First Brand New Couch

My boyfriend and I received a brand new couch (just like on the Price is Right! except way prettier) from his parents. It is so super special that it deserves its own post.

I've almost always had a couch, or at least a ched (a chair and a half, what I call a ched which means chair/bed), but I've never had one that was BRAND NEW!

The beautiful blue Rooms to Go couch by Cindy Crawford, a hand-me-down, in our old house. This couch was a Sectional style sofa and had chaise that could be moved to either side which was great when we wanted to rearrange the room.

The ultra uncomfortable but lovely gray futon couch from World Market (also a hand-me-down).

The chair-and-a-half or ched, which I couldn't find a picture of but it sort of looked like this. A hand-me-down from my mom. This guy served as my bed for awhile in college. Super, super comfy! (Seriously.)

So as much as I loved all of our well worn and comfy furniture, I was really excited to get something new. When we set off to pick out the perfect couch, we first stopped at Ikea. They have tons of affordable couches.

The Ektorp is cute and comfy (my friend has one) and boosts tons of different colored $50 slipcovers for easy updates. And it's only $600. I really thought that it was just too modern (contemporary?) for the age of the condo, however. This style of sofa is generally known as contemporary or Bridgewater.

I also looked at World Market and Rooms to Go and found similar options. They were comfy and cheap, but they were also just too contemporary for my tastes.

After a lot of searching at vintage stores, I realized that I was beginning to appreciate couch shapes from bygone eras. A lot of vintage shops I frequent have Chesterfield style couches, which are simply magnificent and fit well with older homes (and condos). They are also quite expensive and way out of the assigned budget.

This beauty (the Thackery Chesterfield) from Anthropologie is $2,500 (plus tax and delivery). Most vintage stores I found sold the couches for similar prices. Sometimes as low as $1,500, but that was still too expensive.

I also like the English or Club style, as described on this site. This style of couch is very open which is great for small spaces and that definitely applies to my condo.

Another classic style is the Tuxedo style sofa, which I also found appealing for its neat, straight lines.

After careful consideration, I ended up going with a couch from a local furniture store that had to be ordered from overseas. That was the worst part - waiting! It took over a month for the couch to arrive. Then we enlisted the help of a very kind friend and rented a small truck from Home Depot for $20 an hour to move the thing. Taking it up to the second floor was a bit of a challenge.

Moving it upstairs, still carefully wrapped in its packaging!

Ta-da! The sofa's style is almost Club or English, but it has more defined arms than those styles generally do. However, its back cushions are not movable which makes it a more traditional and formal sofa. The bottom cushions can be flipped though, which is good for stains and general upkeep. Although I've been known to rent a rug doctor and use the upholstery attachment to clean furniture. There's nothing like seeing the color change on a piece of old furniture (gross, I know!). I also really like the cleanness that the exposed legs provide.

Here it is sitting in the store, just as we first saw it.

Since the color is gray, the couch should be just neutral enough to be useful for many, many years to come. Some of the best sofa advice I've heard is to buy a very plain sofa and decorate it with colorful pillows and throws so you can change the theme of your room easily and inexpensively. Of course I chose gray pillows. That's just me!

By the way, thanks to my mom for the pillows from my favorite store, Target!

Fifty signatures later.

So, it's done. After a speedy walk-through wherein I realized that there was still water in the washing machine that had most likely been there since the inspector 'inspected' it by turning it on and then failing to notice that it did not complete the spin cycle, we headed over to the mortgage office to close. (We meaning my boyfriend's mom, myself, and the real estate agent.) Before closing, I requested that the washing machine be fixed. Too late. This is when I learned that the seller was a flipper and had never leaved there or rented the place out. My whole attitude said: Let's just get this paperwork over with.... I guess. I was feeling a little shaky, and I almost wanted to cry, but I am happy to say I did not! Washing machine doesn't work. Ok, I can deal with that. No big deal, right?

Here's what was a big deal: literally seconds before I walked in the office to close the window lady from Home Depot calls me and says: "How old is your condo?" I say, "nearly 100 years or so" (I don't know for sure). Our conversation continues on and the gist is that she says they can't do our windows because the building is too old and it is made of stucco, which they can't or won't repair. So I go into closing thinking, wow, how are we going to get our windows fixed and at what cost?! That did not make for the most pleasant closing process.

Of course during closing I read all of the paperwork (collective mental groan around the room I am sure when everyone realized that I would), but I read quickly and asked questions. I was visibly depressed (I think) throughout the entire process. I hate that, but this has been a difficult decision and process for me because of the whole Tale of Two Cities thing. There were a few mistakes, namely centered around the term of the loan and other numbers-based details. So read every word. It will save you time in the long run.

Once in awhile (well, it's only been two weeks) I have a mini/private meltdown in Target when it hits me that I am shopping alone, going home alone, hanging out at home alone. But overall I am trying to make the best of this situation.

More updates on the renovation process to come! Oh and by the way, I fixed the washing machine with some careful thinking and a bit of duct tape. Every so often the duct tape needs adjusting, but it is doing the trick for now!

