My Friend Ebay

So I was seriously distracted for the past hour on Ebay. Not Christmas shopping, but fabric shopping. I never thought of purchasing fabric online just because I prefer to shop in person so I can get a real feel for the texture and color of fabric. But after visiting Aesthetic Oiseau's site (in blog list) she mentioned how she found great fabrics and trims and vintage prints on Ebay. So I checked it out first for some prints to work above my headbord in my bedroom but didn't know if I should go the butterfly, bird or foliage route. Then I moved onto trim for my soon to be curtains and found great things. And then I switched over to searching for new pillow fabric. I was astonished to find Mimi's Sewing Boutique. She has a lot of great prints which all coordinate of course and I got sucked into trying to pick the three best coordinated ones for my living room. I ended up with these by using colors from my rug.

But then I went to the bathroom and regrouped and decided that I would not make this impulsive purchase no matter how much I love the fabric. The colors in the main multi-print are very strong and are a little too bright for my rug. And I don't want to get into the same situation as I'm in now where I love the prints but the colors are just a bit wrong.

So I will take a trip to JoAnne's and buy a yard or two of several different fabrics to make things not so matchy-matchy and maybe a little more subtle but I still want a pop of red/burgundy to pull out the red in my rug and also to take my decor a step away from beach cottage.

Curtains

My blinds from Overstock came yesterday. Overstock is so quick on their deliveries. Ballard Design could learn something from them.

I recieved my first issue of Better Home and Gardens yesterday and as always there are some great articles in it. And so as I was deliberating my curtiain situation I also took note of a few bamboo blinds. It seems in a lot of photos people have chosen a thin, lighter bamboo blind (like ones in photo below). This of course got me rethinking the ones I got. But I don't know wherer the other got these blinds form because all I can find are the ones like I bought. So I reassured myself that I made a good decision and purchase and that these lighter bamboo blinds wouldn't add enough contrast to my decor, or something like that.

So I also decided to buy my curtains and curtain rods from Ikea. I, as you can assume, have been going back and forth on this as well. Do I want curtains with a rod pocket or ones that use those rings. I have decided on rod pocket. I don't have much space between my top windowsill and my crown moulding. So I think it will be best to keep it simple up there with a rod pocket curtain.

I have the ring system in my bedroom and can't figure out how everyone else hangs their curtains so only like half of the ring is showing. My bedroom curtain shows the whole ring and the clip too. I'm not sure what the others clip the clip onto to make it only show part of the ring.

So I'll avoid that issue all together and get rod pocket curtains. But maybe while I'm at Ikea I'll see if they show how the ring curtains are hung just so I know for my bedroom.

So I decided to go with simple white cotton curtains for my living room. And as I mentioned in a earlier blog, I might one day, add some ribbon detail to spice them up.

I spoke to Mom last night and told her about all the projects I'm going to have for her and the aunt(s) to do when they come down over Christmas break. I'm excited to show all the closer to being finished pictures when everything gets put together. I even found cheap chandelier shades at AC Moore last night. I'm thinking about dressing them up with a little ribbon on the top and bottom of each shade. How cute!

Window Coverings

So earlier this week I bought my living/dining room blinds on Overstock. LOVE OVERSTOCK! I wasn't going to buy my blinds until after I got my tax return back but my first choice in blinds sold out so I went ahead and bought my back ups before they sold out as well. Here she is...Ginger.

And since I have my blinds on my mind I've been thinking about curtains. I originally wanted to make my own banned ones like the picture below. So I've been searching for the best deal on linen fabric and doing all kinds of math as to how to make it all work. And then I was thinking about making the header/footer out of print fabric which made my choices even harder. Then I had to find instructions online as to how to make pinch pleat curtains and then add in the cost of materials to make them and it just gives me a headache.

So then I was thinking I would just do solid off white/ivory curtains, but still with pinch pleats. Ikea has very inexpensive and very long curtain panels that I thought about using as my base and then just altering them to make into pinch pleats. But still that adds on more money and time. Then I was looking online for some sort of simple curtain inspiration and found these few images on Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn of solid curtains hung by hooks on the rod.

