What I Will Miss About Renting

A couple of weeks ago I shared the things I won't miss about renting when we finally move into our own home. I realize that I only shared the negatives about renting. So I thought, why not share the things I actually enjoyed about renting and what I'll miss when we move.

Probably the thing I'll miss the most about renting an apartment is free maintenance. If something breaks in the middle of the night (like our a/c), we don't have to worry about the cost of having a repair guy come out and fix it. It's all included! One of the things that scares me about owning a home is the fact that we're financially responsible for everything that happens to the house - that adds up to a lot of money! So the lack of stress with keeping up with all of the maintenance is something I will definitely miss.

Something I know Dan will miss probably more than I will is the pool. He was a swimmer in high school, as well as a life guard at summer camp, so he has always had a love for water. I loved the pool because it was an excuse for friends to come over and hang out. Dan's going to miss it because it was his favorite way to cool down in the Florida heat.

Next to the pool, is the gym. Again, Dan will probably miss this one more than I will. He went down to the gym a lot more frequently. He's definitely more dedicated to staying fit than I am. I'm pretty self-conscious about working out in front of people, so a home gym is more up my alley. But, those can be expensive. I'll definitely miss having the much cheaper alternative within footsteps of our door.

Another thing I'm not looking forward to in this new house is the amount of yard work that will be associated with it. We're *fingers crossed* buying a house that sits on an acre lot. Do you know how much grass that is? Considering we've only ever lived in apartments, we have absolutely nothing we need to maintain a yard. Not to mention, I don't exactly have a green thumb. So the idea of working on the lawn and making it look nice is a little daunting.

The last thing I'm going to miss about renting is living on the second floor. Sure, it sucks having to lug groceries upstairs every weekend. And moving in/out takes a lot more work. But I liked the security of living on the second floor. Call me paranoid, but I've always had this fear that someone would break into my apartment through the windows. Living on the second floor always gave me that peace of mind that no one could break in. Well, at least not through the windows anyways.

I wish I could come up with more positives about renting, but I struggled just coming up with this list of five. Can you tell I'm ready to move? Maybe you can add to the list. What are some of your favorite things about renting that you missed or will miss when you move?

What I Won't Miss About Renting

We made quite a bit of progress on our packing this weekend. We're officially at that point where we aren't really sure what to pack next. Our walls are bare and our bookcase is empty. We don't want to go too crazy, since we're still waiting to hear back from the bank on a closing date.

But, the closer we get to owning our first home, the more our conversations turn to all the things we won't miss about living in an apartment. So I thought I would list the "Top 5" things we are looking forward to not having when we move.

The first on the list is the trash compactor. Its what I would call a necessary evil. It's necessary to get rid of everyone's trash when you live in such tight quarters. But, when people don't use it properly, trash tends to start overflowing. This is what it looked like just two weeks ago...

Gross, right? You don't even want to know how bad it smelled...

This thing breaks down at least once a month. Sometimes, I think its just because people don't know how to use it properly. Once someone puts trash in it and it starts compacting, you have to let it finish before you open it up again. I doubt people are patient enough to wait, thus causing the machine to malfunction, and back up with trash to the point where people just leave it on the sidewalk.

Another thing I won't miss about living in an apartment is not being able to personalize. I love to decorate! I'm no professional, but I still like to personalize whatever space I'm living in. The fact that we can't paint or nail into the walls drives me crazy. The most I've really done to make this apartment feel like a home is create a gallery wall in our dining room space. 

Noisy/smelly neighbors is something that has become a problem recently. When we first moved in nearly 3 years ago, there weren't many families living in our building. Now, however, practically every unit is occupied. So we now get to listen to our neighbors upstairs walking around or running on their treadmill. And we get to smell whatever our next door neighbor is cooking for lunch and dinner. Oh, and let's not forget the smell of cigarettes coming from the patio below us. Or the loud dogs in the apartment across from us who bark every time we pull our keys out. We're looking forward to having a little more breathing room between us and our future neighbors.

I think what we're looking forward to the most, though, is having a backyard. One of the downsides to living in an apartment, especially one on the second floor, is that you have only a small outdoor space and are typically limited to a balcony. Our balcony is large enough to hold our bikes and two chairs. But, our chairs are usually occupied by these four-legged furry creatures....

We can't wait to have a little bit of a yard and a large, screened in patio that will have enough seating for us and the cats.

