Furniture and Nail Pops

It seems like forever since I updated this blog.  Oh wait, I just did that last week!

Things seem to be coming right along.  Our loan was already sold to another bank- on this they actually move fast, smh.

We purchased a few pieces of furniture and got some really good deals.    This time around while looking for furniture, we are being VERY picky and not limiting ourselves to just one store.   I previously posted about these purchases and this is how they look in the home so far....

Morning room still needs a little work.  In the model homes- they all seem to have a sideboard.  I typically think of this only for the formal dining area, so I think I will do a couple of side tables to elevate my potted plants I just purchased today.

I would also like to point out my husband's handy work in installing our ceiling fan

In the family room we did place the leather seating, but I am not quite sure if I like placement of everything.  Hubbie and I can't quite agree on the type of console to put in here and of course I would like some pop of color via accent chairs.  The question is- which color to choose?  I did decide not to cover up those gorgeous wooden floors.  

Oh and I came across this rustic distressed floor lamp!  I will get  couple of table lamps similar to this one to add a little more light to the FR.

And it finally happened- our first nail pop.

Just discovered that they fix these once and one time only- so I will save these for the 10 month review.

Still waiting for RH to finish landscaping my yard.  They regraded the front and side and planted the standard community shrubbery but some how, someway they ran out of dirt to finish the back.  What is it getting shipped in from Italy?  There is PLENTY of dirt around these parts right now.   

Yesterday and another shopping spree

Yesterday we attempted to walk the unpaved trail towards the park that's about 1/2 mile behind my home.  We stopped well before we could even go half way.  Two reasons for this:  the trail was VERY muddy AND we saw about 20 (yes twenty) deer running through the brushes. While  I am not afraid of deer,  I am afraid of whatever was making them run in a panic.  Shhh- listen to nature, lol.

Today was big errand day- and I still didn't get everything that I set out to purchase.  I still didn't get my area rug and now my kids are missing their new lunch boxes and my husband is missing a couple of new tools (reportedly needed to finally install my fan).

The goal was to purchase furniture for the basement in effort to move a lot of the activity out of  view of guests.  We toured our local furniture store Raymour and Flanigan because I already had credit with them and the basement didn't really need any of the custom furniture we had been purchasing lately.  That's when we stumbled upon this http://www.raymourflanigan.com/Product.aspx?zpid=22854 

This was a floor sample so we got the set at a steal of a price.   We also purchased this http://www.raymourflanigan.com/Product.aspx?zpid=21788 for the guest room.

 While the sales person was checking on extending the financing for these items (later discovered my 36 month could have been 48 months- grrr!)  I spotted another floor sample that I thought would be a better buy for the basement http://www.raymourflanigan.com/Product.aspx?zpid=25144. 

 The problem- the basement door wasn't wide enough to allow us to move it downstairs so we purchased it for the family room instead and thus I finally have furniture for this space.   I do plan on getting a few accent pieces but I finally feel that we have enough for the main living spaces.  

A little more shopping

We went furniture shopping again.  This time we only had time to visit one store as Sunday hours around these parts are 12-5.  It took awhile to convince anyone to head out today, but I was determined.

Like before- our purpose was to find beds for everyone.   My kids still want to share a room.  That's fine as they are still young enough that will work.  The other room will be designated as their playroom until they decided they need separate spaces.  Originally we searched for beds that had storage underneath but when the kids kept insisting on bunk beds we agreed on this:

This also comes with a desk. And since toys will not be in the room, we actually have space to add an additional student desk so each will have their own private space.

We included this in the write up

When it came to the master bedroom, my husband and I continue to butt heads.  I couldn't understand his need for a white bedroom.  When I bluntly asked him why- he said because he wants the room to still feel open and light.  That, I can understand.  It's the reason why I wanted those glazed hazelnut Rushmore cabinets so bad.  So I agreed to a distressed type white for our bedroom furniture.  I still can't come to terms with his instance on a queen size bed in the size of the master we have.  He feels that the queen bed is plenty of room and says that when he rolls over he never rolls over onto me.  LIES!  I sleep on the edge rather frequently and yes,an wayward arm or leg does smother me from time to time.  With all that, I didn't argue too much when we wrote the order up for this in a queen:

The distressed look for this brand is called "worn linen".  We also added two night stands but no dresser or chest of drawers.  We plan on customizing our walk in a little later to hold all of our clothes.  Guess I am going to have to down size so he can have space in the closet.  The things we do for the ones we love. *giggle   

Color:  Worn linen

While we were searching through the catalogs for just the right bed for the kids, we sat on this bench

It easily accommodated all of us and was quite comfortable to sit on (to my surprise).  So we added this to the order as well,  to add the extra seating to the morning room table.  