So I think I have decided to just buy the simple curtain panels from Ikea for like $16 a piece and be done with it. And then down the road if I want to add on detailing like fringe or ribbon or something I can do that as well. But I'm jus tired of thinking about curtains so much.

Pillow Talk

So I think I need to recover my living room pillows. They have the potential to work well my my decor I have going on now, but I think their colors/prints are just too strong to coordinate with my rug. I will have to find some more neutral colors and prints. And I'll pull some of the reds and greens out of my rug (without it being too christmasy) and that will hopefully make my living room look less taken over by blue as well.

Heaters

Be prepared, it's a long one with no photos. But it's also the last of my posts that I had drafted but couldn't actually post to my blog. And as you will notice, those posts also have a different font, etc.

So when I bought my condo the seller gave me a home warranty for a year as a ‘gift.’ I totally forgot about it until I got a call earlier this fall from American Home Shield (AHS) reminding me to check my heaters to make sure they worked before it got cold. I wish I would have remembered that I had a warranty this summer when my living room air conditioner wouldn’t get cold. I can’t remember if it was before or after this call that I learned that my hallway baseboard heater wouldn’t work. When Mom and Heidi were down to do my planting Mom and I reviewed my warranty and thought it was a pretty good deal to only pay $60 for each different discipline technician that came to my place. So Mom suggested I call and have a HVAC person come out and look at my air conditioner and heater. So I made my request online and they sent me a confirmation of two different contractors coming out, making me pay $120. So I called AHS and asked why one firm HVAC firm can’t look at both my heater and AC. The lady explained to me that one was an AC company and the other was an electrician but said she would wave the fee of my electrician. So that was fine with me and we scheduled a time one morning when they would both be there by 10am. So the morning came and the electrician came out and told me my heater needed to be replaced. Ok, just what I thought but now I can get it replaced for free. And then the AC guy came and took a step in the door and said “We don’t cover window units.” I told him my AC was a wall unit, it’s obviously in the wall. And he said, “but it’s a window unit.” And I said “But it’s in my wall.” So he called up AHS and told them that it was a window unit, etc, and then told me that AHS was going to be calling me. So AHS called me just then and then AHS and I had the same conversation that the AC guy and I just had. But it was fine; they waved his ‘service’ fee. So I ended up not having to pay either guy.

Before bed then that night I turned on my bedroom heater and it wouldn’t come on when I just used it the night before so I’m not sure if the electrician did something or it was just a coincidence.

So this all happened on Tuesday and I hadn’t heard from AHS by Friday about what the next steps were so I called them and ask. She told me that the electrician reported that there was no failure in my heater. So I told her that he told me it needed to be replaced and asked what we needed to do to make this happen. So she put in a recall to the electrician company and told me that they would have to send someone else out, again. She also suggested that I call the electrical company as well. So once I got off the phone with her I called the electrical company and told them about the situation and they told me that they would send a ‘senior’ technician out this time. Like that makes a difference to me. I explained to her that it wasn’t fair that I had to take more time off work for their error. So she scheduled me for the following Monday morning which I told her I couldn’t do because the appointment window was from 9am – 1pm. But I was still in the office and lost reception. So once I got outside I called back and the next person I talked to said I was confirmed for Monday between 9am and 1pm, so I explained to her that I couldn’t do that time. And then she huffed about not knowing when the next time was that they could schedule me because they were busy. So she put me on hold while she looked at the schedule for 7 minutes before I hung up.

On Saturday then I got a computer message telling me that I was confirmed for Monday morning between 9am and 1pm so I ‘rejected’ that appointment time and was told that I would be called back within two hours to reschedule. Well Sunday then I got another message saying I was scheduled for Tuesday between 9am and 1pm.

So I called Monday morning and asked to be called a half an hour before the technician come so I could go home to meet them. On Tuesday I kept checking my phone and enver received a call. So at 1:15 I called and asked what happened and was told that the technician was on his way now. And I explained to her that I was supposed to be called 30 minutes before hand so I could get to my condo and she agreed that it wass noted. So as I walked to my car I got another call from the electrical company asking how long I was going to be and I told her 20-25 minutes. And she sighed and said she guessed she would have the electrician wait. And I told her that I was supposed to be given a 30 minute warning.