Speaking of the cats, one of the things we hate about our apartment is the carpet. Our cats, as much as we love them, are prone to accidents. No matter what remedy we try, they still have the occasional accident. Having carpet makes it really hard to clean up the messes. Even if we can get the carpets clean, we know the pad underneath still isn't as clean as it should be. We've always talked about a house with tile or wood flooring, which would make cleaning up after our three fur babies a little easier.

So those are the things we're the most happy about leaving behind when we move. Any other renters out there feel our pain? What would you add to the list?

Let the Packing Begin

We're making progress on the purchase of our first home. There are still a lot of things that could go wrong, so we're trying not to get too ahead of ourselves. But, after two and half months of waiting, we're officially under contract. Now it's a matter of getting the appraisal and home inspection done, then waiting on the bank to finalize everything.

Even though the house isn't officially ours yet, and we don't have a closing date set in stone, we decided to get a head start on packing. 

 

The plan is to pack up all of our non-essentials. Like picture frames, books, and winter clothes. We're hoping that by the time all of that is finished, we'll have heard back from our bank on a firm closing date, and move forward with packing everything else.

This home buying process has been stressful, but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait until we have the keys to our new home. Then I can share a lot more about everything we've learned throughout this process.

So, our weekend will be spent with cardboard, newspaper, tape, and sharpies. What will you be up to this weekend?

Under Construction

Can you see what's wrong with the picture below?

Beautiful sunset, right?

Too bad it's being ruined by the sights and smells of smoke.....

This is the new view from our balcony. There use to be this huge field full of trees and tall grass behind our apartment complex. But now, most of the trees have been taken down and the grass has been replaced by dirt. Every morning for the past couple of weeks when I've left for work, there have been huge construction vehicles getting ready to do their thing.

It's sad really.

I'm told that they are planning on putting up a subdivision behind the complex. And, to make matters worse, they've cleared the land in front of the complex between it and the highway to start construction on a mini strip mall. And, the land beside the complex is for sale too - so I'm sure that will be under construction soon.

The one thing I am happy about is the fact that the large tree you see in the pictures has been spared. And I'm sure it's only due to the fact that it's on the complex's side of the property line.

This is just one more reason why I can't wait to find our first home and move out.... with that said, we are making progress, but I don't want to jinx anything. I'll share more on our house hunting another day.

Best Pillow Ever

A few months ago, I was out shopping with my mom when she mentioned that she hated her pillow. She was tired of buying a pillow that was nice and firm only to have it become flat and unsupportive in a matter of weeks. Been there. Done that. More times than I care to admit.

Anyways, as we were walking through Bed Bath and Beyond, we came across this pillow:

Mom fell in love with the pillow, but not with the $60 price tag. That was a lot of money down the hole if the pillow didn't work out.

A few weeks later, I decided to pick up that pillow (along with my 20% off coupon) and gift it to mom for Mother's Day. What sealed the deal? A store employee told me that my mom would be allowed to return the pillow if she didn't like it after a week or two. Who ever heard of returning a used pillow?? But, with that reassurance, it was a no brainer to go ahead a pick this up for mom.

At first she was hesitant to accept the gift knowing the price. But after reassuring her that if it didn't work out, she could easily return it, she was very grateful for the gift.

For weeks, she raved about how much she loved her new pillow! Said it was the best pillow she had ever slept on and that she was falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer than she had before. And, she wasn't waking up with kinks in her neck from sleeping in an awkward position.

Fast forward a few months. Mom decided to return the favor and bought the same pillow for me as a birthday gift. Knowing how much she loved her pillow, I couldn't wait to try it out for myself.

Since we bought our Sleep Number bed, my back aches had pretty much disappeared. But, I was still occasionally waking up with neck soreness due to my pillow. That neck soreness sometimes translated into an early morning headache. And, let me tell you, that's a crummy way to start off your day.

I've been sleeping with my new pillow for about a month now, and let me tell you, it's amazing! I seriously can't explain how much better my sleep is at night. I don't wake up as often to fluff up my pillow. I'm not waking up with aches and pains in my neck. I just wish that I had broken down and paid the money a long time ago to upgrade to a nicer pillow rather than buying cheap pillows over and over again every time they became flat.

So, if you've been hesitant to purchase the more expensive pillow for fear of it not working, let me be the one to encourage you to go for it. I don't think it'll be a purchase that you'll regret.

Disclaimer: I was not paid or perked by Brookstone or Bed Bath & Beyond to write this post. Honestly, I doubt they have any idea who I am or that this little blog exists. My opinions are totally my own and I felt like sharing them in the hopes that it might help someone else making the big decision to purchase a relatively expensive pillow.