P.S. I have since made plans to have three out of six windows replaced, so things are getting along well in that department.

Moving Day Checklist

Moving day is here! Well, sort of moving day. Cleaning day. Cleaning day is here! Here's a breakdown of what we want to accomplish first:

1. Change out smoke detectors for combination smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. First we have to find out if ours are the hard-wired kind or the battery operated kind. We're looking at these models depending on which kind we need:



Kidde KN-COSM-XTR-B Nighthawk Intelligent Alarm





Kidde KN-COSM-IB Hardwire Combination Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Alarm

2. Change out the thermostat from the sliding temperate type to the programmable type. (Read more about that purchase here.)
3. Shop Vac and steam mop the floors. We have a 6 gallon shop vac (very similar to this one) that I bought my boyfriend at Lowe's for Christmas last year. We also have a steam mop on the way via Amazon Prime (more info on the steam mop here). The shop vac will not be stored in the apartment permanently after the bulk of the cleaning is complete. I'm still considering what route will be prudent space-wise for a vacuum.
4. Paint. First we have to pick out all of the paint colors. Lately I've been inspired by rooms in muted colors like off-whites, grays, chalky blues, and faint yellows.
5. Change out the switchplate and outlet covers. No more yucky beige plastic.
6. Bug bomb. Or not. I still haven't decided if this is going to be worth it. I may set one off one night before I leave for a few days. This one is contingent on whether or not I can figure out the smoke detectors. Because bug bombs have been known to set off smoke detectors, so you have to make sure they are all unplugged before setting off the bomb (or fumigator). I am slightly concerned about the human health risks involved with these bombs. The bugs I am not so concerned about. I am interested in a massacre.

So those are some first priorities. We shall see what I actually get done!

Tomorrow! (Maybe.)

Now that I've changed the time for the electricity to be turned on and meeting the guy from Home Depot who will measure the windows yet again, I am ready for this to be over with on Friday. We'll have a 'final walk through' on Friday and then an hour later I'll drive to the office (whose office? I can't keep up anymore. Someone's office.) to sign the final papers and close. I had no idea that one completed a final walk through before purchasing a place, so I'm interested to see how that goes. For me it would probably go something like "Wait a tic! That roach wasn't lying in the floor last time I was here. Deal's off!" Or maybe I should be looking for graffiti or missing appliances. Or flood damage. I have no idea.

Waiting? Yes. Definitely More Waiting.

I take that back, there will be more waiting. For the twentieth time, the time of closing has been changed. I am no longer surprised at this point. Because the "IRS did not send over some paperwork" in time, the closing will not be tomorrow. Due to the fact that I have school on Thursday nights, the closing will not be the day after tomorrow. So the closing is on Friday. Maybe. I will not be surprised if it is moved to sometime early next year.

No More Waiting

Tomorrow is the day. In a little over 24 hours I will be signing the paperwork and we will own our apartment. My boyfriend informed me that he bought me a mop last night:

Haan Steam Mop in White (Model SI-35)

Shortly thereafter I bought this thermostat:

Honeywell Thermostat (Model RTH7600D)

He bought me the mop in the color that I would have picked (white) over lime green or bright red. And yes, I see the humor: my boyfriend bought me a mop. However, it has 4.5+ star reviews, it's compact which is great for our tiny 650 square feet space, and it will sanitize the floor without the use of harsh chemicals. I picked out the thermostat for him because he wanted a touch screen, it is programmable for different times of the day and for vacations, and because our current thermometer looks like this which probably means it's from the 1980's or earlier:

Super Old Thermostat

The best part of finishing the buying process is going to be ending interaction with my real estate agent and lender. Throughout this experience neither has been helpful or consistent. In the future I plan on being more careful and discerning when deciding who to work with. I've received so many "final" numbers and changed meeting times that my head is spinning. Soon it will all be over.

Fear of the Unknown

In approximately one week and one day I am purchasing an apartment. The thought of this makes me extremely nervous when I want to be excited. It makes me nauseous when I want to be happy. In short, it makes me feel like I am on an airplane. An airplane going to the first day of school. You may wonder why I have these feelings. Well, it's partly because I've never done this before, and partly because my boyfriend and I will be living in different cities. For the most part. I won't tell you when or where for my own safety.

My boyfriend and I lived together and saw each other every day for two years except for my trips to New York City, Alaska, Seattle, and Scotland. But almost every day. Now I am living in limbo, waiting for this purchase to go through. Honestly, I am afraid that at my closing I will vomit on my mortgage lender. And I feel so guilty because I'm supposed to feel happy. This blog is going to chronicle this very strange, and what I imagine will sometimes be lonely, journey. At age 13 I turned to the internet because I went to a small southern school and all of the girls I knew were going to movies to be with boys and I really just wanted to play Legos without being made fun of. The internet provided a safe haven where I made friends and developed a sense of purpose. So again, I am turning to the internet for comfort and to ease the sting of loneliness.

So as I sit here, contemplating my life that is about to change, I wait and hope that I have made and will continue to make decisions that will cause everything to work out OK.