So I calmly drove home and the electrician followed me in to my place and said he got a nice nap while waiting for me. Great. So he actually fixed my heater and I asked him about my bedroom one not working and we thought that it might work then but it didn’t.

I was hoping to get a new heater, but it was just as well that they fixed my heater still without me paying anything. But I still need to get someone to look at my bedroom heater and am dreading that task but thought I could put it off for a whle.

So I was doing fine with my living room heater and hallway heater eventhough the hallway heater is hard to control. The dial must have been bent and there are no markings for settings but I guestimate. This was all working fine until a few days ago when that heater started to bang, not click, while I was sleeping so I had to turn it off.

So now it’s getting coler and I’m living with only one consistent baseboard heater.

I’m really dreading have to call AHS again to have them send another incompetent electrician out.

But then I thought about just replacing all my baseboard heaters with newer ones since I don’t have any money invested in the ones I have now. And I researched it online and new heaters with individual thermostats only cost about $60 each. That’s not bad for brand new ones. So I’m going to talk to Mom and see if she knows how to install them and will help me.

This causes me a lot of relief that I don’t have to deal with crappy heaters and home warranty company and electricians. So that’s my next plan.

Consignment!!

So I decided to take pictures (on a rare sunny day) of my consignment shop finds. And I felt bad for you, my readers, because I had a few posts in a row with no pictures. So here you go!

An overview.

Chandelier still half wrapped in its original plastic.

Ooh, abstract wheat...which will be painted over.

Beautiful picture frames. The one in the back I'm going to put a mirror in to match a bigger framed mirror I got from Ikea. This one was like 75 cents. And the one in the front is a twin. I got the pair for $1. I also purchased a plain wooden one. Nothing too special about it. I'll probably repaint it.

Modern Electric?

I was reading in the classifieds section of my Parkfairfax newsletter last night about contractors who are offering to install a modern electrical system in our condos and even central air. Oooooooooooh. I would love to just have working baseboard heaters and wall (window) air conditioners. (I have a long and exhausting home warranty story to accompany this subject. Will post at another time.)

But if we’re at the point now where it’s becoming a standard to have updated electrical systems (at least when we sell) then maybe I should get my electrical work done in the kitchen when I redo it. My bathroom electrical is already completed which is a plus. But my living area and bedroom both need to be updated. And then if my electrical system is all up to date then the next step would be to have a modern heating and cooling system.

All which I’m getting very overwhelmed about.

BUT, I’ll just take it one step at a time. Staring out with retiling my bathroom and putting in a recessed medicine cabinet. Simple enough.

Then I can move onto the bigger task of remodeling my kitchen. I was discussing with Aaron how I don’t want to overdo my kitchen and not make a profit off of it. I want to stay with the character of my place and was thinking about keeping my butcher-block countertop and just repair and replace where needed but it might be quite a hassle to find matching wood. While looking at prices of butcher-block countertops I found a few comments where people said that Ikea sells butcher-block. Interesting. I wasn’t planning on going the Ikea route for my kitchen just due to ‘quality.’ But I also don’t want to get custom, expensive cupboards made for my little space. So I’ve been stuck in a dilemma. But Ikea has been showing commercials on tv of their kitchens and they look quite nice and similar to the style I’m trying to achieve. (I posted pictures in a recent blog showing my love kitchen with white cabinetry and basketweave floor.) So I did some research at Ikea online about their kitchens and I can save a couple thousand dollars by buying their cupboards and butcher-block countertop. They also have a great selection of sinks and faucets as well. So I’m all set to go with Ikea as long as I’m still into it when the time comes around. I just wished that I lived closer to an Ikea.

