New Project!

My sister and I went to our favorite old furniture store today. I found this very nice and VERY dirty Queen Anne style side chair for only $29!!

From Little Nest

The wood appears to be cherry and needs to be refinished. The chair fabric is really disgusting. Looks like someone had a very dirty dog!

I have never upholstered anything so this will be a new adventure. Julie and I both have several projects that we are currently doing so this will wait for a few weeks. Later this afternoon we stopped at a great discount fabric place and I found a beautiful pink and white toile for $7 a yard. I don't think it will take more than 3 yards to cover the chair. This will be such fun!

Insulation

This is probably the first time in my life that I have wanted to rush winter and move into spring as quickly as possible. Last month I received a nearly $300 electric bill. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I immediately called the power company and found out that it was from an actual reading and that it included an extra 5 days. Still...that number was just way too high. I knew I had some draft issues. I just didn't realize how much they were costing me!

My brother has come for two consecutive weekends to do insulating work for me. He is coming again this Sunday to caulk. Apparently the meatball that "flipped" my house did not caulk around windows, baseboards or doors. My brother has shoved insulation everywhere he could reach and then put spray insulation around the sill plate in the basement. All of that has helped. My kitchen floor is very cold so in the spring he is going to put foam board insulation under my floor joists.

I love the look of my pocket door going down to the basement but it will have to be replaced. Way too much cold air gets around the door so right now I have the door pocket space filled with foam caulk filler. I hung an insulated curtain from WalMart over the door so that you can't see how strange the door looks. I used a pretty wrought iron looking rod that matches one that I have a quilt hanging on in the dining room. (The sage green looks so nice that I think I am going to replace my dining room curtains with a set!) My brother is going to hang a "real" door there for me so that there is a seal between cold basement air and warm dining room air.

"Frost King" is my new favorite company!

New magazine

Maybe I have been living under a rock or something. There is a new magazine at Joann's (and you can use your 40% off coupon)! It's called Junk Beautiful. If you are a junker, check it out. It is sealed in plastic so your cannot peruse it in the store but here is a link to the editor and more information.

More for my wish list

There are 2 other pieces of furniture I have on my "wish list". One is necessary and the other is on the bottom of the list.

I have an enormous television in my living room. I think it is 32". It is not plasma so it weighs a lot - like 140lbs. (My son hated moving it so much he gave it to me and bought himself the plasma screen unit.) I have it sitting on top of an antique wash stand. It sits in the corner of my living room near one of the heating units. The wash stand periodically makes a cracking sound. I am terrified that the wash stand is going to totally dry out and collapse under the weight of the television so I really need something actually designed to hold up a TV.
I think I want the antique white. I have a lot of mahogany and cherry pieces in the living room. What do you think? I really do like painted pieces.

Here's my "I really could use these but they are not a necessity" itemThese I would like in black since I have cherry and black Hitchcock chairs in the dining room. I have a nice little bar adjacent to the dining room and I would like to use it for quick meals. Right now the bar just serves as a pass through to the kitchen when I am cleaning off the dining room table.

I really need to win the lottery. (Oh, yeah - you have to play to win, right?)

2009 Wish List

Because I am considered a displaced homemaker, I have the opportunity of receiving the "First Time Homebuyers Credit" with my income tax return this year. It is a nice little chunk of change so I am working on my wish list.

My dryer is pretty inefficient. I think I have two dryer settings that work - High and Fluff. This is on the top of my list There is a matching washer but my washer works great, has a good EnergyStar rating so that will be on my list in 2010 or 2011.

My refrigerator that came with the house is OLD. So old that I think it came from Montgomery Wards and they have been out of business for years! This is what I looking at to replace the fridgeThis one is so big that I won't have to keep running down to the basement to get stuff out of the little fridge down there.

My stove is horrible. It also came with the house and has seen better days. In addition to the cosmetic issues, the oven simply will not come clean and the thermostat doesn't work. It needs a new burner electrical connection on one of the large burners and there are no little knobs on the timer and range setting thingies. I love to bake. I desperately want a convection oven and I want one that is self-cleaning. I WANT this stove!

Last, but not least, I want a new sofa. I want one with a cover that I can pull off and wash. I think IKEA has the best price. I am not in the living room very often but would like something pretty and new. I am tired of hand-me-downs. This is what I am thinking about The sofa will be a "want it" kind of purchase. I may not do it this year but I surely would like it!

Sometimes bigger IS better...

Y'all know that being a homeowner is a big deal for me. I still get a little weepy when I think about it. (Of course, my children think I get a little weepy about EVERYTHING!)

When asked for gift suggestions this year, I responded that I prefer that people purchase things for me that they think I would like. When pressed, I admitted that I really wanted an 8' step ladder because I have 12' high ceilings and I was tired of having to borrow my dad's extremely heavy ladder. My family also knows that I love shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot. I wander up and down the aisles looking at everything - even things I cannot identify! When I lived in Seattle, we renovated several houses for re-sale (flips). I love working with my hands almost as much as I like quilting!

Well, I am now the proud owner of this

I was almost as excited about bringing this home as I was when I closed on the house. Getting it into the basement was an adventure (Thanks, Chad!) but I think I know how to maneuver it up and down the steps so now I have to decide what project to take on first!

Merry Christmas!!