Category: House & Home

Online ordering is starting to suck

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*Sigh* We’re really having bad luck ordering stuff for our home online lately. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. The problem is, we’re finding it extremely difficult to find the things we want anywhere BUT online.

I didn’t mention it before, but the votive holder for above our fireplace we ordered from JCPenney arrived the day before we left for Arizona, but it was damaged. There are little mirrors in the leaves and one was cracked right through. I called customer service to see if they could just send us a new mirror piece (since it just glues on), but they could only exchange the entire item in full. Luckily we were able to take it back to the catalog department in the JCPenney store by our home this past Saturday instead of shipping it back to them. The cool thing was they forgot to recharge us for shipping. It’s due to arrive tomorrow, so cross your fingers it’s in good condition, or I think I will have a coronary.

You see, today our audio stand from buy.com arrived … in ruins, that is. In fact, it looks like it was repackaged after someone else returned it. Several of the wood pieces are cracked, split, and water damaged. WTF? Why would they do that? Joe was so pissed off, he wanted me to call them right away to complain, but I was busy making dinner. Furthermore, they don’t care. So I just went online and obtained a RMA # so that they can eat the $75 shipping cost to send it back to them. I also requested a credit because I’m not taking a chance on getting another damaged one. The damage was so extensive I am shocked at their audacity. I guess at this point we’re just not meant to own the Tech Craft SF50 Sculpture Series Audio Stand, because we can’t find an online store that does proper business. What a royal pain in the ass!

We got stove

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I so do not want to go back to work tomorrow. We didn’t do much yesterday because we planned to run errands today, but we totally forgot today was Easter. Can you tell how religious we are?

Target was closed so that kinda messed up our plans. We did buy our new stove from Lowes, however. It was fun trying to get that thing through the door but Joe managed. I did a thorough cleaning of the kitchen and dining room afterwards since we made a good mess.

The only thing that sucks is that the gas pipe to the stove gets in the way of pushing it against the wall so there’s a gap there that’s rather annoying. I put a photo up at the new and improved Home Photos page in case you’re interested. I also added some new photos of the kitchen.

I really need to update all the after photos of our place as it’s changed a lot since I took the current photos. I think I have some dust on my camera’s sensor, though, because none of my photos, even with the flash, seem to be coming out very clear. I hope it’s not some back or front focusing issue because I just don’t feel like dealing with Canon and shipping my camera to them. The lens I own is cheap, so it may just be a combination of sensor dust and a poor lens. I need to look into the proper way to clean the sensor and also buy a better lens soon. I feel so inadequate with this new camera. It almost makes me miss my Nikon just because I knew it so well.

Decor decision

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I ordered a large votive holder from JCPenney yesterday to decorate the space above our fireplace.

We’ve also decided to extend the off-white color we used to paint two of the dining room walls to the third dining room wall and the connecting wall with the fireplace in the living room. Hopefully it will give us the contrast we were looking for without looking strange since the large wall that runs the length of the living room will remain white.

I know Joe isn’t looking forward to painting because it involves a lot of cutting in due to the windows and whatnot, but I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Maybe if we’re lucky it will all be done by the time we have the boy’s birthday party two weeks from Saturday. You never know, it could happen!

Oh and you know I’ve got him in my line of thinking when it comes to decorating when he was the one who pointed out how I can change the color of the votives to match the seasons and holidays. I hadn’t even thought of that!

Meet your neighbors

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We visited another open house in our subdivision Sunday afternoon. This model was only a two-bedroom, so it wasn’t anything like our place, but it still made us feel proud of how much nicer our place looks. When we bought our place, we may have not been thrilled with the blue carpeting and walls, but it was still more appealing than this place. It just seemed rather worn and outdated. Plus all the walls were a faint mauve which made me feel like we were in a funeral home.

We met the people who live next door to the place that is for sale; they are original owners so they’ve lived there for 15 years. They were very nice, and quite vocal about the association and the crap they’ve been put through over the years. If I didn’t already live there, I’d be weary about moving in after the stories they told us. The woman kept saying they would like to move, and I was thinking “heck yea, you should if you’re that unhappy.” Plus they would make a lot of money on the sale I bet.

Man, I love open houses! It cracks me up how many nosy neighbors were checking out the place: all the addresses on the sign-in sheet were from our street! I think it’s human nature to want to see how other people decorate or keep up their unit. Our next door neighbors have mentioned more than once that they’d be interested to see what changes we’ve made since we moved in. We keep putting them off since we’re still not done. It’s another reason why I still haven’t had a housewarming party. At this rate I’m not sure if I ever will. I’m too neurotic and I’d spend the whole time obsessing that the carpet or furniture would get damaged in some way. Not that I have wild friends, but you know how people are when it’s not their house.

Wall Decor Ideas Needed

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20050307-001_t.jpg We need some ideas of where to look for decorative wall art for above our fireplace. While I like the white mini blinds, everything looks quite stark and bland at the moment. I want to fill the space with something that isn’t perfectly round or square. So far we’re leaning toward this. Of course, it’s backordered at the moment. :p

Oh and while you’re at it, I’d be interested to hear what you think we should do to spice up the mantel. I really hate that wood finish. I want to paint it, and am leaning toward white, but then I’m worried about how plain it’s going to look with all that white. That wall is difficult to paint because it flows into the dining room, so we were planning on leaving it white for now, and we’re going to paint the trim underneath the windows white.

Your thoughts?