Redo

Aaron had me scared this weekend when we went on a Panera breakfast date. We were discussing house stuff and he told me that the $8,000 first time homebuyer’s tax credit was just that, a credit, and not a refund. I had assumed that it was going to be an additional $8,000 I was going to get back as part of my tax refund. But he tried to explain to me that it was just going to go towards the taxes I owe on my condo or something like that. It made more sense the way he described it to me because they are calling it a ‘credit’ and not a ‘refund.’ I was in a bit of shock about it but couldn’t do any research on it until I got back to work on Monday where I had internet. I should have been terribly upset because I am saving a lot of home projects (blinds, curtains, bathroom and kitchen redo) and trips (Seattle) until after I get that money. But I figured I would just have to suck it up with the money I had and just save more of it so I could put it towards these projects.

But I looked it up on Monday and luckily Aaron was wrong and I was right. Whew, what a relief!

I told Aaron about what I wanted to do in my bathroom and kitchen and the prices I found for materials, etc and what my estimate was going to be to do both rooms. But he told me I was missing the bigger costs of doing electrical and plumbing work and hiring a contractor. Sigh. But he named off several people he knows who have worked with contractors and said that I could probably get a good rate from them. I wasn’t planning on having a contractor for an extended period of time. I don’t think I need one for my bathroom but I need one to hang my cupboards in the kitchen and install my countertop (since my walls have a lot of bump outs). I wasn’t planning on doing any electrical or plumbing work. But maybe I should have my electrical system put into my wall in the kitchen while it is under remodel. I guess I’ll just wait and see how much that will cost when the time comes.

Synopsis

These forthcoming and past posts are going to be in random order. I was having trouble for quite some while with getting Word to copy the text I drafted and pasting it into blogger. But I think I now have to drag and drop rather than copying. So there are going to be a lot of posts coming but I’ll warn you now that some of them do not have photos to accompany them.

Last week was Thanksgiving. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

On Saturday Mom and I were going to run around town and buy stuff for my condo. Well there is this new antiques and consignment shop in Clear Spring that took over our penny candy store. Heidi and I went there before and I got a painting and a silver bowl. So Mom and I went there first on Saturday to see what they had and they had everything. I was so excited! I got my desk, a lamp, chandelier and 4 fabulous picture frames all for $66! Each of these have a story of course. My desk is still in Hagerstown because it’s old and if I were to take the legs off to fit it into my car it would fall apart, but it is definitely an Ina desk full of character. And the lamp I need to spray paint because it has some type of abstract wheat painting on it. And I need to refinish the brass chandelier (like the one in the photo) and buy some little lamp shades and wait for Mom to come down and help me hang it. And I need to collect more frames to hang around my tv.

But it’s a very big step in finishing my decorating and I’m very excited about it!

Autumn Lunch

This past weekend I hosted my first luncheon at my condo and think it was a great success! I completely maxed out my table space and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and stayed until dinnertime. I summoned my inner Ina and prepared a pecan and walnut salad, herb rubbed pork tenderloin, rosemary and garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. I had the ladies bring drinks and desserts and there were plenty to go around.

The cooking was easy, but the whole cleaning and getting my condo ready was what took weeks of preparation. Neighbor James has a maid service come to his condo every 3 weeks and he had me look at his place recently after they came. I told him that maybe when I’m rich, I’ll get maids too. He said it really isn’t very expensive. So I was thinking that maybe I’ll look into jumping on the maid service bandwagon especially for parties I host. I wonder if I get the same company as him, if they can do our condos at the same time and give us a discount.

Shelves!!!

So I figured out what I’m going to do with my blank wall in my kitchen (where the mantle currently is). I was looking through a Better Homes and Garden publication at Heidi’s house this past weekend and got my idea. It’s simple but clever. Shelves!!
Just put a few open shelves on that wall to display pretty dishes, photos, potted herbs, elephant watering cans, and baskets for vitamins and such.

And I have assigned the aunts the mission of finding me a desk for my ‘office’ area. They are frequent auction shoppers and thought that they would be able to find one with character that would be nice for that space. And when I get one I can set up my lamp and actually be able to turn a light on quickly when I enter my house rather than stumbling up the stairs till I find one (light switch works an outlet by my office).

