Pulled the trigger

Today I bought something that I think will change my life forever....

Yes, yes, yes!!!


No more excuses from my "roommate" now, and I can at least abide by the firm belief that if you hire someone to do something, at least it'll get done. :)

mor tabl3s.

As the search went on for a dining room table, my eyes started to wander and my fingers clicked over to the bedroom furniture sections of every website I visited. That's actually how I ended up buying my headboard, on a pure whim when I should have been researching tables instead. And the rest of that bedroom project is history.


I'm usually very good at making impulse buys and finding good deals so I didn't necessarily mind the headboard diversion, except for the fact that I started to fear I'd soon be settling for any old dining table out of exasperation (nevermind the underlying basic need for one).


With that, I entertained the following options:

Pratt Table from Room & Board.

Loved that there are over 10 color options for this table. I found that either a gray or light wood top with white legs fit my indecisive self the best. Why not have both? I was super close to pulling the trigger on this one but I wasn't a fan of the $$$. I just felt like I'd be a sucker for paying so much for a plain table.

The Axel Table from Room & Board.

Nearly identical to the one above, except for the legs. Again, I was a big fan of the two-toned possibility but even more unsure this time around because of the base. The reviews said it was stable but I didn't want to take the risk.

Avalon Extension Dining Table from Crate & Barrel.

Initially I didn't care much for this style, until I saw it in the store and it looked pretty solid. I thought there was more of a traditional look than I was going for, and that ended up being a good thing. I'd been putting too many mod, lacquer pieces in the kitchen & living room anyway, so a wooden table was definitely a lot more classic. Too bad I didn't want such a dark table...

Rubberwood Table from Crate & Barrel

Eureekers! Not very far from the Avalon table were the nice displays for these guys. I thought to myself, two-toned in color: check. Round tabletop: check. Classic legs and a stable base: check. Extension: check plus! Price: This was the only thing that held me back. I don't think the table cost more than $400 but for some reason I thought I could find an almost identical deal elsewhere...

Williams Sonoma Farmhouse Table

There's the table twin! Oh wait, I went the OTHER direction in price... to the tune of $1800.

Farmhouse Table from Overstock

Think we found a winner! At around $250, not even combined yet with my Overstock coupons, I probably couldn't go wrong. Well, almost. I grew skeptical because the word "farmhouse" started to sound really hickish to me. I knew couldn't complain about the price, that's for sure. But of course I wanted to doubt myself. I also was hesitant because, unlike the other options, I couldn't visit the store and see the item for myself. So I relied on the 5-star reviews instead, which told me this wouldn't be a problem, and I pulled the trigger.

Final results are forthcoming...

Dining Tables

Up until the holidays last year we somehow dealt with using our adjustable-height coffee table as a dining table. It's wobbliness took a toll on me and I decided to start hunting around for a proper dining table.


Top of my hot list:

The Ursula dining room collection from Horchow.

Ultimate hotness. Costs a fortune. Moving on to the next one.

The real problem was, given our limited space, I couldn't get anywhere near a grand 8-seater table so I narrowed my criteria down to round tables. Here were the true contenders:

The Sabrina table from Chiasso: 

I adored the simplicity of it but the concerns were 1)  the base could either be really stable or really uneven again and 2) it's another piece of white furniture that would be done no justice in our already all-white kitchen.

The Round Dining Table with Cutout Legs from West Elm:

I loved the unique look of this design because it's not your typical espresso-colored table but as before, I was unsure about the base of this table being secure. I also didn't think there would be a lot of legroom so I went over to the store and lo & behold, there was NO legroom. I'm only 5'2 so needless to say, it was a bit of a problem.

The Walker II Slate round dining table from Crate & Barrel

I LOVE the gray. I'm all about the gray. (It's the new black!) But I struggled with buying this table because sometimes I would look at it and honestly found it a little on the plain side. The material also made it a little too modern so I probably couldn't picture using this as a table in, say, a more traditional house. When I visited this table in the store I ultimately decided it just wasn't worth the $500 price tag.