In case you were wondering- no charge cards were used on these shopping trips.  I am not giving that mortgage company any more reasons to hold us up.   This order was just written up- as these items have to be made since we customized them a little.  Once we have the keys- we are heading back to the store to put 50% down on this and to pay for our other little beauty.  

My next major course of action is the appliances and an area rug for the morning room. And lets not forget those darn temporary blinds.  

Lovesick Homesick

I have been trying to occupy myself until I get a chance to see my home again.  I didn't get an opportunity this past weekend as the boys activities completely overtook the entire family.  I have taken to reading my own blog and looking forlornly at pictures of the house that I took.   Yes folks- I am lovesick homesick and its bad.  We have been waiting for this moment for so long and now that's its so close- it seems even farther away! *sigh

To keep myself busy I have been working to fulfill my Etsy orders- which seem to be flowing better this month than the previous months- when I wanted to save more cash!  In any case- I have received a few large orders plus some smaller ones which has sufficiently kept me busy.  Okay not quite- I also started researching perfume making again.  But that process is still way into the future as I will be developing and testing blends for a bit.

The other thing I have been doing is searching artistic pieces- paintings and sculptures.  I originally started on Etsy- looking for one of a kind pieces and generally found one of a kind prices!  Starving artist my foot!  If I really liked the piece it was either from another country ( I want made in the USA)  or it exceeded my personal limit of $200.  That being said I did find a few items.

I then amused myself and took a gander at Amazon.  Surprisingly enough- they do have a fine art section but the prices there were even higher than Etsy.   Lowering my expectations, I decided to look at reprints/ copies on stretched canvas and found a few items that look pretty decent

What did you do to kill time until you got your keys? Holding off on doing a lot of shopping right now but oh how I want to pull out that plastic! 

Plank Tables and Mailboxes 2

I have found few more vinyl decal that I think might be just the thing- fancy and it clearly shows the address

I think I like the first one better, less distraction.  This company offers the decals in different colors but I will probably just pick white to keep it clean and simple.  These were found on Etsy as well.   My husband may think I am off my rocker for this one.

I am home sick today (insert hiss and boo here) and so I have been watching  ton of  HGTV.  I think I want a plank table now for the morning room.  I had originally said distressed but I love the rich hues and tones of a table like this

Or this

Still not sure of the seating for the tables- it must be durable and easy to clean to withstand my boys and their friends.   I am really not a fan of the bench seating that seems to popular pairing with these tables.

Mailboxes

If you didn't know by now- I am a little excited that RH has "planted" my mailbox.

But I also noted that numbers are located on the garage only and not on the mailbox.  I had noticed one of my neighbors had lovely stenciled lettering on the side of their mailbox and had thought that RH homes provides this for ALL mailboxes.  I was wrong.  I knew I was wrong as I took a closer inspection of the mailboxes in my neighborhood and noticed that a few of them had that blocky stick on numbers you get from Home Depot and not the pretty calligraphy invested in by my neighbor.   

In a quest to do something just as pretty as my neighbor  I started searching Pintrest boards and quickly found what I needed on my favorite handmade site, Etsy. 

Here are a few of my finds.   Which one would you vote for?

All of these are from one company back40life.  I like the styles and I like the fact that I can get 2 sides for $15.   In addition I am impressed with the nearly 12K sales, which for me says that they are doing something right.  I will continue to look but I doubt I will find something better.  

Are they done yet?

No- but I am getting little batty waiting for my wonderful home to be completed.  And I thought the wait for them to break ground was bad!
In the mean time in my minds eye, I have been decorating the boys room.  Their rooms are simple- dark wood furniture and their favorite sports teams: Eagles and the Phillies.  On that note look at what I found at our local Target:

These canvas prints are just the thing at $40.  I still want to get one of these Fathead murals:

Still would have to figure out a good paint color for the walls- but I got a year to work on that, sigh.

I would love to have something like this for their beds.  The trundle bed feature would be great for when one of their friends wants to sleep over.  