The Inn at Perry Cabin

So I was sorting through my internet favorites this morning, trying to clear out some of the old useless links so my favorites list isn’t so long. I had a link entitled “Kiwi Collection – pretty places” so of course I had to check out the site to figure out exactly what I was talking about. Well to make a long story short, the Kiwi Collection is a site where you can search through the world most luxurious hotels and resorts. And I flagged a image of one of the hotels, come to find out it was for The Inn at Perry Cabin on St. Michael’s Island. It exudes a relaxed but upscale (Chesapeake) beachy vibe. And of course, I couldn’t help but dream of one day owning a place similar to it (but maybe a teeny bit smaller) on the beach where I could escape on long weekends and sit in the front yard in my Adirondack chair with a cup of coffee or tea, just gazing at the water. But don’t worry, you can come and visit.

Kitchen

So I was thinking about what to do with my kitchen floor whenever the time comes to redo it. One of the contractors who I got an estimate from for painting said that laminate flooring would be the best in my kitchen not only because it’s easier to clean, but also because it would be better on my back and legs if I’m standing a lot. And when I cook, I do stand a lot and my lower back pays for it (even though I have laminate now).

So I thought I would look up some images of how smaller kitchens look with black and white tiled floors. And I came across these pictures from Newman and Wolen which look GREAT and also include a lot of the other elements that I want in my kitchen. And I like how the floor doesn’t scream black and white tile. I think it makes it more understated this way. And they incorporated some of the vintage elements into it such as pendant lighting. And they used white cupboards with glass fronts and subway tile as the backsplash.
I originally was inspired by Molly’s kitchen in “You, Me, and Dupree” but wasn’t sold on the flooring until now.
Now I just have to wait until the timing is right to redo my kitchen and hope that I still love this idea as much as I do now.

Rug

So I think it’s time to update.

I believe when we last left off I was complaining about Ballard. Well my ottoman came and I cancelled my rug. But I really liked the rug I ‘bought’ from them but I just didn’t want to have to wait so long for it, especially for how much it cost. So after doing some research I tried to use multiple discounts to ‘buy’ the rug again. Btu I wasn’t allowed to combine multiple offers. So I ultimately bought a rug from Overstock and I LOVE IT! (it's more subdued than the picture here)

I wasn’t sure how the coloring was going to be since it seemed like the comments from people how bought the same rug varied. But I decided due to the price and extra 9% discount I could get, I would go for it and just pay the $2.95 shipping and return it if I had to. Well I purchased it last Thursday and it was waiting on my front steps on Monday. I brought it inside and tried to gently remove the wrapping since I might have to return it but I eventually just cut off the plastic and slightly unrolled it and it’s great! Samson loves it too. He already started to claw at it so I had to roll it back up so he wouldn’t ruin the 2 foot section that was unrolled. Now I’m just waiting on someone to come by my house so I can have help unrolling it and laying it out. And tonight on the way home I think I’m going to get Samson a new scratcher toy so he will play with it instead of my rug.

And I also made some tablecloths and had my summer tablescape completed. I’ve moved onto my fall set up now but am still working on a centerpiece.

I’ll post in progress pictures sometime.

More Ballard

So after I tried to cancel my ottoman and rug I got a phone call from the manufacturer telling me that my ottoman was shipped and therefore couldn’t be cancelled. The woman who called read off my UPS tracking number and I started to write it down but she just kept saying more and more numbers so I figured I could track it on line through Ballard. Well I went online to track the shipment and of course, Ballard doesn’t give you a tracking number, ship date, or estimated arrival date. I assumed it would be at least a week before it arrived due to their slow process with everything else.

When I got home on Monday, there it was, sitting on my porch in a huge box. It is very heavy and large. Maybe a little too large for the space I have for it. But the color works well. I think I just might have to go to Home Depot and get new feet for it so it’s not so tall.

Now I’m just going to wait for another sale to get my rug. I really want that rug.

Ballard has a lot of very nice stuff but their Customer Service sucks. That reminds me to send a comment/complaint to them about it.

