refund me  the cost of having UPS come to the house and pick up the glass and table. Hmm. Ok. That’s reasonable enough. But then, the super-helpful and incredibly friendly HSN rep said, “You know what? I have a better solution. I would be so mad if this had happened to me. If it’s okay with you, why don’t you call a local glass company and ask them for a quote on how much a piece of glass like that would cost? Then call us back, speak to the supervisor, and we will refund you that amount back to your credit card. I’m just so very sorry this happened to you.”

NOW THAT’S CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I couldn’t believe my ears. So I called a local glass co., got my quote, called HSN back, and not only did they refund me the cost of the glass at $60, but they also gave me an extra $5 for my trouble.

Honestly, I cannot remember a time in the recent past when I have had such excellent, superior customer service. Each rep I spoke with was friendly, helpful, apologetic, and easy to talk to. So I give mad props to HSN. Was it lame that my glass was broken for my new table? Yup, but I did walk away with a newfound appreciation for a company I had never given a second glance at.

Well, I would show you what my coffee table – sans glass, for the moment – looks like in the living room, except for that darn battery charger. So I guess you’ll just hafta wait.

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26
Aug

Opinions, Please!

posted by , August 26, 2010

Ok, I’ve been trying out different colors of paint for the chairs and table I got at the ghetto resale shop the other day.  Could you please give me your opinion on which you prefer?

These are really terrible iPhone photos, but my camera battery is dead. So, we go with what we’ve got. None of these colors look totally spot-on like they do in real-life. The blue/green is really more gray-green, and the dark one is actually a gray brown. Ugh. The chairs look much more yellow in this photo than they do in real life. Anyway.

Any thoughts? I welcome any and all!

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25
Aug

Huh? Sears?

posted by , August 25, 2010

I have entered a parallel universe. I cannot – CAN NOT – believe this is from Sears.

At $222, that’s unbelievable. Too good to be true? I’m really curious on the quality.

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24
Aug

The Find of All Time

posted by , August 24, 2010

Sometimes the stars align and the heavens open up and shine down upon you and it is the perfect moment when you find The Item of All Time. Of All Finds. Of Such Utter Fabulosity You Cannot Contain Yourself.

That’s what happened to me yesterday. I was driving in a somewhat ghetto part of town after leaving the fairgrounds to shop a kids’ consignment sale and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a chair sitting out in front of a run-down strip mall that once housed a Chinese restaurant, apparently as it was still covered in Chinese decor. I about screeched the brakes as I did a u-turn and pulled into the parking lot.

There I found not one, but six faux-bamboo chairs and their matching dining room table. I quickly shot a photo w/ the camera phone and texted it to Simon. He was like, “YES” and I bargained with the owner and got such a ridiculously SICK DEAL that I still cannot believe it.

I ran down the street (erm, drove – not actually ran, although I probably could have, I was so excited) and went to the ATM, and came back to seal the deal. Simon came to load up a couple of the chairs. We’ll have to go back today to get the table because it simply wouldn’t fit in either of our cars after that.

Anyway, six chairs are now sitting in my kitchen and I am thrilled to pieces. They’re original Thomasville, I’m guessing from the 1970s. I’m going to refinish them and I’m trying to decide what color I want to paint them. They’re a little beat up right now. I’m thinking either a creamy white, pale green, black, or maybe even a dusty blue. Any opinions out there on what would be a good fit?

Here’s some inspiration photos of painted furniture in dining rooms that I LOOOOOVE.

Jonathan Adler for Liz Lange

Not a dining room, but a gorgeous color on this painted piece.

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