I am also came across some other printed canvases that just brought out the tom boy in me

Maybe these can go in our basement.  I really like the look of the Spider and Captain America comic book cover.  

For the Interior Decorating Impaired

If you have been following this blog for a bit you know I have repeatedly said I am no good at interior decorating.   I know what appeals to my eye but how to put together myself well........

This is not my current home- just an example of what I usually accomplish 

Drab, bland with very little interest to the room.  And thus the reason for hiring someone to help me pull it together.  That's when I ran across this article from Houzz.  It does some great work of breaking down of where to begin  and how to set it all up.  By the way- join Houzz!  It's a great website and app for everything and anything for your home. 

If you still need help planning your space- get your iPad involved. 

This app is one of the best as you can adjust for YOUR floor plan.  Don't like this app- well just search for Interior Design and I am quite sure you will find something that fits your needs. 

What ever you do- don't feel like you have to rush to get that decorated model home look. Easier said than done.  Take your time- you are planning on living in this home for some time, why not enjoy the process? 

For those of you have this decorating thing done pat- any other tips or tricks you would like to share?  Help us non DIY, non decorating folk out!

The Perpetual Wish List

It seems  like the longer it takes for us to get into our new home the longer the wish list of things we would like to do grows.  The problem: it all requires cash.

Some of the things are simple: like putting epoxy down in the garage or installing a Nest.  If you haven't heard is one the latest and greatest things to hit the environment control market.  So much so- the second generation now has competitors- the biggest form of flattery.   This plus the whole house humidifier and the whole "built smart" concept of Ryan should make heating and cooling of our home only slightly more expensive than what it costs to do the same in our 1955 row home.  Now this is amazing as the new house will be 4X the size of the current one.

If you hadn't notice- you can control this thermostat with your smart phone AND it learns your preferred comfort level.  Plus a rocket science degree is not required to do a professional install.  The down side: this unit costs on average $250.

Now I was gun ho and ready to use the free design services that I discussed in previous post.  My husband said "No". Why? Because he didn't want to be roped in to using just their furniture.  He wants to go back to my original idea of hiring a interior designing.  I know, I am the outcast of the RH blogging world, being that I am not some DIY, decorating guru (oh how I envy you!) but again that is just not in my skill set.  Ask me to make you soap, or lotion or hair conditioner and I am all over it.  Just don't ask me to decorate.  I know what I like- I just don't know how to pull it together, to make it cohesive.  But interior decorators are expensive and I dare just one them to talk about my maple glazed cabinets.

Here comes my husband with a solution. Homepolish is relatively new process (2012) that matches you with an interior designer at mid range prices.  You can control as much or as little of the process as you want as long as you pay by the hour.  I knew there was a catch!  Now hear me out- you also get access to their vendor discount.  You can look through the vendors yourself or have them do it for you.  You can even have them go shopping with you to pick out furniture pieces or accessories.  1 hour consultation fee and a minimum 5 hour booking will cost you at bare bones $550.  This company is located in a few select cities- so check out the site to see if you may be lucky enough to live nearby.

This may not be an option for all of you- but my husband insists that he has a hand in decorating (WHY?!).  He is a modernist and I am a traditionalist. I like neutral to light schemes with pops of color.  He likes dark wood tones and dark colors.  We need durable and comfortable.  You can see where this headed.  So hopefully hiring the designer will help us blend our tastes.

I promise that I will show you pics of everything we do.

List of Companies that offer FREE Design Services

I read alot of blogs where not only are they building a fabulous home they are excellent DIYers and home decorators.
Let me be clear- my main set of skills lie in medicine, everything else is happen stance.  I know what I like- but how to tie them together without making a complete brown mess, on that, I am clueless.  Thus I was excited to find a company that would offer FREE (yes FREE) design services.  That company was Calico.  The more I searched the more companies I found offered the same service. This is a list of  free design services with and without the purchase of products


Lazy Boy

Calico

Pottery Barn

West Elm

Ethan Allen 

Bassett

Laura Ashley

JC Penney


These are just a few national chains.  There are plenty of local furniture stores that offer the same service.  The idea?  To get you to spend money in their store!  So if you have trouble (like me) pulling your home's look together but really only have enough for furniture pieces and not some fancy design consultant then this may be a viable option for you.

Happy Decorating!

Master Bedroom Ideas

Wow wee!  I found this great site that had some great master bedroom ideas.  So I will post the ideas that I liked the best.