Category Archives: The Home.

Paint by Numbers UPDATE.

Posted on February 1, 2010 | Leave a comment
I received this in my mail today at work:
 
 
No note. No explanation.
 
Just a deluge of swatches from my mother.
 
Very pretty colors ranging from “Bluestone” to “Lyndhurst Celestial Blue” to “Sea Tickle.”
 
Sea Tickle. 
 
I could not make up names any better than that because, as you can imagine, I have often found myself gazing out over the city skyline just wishing I could be sitting in a room that reminded me of that feeling when the sea tickles my toes in Nantucket.
Please note that I have never been to Nantucket and that the color “sea tickle” is a very light green/turquoise … a shade I have never personally seen the sea resemble.
I wonder whose job it is to name paint colors and how that comes across on a first date?

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Posted in The Home.

Paint by numbers.

Posted on February 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

I drove to Home Depot yesterday with all the confidence in the world. All I needed to do is pick out paint for the living room. Easy, right?

Wrong.

First, a sale sign in one of my favorite boutiques detours me. A super sassy strapless black number and a cute blue satin shirt later I have not only delayed my Home Depot arrival time by an hour, but I have also blown my shopping budget until next pay day. (And please note that pay day was Friday.) Quasi Fail.

Next, as I pull into the parking lot of Home Depot I realize my tummy is growling. I walked in the direction of Starbucks, aiming for a healthy granola and yogurt snack, but alas, the bacon grease and stale coffee smell of Waffle House is too strong. Two scrambled eggs, hashbrowns with ham, dry toast with grape jelly? Don’t mind if I do. Random side note: I love eggs. Scrambled, fried, poached, you name it. I should be a spokesperson for the incredible, edible egg.

Finally I could procrastinate no more. Candy is going out-of-town for a week and I will only have her expertise for a few short minutes today. Besides, Home Depot was a mere 100 yards away and to skip it now would just be lazy.

So, off I went and oh my sweet Jesus there are a TON of different options.

I walked out with a stack of cream-colored swatches. Mind you, not one of them is named cream per se but rather with various cute versions that create the idea of cream – from milk to toffee to tobacco road.

This is Candy gets paid the big bucks.

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Posted in The Home.

Sisterhood of the traveling rug.

Posted on January 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

According to UPS my rug is having a hell of a week racking up the medallion qualification miles.

ATLANTA, GA, US 01/27/2010 10:33 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
MESQUITE, TX, US 01/26/2010 8:39 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
  01/26/2010 12:50 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SALINA, KS, US 01/26/2010 4:07 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
  01/26/2010 12:32 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
COMMERCE CITY, CO, US 01/25/2010 2:31 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
  01/25/2010 8:52 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, US 01/25/2010 12:07 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, US 01/22/2010 8:37 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

I guess Overstock.com is not concerned with its carbon footprint. Or being speedy.

Regardless, my much anticipated rug is solidly on its way south and into my life. And once it arrives we can pick out trim colors and get this show on the road.

My only concern is that it might be too long. I was supposed to get a 9×12 but ended up with a 9×13 because of the price.

What can you do? Except hope and pull out a pair of scissors.

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Posted in The Home.

Matchmaker, matchmaker.

Posted on January 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

I am really (no, really) trying to stay on budget. But who knew that this stuff cost so much money?

I fell in love with a couch over the weekend. It was light-colored (somewhere between ivory and grey) and micro suede. It was comfy and modern without being too contemporary.

And it was only $1200, which came with a lifetime warranty. It was perfect.

Until I looked at the length. Hmm. I was told to find a 76″(ish) one.

I called Candy, who was on vacation but this was a very important decision. This couch was originally $2500. Clearly I could interrupt her beach time for an emergency. 

(I am such a brat.)

  • Me: I FOUND IT!
  • Candy: Found what?
  • Me: THE MOST PERFECT COUCH EVER! (I really was this excited. I was saving over a grand on the couch and couldn’t be happier.)
  • Candy: How long is it?
  • Me: I don’t know. It doesn’t look that big. Regular couch size.
  • Candy: Look at the tag.
  • Me: Oh. Hmm. It might be too big.
  • Candy: How much too big?
  • Me: It’s eighty-eight inches.
  • Candy: GOOD LORD WOMAN. That is huge. Entirely too big. You will have a pretty room with a couch in it. That’s it. No end tables. No chairs. Nothing. Just the couch.
  • Me: Really, it’s such a good price and a nice color and it looks fine.
  • Candy: No. It looks fine because you’re in a giant design studio and not your tiny little condo. Walk away. There will be other couches.

The thing is, she’s right. There are other couches. There are a lot of other couches. And all of them are very pretty and very expensive.

I’m starting to think that picking the right rug and colors and occasional tables is harder than finding a mate. (And don’t get me started on occasional tables … occasional what? occasionally use? occasionally laugh at how ridiculously expensive it was? I don’t want an occasional table. I want a dependable, straight-forward loving table who will not get mad when I leave dishes out all night and will always be there when I get home.)

Is there an e-harmony for couches? Could I fill in a little questionnaire and have the computer tell me what my perfect fit would be?

Problem is, I did eharmony once. And damned if that stupid computer program not tell me I was too picky and I needed to be more open-minded if I hoped to find a mate online.

Touche.

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Posted in The Home., Uncategorized

Rug pulled out from under me.

Posted on January 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

It is nearly impossible to find the perfect 9×12′ rug that I want that isn’t $2000.

You would think that with the literally millions of websites out there hawking stuff this would be easier. But no. No one – not Overstock.com, not Nextag.com – has the design I want in the color I’d like and in the size I need.

I’m getting a migraine.

UPDATE: I bought a rug. It’s not the perfect rug, but it’s solidly $1,000 cheaper than the perfect rug, which makes it perfect for me. And it’s rather attractive and goes well with the theme I’m going for in the room.

Friends, meet my new area rug.

Area rug, meet friends.

Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship. And if not? I found this beauty at Overstock.com and so I’ll deal …. at least until Christmas.

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Posted in The Home.