The Wine Barrel Table from the Wine Rack Superstore

I briefly became very very obsessed with the idea of having a table made out of a wine barrel. The coolness factor is just through the roof! However, the practical side of me took over and I couldn't imagine subjecting my visitors to sitting on stools, let alone receiving some judgmental glances from my parents. To be very frank though, this will stay on my must-have list for my future basement wetbar. :)

I'll get to the winner next entry. It ultimately came from Overstock and I could not be happier! I used a combination of old discount codes & my spend-$10-get-$20 LivingSocial deal for it. I know I'm so sneaky for placing in my referral code but it's a no-brainer.

Most organized home in America

I could NOT resist watching this video when I saw the title. It's a bold claim, to say the least. 


I'm admittedly no Betsy Homemaker nor do I aspire to be one but I was pretty impressed, pretty amused, and partially inspired. If you can stomach the 15 minutes you might learn a thing or two.





I will not be going all OCD with my non-existent crafts room, but I might purchase a couple lazy susans for those hard-to-reach kitchen cabinets.

"Perks" of condo living

Earlier this week I took advantage of dry cleaning for the very first time:

It felt like a nice adult step to take, plus why not make use?

On the other hand, tonight we walked the dogs and decided to take the recycling down to the garage (instead of the bins down the hall). In the garage, some of the foam shipping parcels fell out and while attempting to clean up of course at that moment, Butters decided to get off-leash. I had to chase him down and did just in time when a car came from the other side and we had to get out of the way. Shortly after, a neighbor approached us and said, "Sorry but I saw you litter earlier. Are you going to clean up after yourself?"

Are you joking? It's like 6 pieces of foam popcorn. The dude was actually pretty passive-aggressive & apologetic in his approach; I think he was just an environmentally-concerned type (so are we, since we were recycling after all). Luckily Mike is the nice person he is and explained that a car was approaching and yes we weren't littering on purpose and would clean up, blah blah. But honestly, I just kept thinking, You're lame and you've ruined my life.


I'm sadly a very petty person bc A- I've blogged about this incident and B- I've already plotted out future disses should we cross paths again (which actually is very unlikely bc I avoid going to all social activities in the building due to the upheld -- and proven once again -- belief that our neighbors are lame old farts).

Draw Something: IKEA

It was Mike's turn in Draw Something:

That would be our nice broken HELMES dresser.
All the drawers except the top one are busted.
I guessed it right away.

The Bedroom Pt II: Master of My Domain

Before & After

But first, must start with....

SO many things I hated about this setup.

1: It screamed male's first post-grad apartment.
2. That blue "sausage" pillow was pointless.
3. You couldn't reach the nightstand because it was too tall.
4: We slept with our mattress on the floor, dammit. I'm sorry but that's just straight up jhetto.

Before

After!!

The true masters of this domain.

Closeup of the headboard.

Thank you Ms. Emily V. Tan for your wonderful photo from our engagement shoot.

Looking extra spiffy thanks to my parents' Christmas gift of a legit comforter/sheet set (no more mismatched pillow cases, woohoo!), and the awesome chevron bench I found on thefoundary.com (adds even more storage, which I adore).

One added touch I should mention, is the square piece of art above the bed that we call "the Von Vildervon painting." It's small in scale, relative to the rest of the wall, but it holds a special place in my heart. We found it in Vienna, shortly after we got engaged. Apparently it's an original by Mr./Ms? Von Vildervon. (The spelling of this poor artist's name is not entirely accurate, since it's scribbled in the corner and Von Vildervon is much easier to pronounce.) Anyway, I was not in any financial position to purchase said artwork but I liked it so much that it was the one and only souvenir I bought over there. And I promised myself I would hold onto it until I found a good home.

3 years and 3 apartments later, and here it is.