Rug swap

Rug love from Overstock.

We decided we like our newly refinished hardwoods too much to have a slightly-too-small rug under our coffee table in the living room.

So I'll be selling the 5 x 7 Home Goods rug (don't have another place to put it at the moment) and replacing it with this one from Overstock.com. The 7.9 x 11 rug was $171.99 plus $2.99 in shipping. We bought the red one.

In related news, this blog has gotten so boring! I'll try and think of some fun content to spice things up...

Katy

New Sink

I'm off to buy this sink from Craig's List ($75). Apparently a Marietta man bought this sink without consulting his wife... and she didn't care for the style.

Because we bought in DeKalb County, we* have to comply with the low-flow regulations within 30 days of purchasing the house. This sink will shortly find a home in our compact master bathroom.

Toodles!

(*Usually DeKalb County sellers have to install low-flow toilets and fixtures; however, since we bought an estate sale, this responsibility falls on us.)

"How much more crap is going to come out of that house?"

That's probably what our neighbors are asking themselves.

Two weeks ago it was a dumpster full of carpet, carpet padding and ceiling tiles.

Pictured here: two not low-flow toilets, new toilet boxes, a refrigerator with no doors (?), crushed boxes from moving, yard refuse and a week's worth of recycling.

Master Bedroom: Bed Makeover

When I received some cash birthday gifts from family, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to buy: new linens for our bed.

Lame thing to spend birthday money on? I think not. Since we chose a celery green for our master bedroom, our old bedspread colors and pattern weren't matching the new quarters. Of course, I scoured the Internet for inexpensive linens.

Choosing something with too much green presented a few challenges: the green may not match in person, and we would run the risk of too much green in the room. Dan's main concern was not buying something too light because it would be more prone to visible makeup smudges or accidental coffee spills (he knows how clumsy I am). Considering we already have some neutral sheet sets, I decided I didn't want to spend more than $150.

I was referred to Linen Source by a colleague. Despite cute and cozy offerings, the color schemes were either too light or too green. I also scoped out Macy's, JC Penny's and Target before going back to the old standard... eBay.

Even though I didn't want to go the duvet route, I ended up falling for a Hotel Collection duvet cover and four matching pillow shams ($79.99 plus $7 shipping from eBay seller accessorypluss2008*). I found a reasonable lightweight duvet (Georgia summers are too hot for heavy bedding!) for $29.99 plus $12 shipping from eBay seller bestlittlesheethouseintx*. I decided to also pick up some colorful pillowcases to bring a little of the wall color into the bedding. Ralph Lauren paisley pillowcases were $21 plus $4 shipping from eBay seller jjcv*.

Ta da! Randomly, all three packages arrived Wednesday.

Old bedding that no longer matches (photo taken at our old house).

Wrinkled, but at least they're on there... I plan to get two more pillows so we can add the larger pillow shams into the mix.

Close-up of the pillowcases.

Hotel Collection manufacturer's photo of the complete set.

I'm relived to have this project out of the way! And I only went over budget by about $5.

*I'm in a bit of a hurry today - so I'll have to add the eBay seller links later!

Quick Pic: Floors

With moving and no Internet all weekend, I haven't been able to generate much content for the blog!

Here's a quick snapshot of the refinished floors. Dan and I are both amazed at how clean and consistent they turned out. Beyond the slight gaps between the boards (from age), the floors look brand new!

More photos to come. For now, we have PLENTY of unpacking to do, as well as some little electrical and plumbing issues that cropped up over the last few days. Home ownership is an adventure, right?

(FYI, we used Scott Loudermilk, an independent contractor, for the floors. His phone number is 770-826-8778 and his milkboy30157@yahoo.com. We found Scott to be professional, reliable and very quick to respond to e-mails and calls. The only potentially negative thing I have to say is that the quarter round, which was stained using the same stain as the floors, doesn't match the floors as well as I thought. Scott is going to come out and look at the floors and see if the match can be improved upon. If what's currently there is the best they can do, I will still be a happy customer. Scott typically charges $1.75 per square foot for sanding, staining and three coats of polyurethane. $1.50 for two coats of poly. Quarter round is extra.)

One Rug Down, Four to Go

I stopped by the Cumberland Mall-ish location of TJ Maxx Home Goods during my lunch break.

Wow! I should shop there more often. Rugs, end tables, chairs, patio furniture sets, mirrors... they have it all! On that note, maybe I ought to stay far, far away!

I decided to bite the bullet and buy this 5 x 7-foot tan rug with various shades of brown and red incorporated (marked down from $129 to $90). I envision this one under our coffee table, surrounded by our copper leather loveseat, brown woven sofa and end tables.

(Forgive the iPhone photos)

Now I'm on the lookout for another rug for our living/dining room combo (something to go under our dining table). I also would like to get 4 x6-ish sized rugs for the three bedrooms. I'm thinking solid colors: tan (master bedroom), black (smaller guest room) and brown (other guest room). We'll see. With the good recommendations from you all, I'm sure to find some great items! Thanks for the suggestions!

Wanted: Rugs for Updated Traditional Home

So, I would LOVE to find some reasonably priced and gorgeous rugs for our new house. You know, some like this:

Surya Area rug from Macy's.

Pottery Barn "Evan" rug. Holy outta our price range.

Fieldcrest Luxury Tapestry Rug from Target.

Unfortunately, I'm finding things like this... Apparently rugs are not only expensive and taste-specific, but often ugly. (These are some Craig's List offerings in the $75 to $125 price range and 5 x 7-foot size range.)

Just no.

This one seems like it should come with a complimentary lava lamp.

Like a bad piece of modern art...

This one wasn't only billed on Craig's List as "Egyptian." It's also described as 100% velvet. Are rugs ever made out of velvet? 

Wood floors: stained and first coat of poly

Wood floors: stained and first coat of poly (pictured here: foyer). Can't wait to see the finished product!

If we are happy with our contractor's finished work, I'll be sure to post his name and contact information along with the finished floor photos.

Midway Into Painting

Dan and I stopped by the house last night to check out the wall-patching and painting progress. Our friends at Angel Painting* have been rocking and rolling.  

So far, they've:

• Hung drywall ceilings in the bedrooms (where we once had ceiling tiles)
• Patched the cracks and uneven-ness in the bedroom walls
• Painted and primed the ceilings in the bedrooms
• Started painting the bedrooms walls and trim — and prepping the living room and hallway for skimming and painting

Living/dining (where most of the supplies have been hanging out); this room is next up for painting ("cityscape").

Small guest bedroom ("salt glaze").

Other guest room ("sisal"). This room will look more sharp once the trim is painted semi-gloss white.

Master bedroom ("timothy hay"). This room still needs one more coat on the walls.

*Miguel and his team at Angel Painting are fantastic. Talk about some nice, hardworking, reliable and detail-oriented guys. While there can occasionally be a language barrier, working with Miguel has been very easy and low-stress. One thing that we appreciate is that they under-promise and over-deliver, always coming in ahead of schedule. We were happy with him at our last place — and we've been happy with the work he's done at our new place. 404-438-3623.

Out with the old (carpet)

Over the weekend, we pulled up the carpets in the living/dining room, hallway and all three bedrooms (thanks for the help, Ben and Becca!).

What a tremendous difference! The floors aren't even refinished yet and the room already looks more fresh, open and warm.

Living/dining room (about 14 x 26)

The carpet removal job in the back, right bedroom wasn't quite as glamorous. That spot on the left side of the photo is the only stain we've seen in the house (not bad, considering the condition of the hardwoods was unknown when we purchased).