couches, low furniture and other random musings

The other night I stopped off at Macy's on my way home.  My best friend's newborn's baptism is on Sunday and while I think I have the right dress for it, I needed a few accessories.  The mall closest to me is old and poorly set up so instead of parking in the front and wandering throughout, I drove around to the back so I could park right next to the entrance to Macy's, which put me at the basement.  Which means that as I went to the escalator to take me up to the women's department, I passed the furniture department.  Which meant couches!

I had found the Chloe Metro couch online a while ago.  Probably before I even bought my house.  I frequently scour the internet looking for new and different items and I vaguely remember someone talking favorably about Macy's furniture on a Washington Post chat.  So that's probably what prompted that search.

It's a very pretty couch - feminine, tufted but with streamlined arms.  Very much a "me" couch.  Even better? It's only $900. Right now it's on sale for $700. Can't beat that with a bat.

And I've had it in my head that maybe this is the year I finally get a new couch and get rid of the one that was my dad's from the 1960's.  I know he bought it from a department store, but I can't remember which one.  It was moderately priced so very well could have been Macy's.

So I took the time to do a sit test on the Chloe.  It's a nice couch.  The velvet is soft and it's actually polyester so I imagine would be not horrible to spot-clean.  It's a pretty shade of cream and seems long enough to curl up on for a nap (I was in a dress so didn't fully stretch out.  Though I so would).  And the cushions are comfortable enough for napping. 

But it's low.  Too low for me.  My knees went up above my thighs when I sat down on the couch and I kinda had to haul myself out of it.  Not terribly graceful, especially since I was in a dress.  And when I entertain, I do usually wear a dress and like to at least pretend I'm graceful.  I might look graceful sitting on this couch with my ankles demurely crossed, but I sure won't when I practically fall into the couch.  You know?  And then I'm 5'5".  My legs are a little long for my height, but not ridiculously so.  What happens when I have taller guests?

I'm crossing this couch off my list.  A little sad about that as it's such a pretty couch and such a great deal.  If you aren't as anti-low furniture as I am, you should definitely check it out.  And send me a picture if you buy it!

it's all about the benjamins, baby

The $8,000 housing credit definitely put a fire under me last year to buy a house.  I felt ready emotionally and I was definitely ready to move out of my neighborhood, this was just the push I needed.

Too bad I didn't have that same fire when it came time to file my amended tax return!  I just mailed it in yesterday.  Seriously?  WTF was my problem?  I'll just chalk it up to this whole year getting away from me.  I feel like I blinked and suddenly it was August.

But I did it!  And in 6-8 weeks (or 3-4 months as the woman at H&R Block said it took her son's check to arrive), I'll get one of these babies in my mailbox:

Maybe I'll cash it in for 80 of the new $100 bills.  They're kinda pretty and definitely trippy:

And then I can just run around town with a pocket full of Benjamins!

update on TV stand

The other weekend I finally moved my books out of my bedroom and into the Ikea bookcase in my spare room.  So exciting.  It also freed up one of my 2-shelf white bookcases.  I have three of these.  In my old apartment, they sat in the window nooks.  Before last weekend, I was using one as a TV stand, one as a lingerie chest in my bedroom and the third held other random books.  But now I don't need that third one for books and since it's identical to the one in my living room, I brought it down and now have my TV straddling to the two.  I'm able to get rid of the stool-as-DVD player-stand, which is so nice, and the width of it all is really pleasing.

Last night I settled down to watch So You Think You Can Dance and fill up the space in the second bookcase. I pulled all of the cookbooks out of the one bookcase and then grabbed all of my colored vases from the kitchen where they're half hidden on a high shelf. The really large green vase I just got on Tuesday at Marshall's - $15! Love it.

I first identified my anchor pieces:  two large vases - the new green one and the amber glass one that's I got at Pier One at least 10 years ago, the black binders full of printed-out recipes and the magazine holder (swiped from my landing strip - in theory it's just a placeholder).  I then arranged my DVDS, cookbooks and smaller decorative pieces around them, moving things around to find the right balance of color, height and weight.  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be - I kept wishing I had SOMETHING else.  But I don't want to sink a lot of money into this since the bookcases themselves are just a placeholder.  So I made do with what I have and I think the final product is pretty nice!

I think my favorite part is being able to showcase some of my decorative items, like the little chess set that was my mom's? my dad's? but has been sitting in a drawer for at least 5 years

Or some of my souveniers, like the teapot with the Bermuda landscape or my Fortnum and Mason tea caddy

There's definitely room for improvement, but I love that it's a move in the right direction.

things that get me ridiculously excited

I went to Target last night on a mission.  My bedroom is a mess and has been for months, pretty much since I painted my spare room (need to do a post on that...later).  I'm uninspired and unorganized and it's incredibly frustrating.  I also haven't been sleeping well and I think it's partly from all the clutter.

My list:
* boxes for the small bookcase
I keep my camisoles and ribbed tanks here and when I'm in a mad rush in the morning (every morning), I just throw them back on the shelf.  If I had nice containers, at least I wouldn't see the piles

* hanging shelves for shoes

I have too many shoes.  I hold on to ones I've never worn or haven't worn in years just in case.  I keep them in their boxes because when everything is in a box and they're all nicely stacked, I find it very pleasing.  The problem is that it's annoying to put them back in the box in the mad morning rush or at night when I just want to go to bed.  It all ends up a jumble of boxes:

And I end up wearing the same few pairs of shoes over and over again anyway, why not keep them more accessible?  Out of season shoes can stay on the top shelf of my closet, but I'll pare down the collection so the lower shelf can be available for jeans and sweaters.

I tried having hanging shelves for jeans and sweaters, but I just have too many.  I had to stuff too many onto each shelf and it made pulling them out difficult.  I'd have to pull out the whole stack and then you can guess what would happen - a pile on the floor instead of them put neatly away.

I was moderately successful.  I got the shoe shelves and hung them up - and love them.  They aren't going to work for my city boots and my athletic sneakers each need their own cubby, but they're perfect for flats and Chucks and the moderate heels that I wear most often.  Yay!  It will take a while to see if I can actually keep this up, but it's SO nice to have my shoes easily accessible yet not on the floor (or under the bed, under the bureau...)

Online, what I bought is being sold for $25, but at the store, it was $12.  The Thomas O'Brien version was $16 and slightly prettier, but not enough for me to spring for the extra $4.  I was definitely in a frugal mood last night.

And I did get some boxes, but they're not right.  They're basically like these except magenta:

Love the color - just about the same as my nightstands, but the sides are angled so they look awkward on the bookcases. Bah.  So on with the search.  But at least now I know that Target does not have what I need.  Maybe Ikea?

I also bought some stuff that wasn't on my list.  Is it possible to go to Target and stay to your list?

Remember my plan for my bedroom?  The gray/pink/magenta/brass look?  I had abandoned it because I couldn't find anything charcoal gray.  Pale gray, sure, but that wasn't what I wanted.  Well, last night I saw a charcoal gray quilt and matching charcoal gray sheets.  And I bought them.  I didn't even bring them upstairs so will have to see how they go with my pink coverlet, but they seem to have a tinge of pink to them so should coordinate nicely.  And I'm thinking that if I add a cushy blanket, it should be all warm and cozy without having to deal with a duvet.  Because I'm over my duvet.  It shifts too much, falls off the bed too easily - overall just isn't right.  I think this idea will be much better.  Yay!