Home Sweet Home

I am so glad to be home I could shout it from the roof top!!!! I woke early this morning, my normal time, around 5 am. I had my coffee and a quiet morning. After Steve and the kids woke, we had breakfast, then he and I had some business to tend to. We went to the bank and had me added as an owner of the checking account, the savings account and the safe deposit box. Next we went to the furniture store to order the pieces I wanted for the house. His parents very generously gave us money for a wedding gift and I, after much teasing from Steven, finished out the house, the way it should be. I chose the vineyard manor style of furniture. It is a dark cherry type finish but looks a bit antique with a deep walnut under coat. It is a very hard color to describe. The style is traditional, classic, but fresh and something we will enjoy for the rest of our lives. We shouldn't have to ever buy more furniture for the house, save for a new bedroom suite down the road. For the family/tv room I selected a wall unit that will take up probably the entire wall in the family room. It is made to hold tv, dvd player, vcr, and at least 4 stereo components, along with closed shelves and cabinetry to hold all the albums, cd's, dvd's, etc in a neat and elegant piece of furnishing. I have had reservations about the cost of sofas and really could not consider putting a $1000 sofa in there for the kids to wallow on and eat popcorn, etc. Heck I had a hard time paying full price for anything. We looked in the clearance area where often floor models are put on sale at a discount price and things were on my side. There was a loveseat in a plaid design that has the same cranberry red base color as the red sofa we purchased back in February. Also there was an ottoman that matches the red sofa, we could only find a small spot on the ottoman and I selected both pieces before someone else could nab it. Things in the clearance section go fast!! The family is outfitted, a 2 piece wall unit, loveseat and ottoman. Next the livingroom and dining room on the main level. I already knew which sofa grouping I wanted. Much to my delight it was on sale when we went in!!!! Yeah!!! Not full price. I selected the sofa and loveseat which is a goldish brown base with floral designs woven in but you have to be in a certain angle to actually see the other colors in the sofa, blues, reds, greens. The front of each piece is decorated with wooden accents of a scroll pattern that lend itself to being very elegant, yet not stuffy and borish or what my mom or grandma would choose. I chose an armchair and ottoman from a different set that matches the sofa and loveseat except it has more reds where the other has more blues. I did not want something that was totally one color in the room. The living room is longer than it is wide and I wanted to break up the pattern and space. I also chose a round cocktail table and matching drop-leaf end tables. For the dining area, I chose in the same style and color a sideboard and glass fronted cabinet. We will be refinishing my old pine drop-leaf dining table for the area and these pieces are simple, not borish and I think will add a touch of my more country tastes, yet remain classic. I do have to decide to either recane the chair bottoms or to select cushins for them. I think cushins will be the wiser choice. I also chose a small writing desk and hope the mail and Steven's things when he empties his pockets will end up there. So, 10 more pieces of new furniture for the main level, bringing the total to 13 pieces for the house. I think I chose wisely and spent the money well. It was given for furnishing the house and making the family comfortable. That is what I did. Steven doesn't care much about looks lol that's an understatement, he is only concerned with functionality. The pieces will suit both of our tastes, the house is warm and cozy, functional, yet understatedly elegant. Lamps, mirrors, etc can be selected as we find things from estate sales or antique shops. I think we will have fun looking for ther additions. Steven loves to browse old shops, as do I. It is something we can do together and find pleasure in. At the beach, his mom gave us a lovely candy dish for our new cocktail table, it is formed in sand molds and looks like a deep scallop shell and a very large puffy sand dollar. With the few shells we picked up it will be nice to deplay to our guests. A quick trip to the grocery store and we were home. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping. I tell ya, you need a vacation to get over taking a vacation. The loveseat and ottoman we purchased had to be taken with us and not delivered. We were too tired to mess with it, plus there was no room in the house for it until we take out the old sectional sofa that was in the family room. We put the trwash out tomorrow evening to be picked up Monday morning, so we will wait to take the loveseat out of the truck until then. I should note here I was sweating like mad in the store. I have some weird thing about spending money in large sums. I get sick on my stomach :-s .... but I did it. It has been long in coming that someone took the upper hand and transformed this house into a house, a home, instead of a dorm/frat-house/playhouse. It is our home and I know we will be here many years. I wasn't prepared to live here in drab surroundings, getting by with functionality. Must be a girl thing. I did go over budget. But, we had already talked about adding bookcases and I figured those would cost us about $400. So, with what we had as a gift to spend and the extra pieces we agreed we would purchase, I spent that exact amount. $5400 and some change. Actually, while it is a lot of money, I know I spent well and wisely. Everything will be delivered Wednesday. Now we have to rearrqange the things that need to go in the family room. It has to wait till tomorrow. I am rambling.....