Freakin' Ballard Design

So I just spoke to Ballard Design and ended up cancelling my rug and ottoman order. As you should know by now, I placed the order for my rug and ottoman on July 2nd and knew it might take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive because the ottoman is a ‘custom’ piece. Well I called Ballard a week or so ago and was told that both items would be shipped on the 18th. The 18th was yesterday and I got no email update on the status of my order so I checked my order history online today and both items were still ‘in process.’ So I called up Ballard again to complain. Told the woman about my situation. She checked the new ship date and said it wouldn’t be until September sometime. So I told her that was ridiculous and just to cancel my order because that’s just way too long to wait to get this order. So she put the cancel request into the manufacturer. She didn’t know how my ottoman would work since it was ‘custom’ but said I would get a phone call if they couldn’t cancel it.

COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS!

And then I found out last night that my $70 Ikea lamp that I bought about a month ago no longer works. I checked the outlet and the bulb and it’s the lamp itself that died. So I dug around and found my info on the lamp (just assembly instructions and a receipt) and went online today to find out about exchanging it. Well the website said that things can only be returned with the receipt and original packaging. Well I don’t have the original packaging because I was going to keep it. But I’m hoping they will exchange it for me without the original packaging. I sent that as a question to them. We’ll see and if not I guess I’ll have to call them up and complain.
It seems like things with my house either go well or go bad and this week they have been going bad. This past weekend I finally bought the fabric for my table cloth. I sewed it on Monday and stayed as calm as I could when the upper thread on my sewing machine kept breaking forcing me to sew slowly. Well I was ready to cut it in a circle when I laid it across my table to make sure it was all good and found out that it wasn’t the right size. So I screamed. I don’t know if you know how much time I take in planning these things out. I’d been doing the math for weeks as to how to make it. So I took a break and showered and came back and got my tape measurer out and realized that the fabric was 45” wide, not 56” which I assumed it was. So hopefully tonight I will get to go back to JoAnne’s and buy more fabric to sew onto it to make it work. I just want to get it done so I can put my sewing stuff away and reset my table all pretty in case Stephanie comes down to visit this weekend.

I’m so looking forward to watching tv this weekend.

National Harbor

Priya and I visited Ina this past weekend and she made a cake for us!

Well not really, we visited Stonewall Kitchen in National Harbor which carries her products and they had made one of her cake mixes and we tried a sample.

Priya and I had been planning to go for several months and it finally happened this weekend. I didn’t realize how short of a drive it is to National Harbor and how you can just wander around over there and explore.

Anyway, back to Ina’s store. I should have taken more pictures of inside but I only took a few of the ‘kitchen’ they had. There was so much to see and buy. Priya and I tried to touch as many things as we could. I thought it was semi-crowded but Priya felt otherwise. They had several different tastings set out, most of which was some type of cracker/pretzel and dip. Once we finished touring the store we settled on what we were going to buy. Priya bought a bread mix and some dressing. And I was eyeing a mini-tote bag to use as my lunch bag along with some Barefoot Contessa hand lotion and her peach preserves. Priya made her purchase and was given a 15% off coupon and gave it to me to use. So I upped my spending and got the hand soap/lotion and caddy along with a nicer tote bag and peach preserves. They had simple beige totes there with a ‘Barefoot Contessa’ graphic written in light blue which I was tempted to get. The bag I ultimately chose has light pink accents, is a little more heavy duty, and reads Stonewall Kitchen: Est. 1991.

So I made my purchase and received a 15% off coupon as well and hopefully I will get e-mails from them, as long as I spelled my email address correctly.

Afterwards Priya and I wandered through the rest of National Harbor and did couple stuff like take self portraits down by the dock and rode up and down the Gaylor elevator several times and played in the Grotto (just like the Playboy Mansion).

The Gaylord

The GrottoAnd Priya made sure to blame weird paving decisions, or anything really, on Dave-O.

And we mapped out where we would have our wedding ceremony. We found a great spot that overlooked the river but they put a stupid flag pole right in the middle. And you can also hear dolphins if you listen closely enough. (hehe, Priya).

Stupid location for a flag.

Inside the Gaylord.

Silly Little house inside the atrium.

View from the 17th (or 18th) floor.

I was going to post my elevator ride videos but they seemed to take a terribly long time to upload.