New to Us

I mentioned in a recent post that Dan and I were going to be picking up a pair of couches that we found on Craigslist. To recap, when we came back from a conference in Orlando, we realized that one of our cats decided that our green loveseat was the perfect place to relieve themselves. Since cat urine is a pain to get out of fabric anything and we hated the loveseat anyways, we decided to get rid of the loveseat and start looking for a couch to replace it. And of course Craigslist is the first place I looked.

In the "Nearby Areas" results was a listing for a Tidafor sofa and loveseat. The seller was asking $300 for the pair. Considering they sell retail for just under $1000, the price couldn't be beat. They looked a little worn in, but that was okay with us. And even the fact that the sellers had cats didn't bother us considering our cats were going to be laying all over the sofas too.

But, there were some logistical things we had to figure out. Like the fact that the sellers lived an hour and half away. And the fact that we didn't have a truck to move the furniture. Plus, we weren't sure that Dan and I could get the sofas upstairs by ourselves. And, we can't forget about the fact that these suckers are huge and we weren't quite sure how they would fit in our living room.

Luckily, the sellers were willing to hold onto the furniture until the next weekend when Dan had a couple days off. We thought about renting a moving truck to get the sofas home, but the seller recommended looking into the trucks at Home Depot since their rates are much cheaper. Brilliant! And, between the husband of the seller offering to help Dan move/lift the sofas into the truck and Dan bribing a friend of his with free lunch if he'd come help him lift the sofas upstairs, we didn't have to worry about whether I was strong enough to lift the furniture upstairs.

So, Saturday night we drove over to our local Home Depot and picked up a rental truck.

The next morning we woke up early and headed south to pick up the sofas. We had bought a tarp and some tie downs to keep the sofas in place. Luckily, the bed of the truck was wide enough for both sofas to fit side by side, so we didn't have to worry about stacking them. We did have to pull over three times to re-secure the tarp, but otherwise, the trip back was pretty uneventful.

After moving the green loveseat out onto the landing, the boys got both of the sofas upstairs and in place. Since our living room is a little tiny, we had to angle the couches to get them to fit.

Let me just say, these are the most comfortable couches I have ever sat on. They are deep enough to curl up into the corners and enjoy a good book. And, they are long enough to stretch out on and take a nap (which I've done a couple times already this week).

I am so glad we found the room in our budget to pick these guys up. Here's a rundown of our final cost:

Sofa & Loveseat:   $300

Rental Truck:   $74

Tarp:   $0 (originally $20, but returned it because it had massive holes in it after an hour of use - ridiculous!)

Tie-Downs:   $25

Tank of Gas:   $50

Pizza for Lunch:   $16 (with coupon code)

TOTAL:     $465

That's still less than the cost of the loveseat brand new!

We are so happy with our new-to-us sofa and loveseat!

Hurricane Preparedness

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Ok, so this is what I heard from students as the week was wrapping up: "You know that hurricane that's kinda sorta heading our way? Yeah, that one. That means they'll have to cancel school right???" Yep. Typical high school students. Always looking for an excuse not to do work. Well, so far it doesn't look like they'll get their wish. We just got a phone call from the school district stating that schools would remain open tomorrow. However, they did say they could change their mind, and we'd know by 11pm tonight.

Why am I telling you about my students' desire to have a hurricane day? Well, because it got me thinking about whether or not we were prepared at home for said hurricane. Even though it won't be a direct hit, we more than likely will still have major rain and winds. Sure, we have candles and lighters. But shouldn't we have more than just that? What else do we need to have in case we lose power?

Just as these thoughts were crossing my mind on Wednesday, I got a text from Dan...

Dan: Do we need to do anything at home to stock up for the storm? Maybe bottled water?

Me: Definitely need bottle or jugs of water for the house. Need to look at food again & figure out where our candles/lighters are & have them ready. Check on cat food too.

Dan: Ok, can we do that tonight?

(Sorry, I don't have one of those fancy iPhones that can just snap a picture of my text conversations. And if an android does the same thing, I haven't figured out how to do it yet.)

So, as you can tell, my mind was already moving a mile a minute trying to figure out what we need to stock up on. When I got home, I pulled out our "hurricane kit" from our guest bathroom closet and set it out on the coffee table to inventory it. Of course, Periwinkle thought it was her new sleeping spot...

We used a medium sized tupperware (which ironically came housing tupperware) to keep everything in. I think we started putting this thing together in early June? This is what we had in it so far:

• Small propane camping stove (the kind where the burner screws directly onto the propane tank)
• 1 1/2 propane tanks (just don't tell our apartment complex though, cause technically we're not suppose to have them)
• 12-pack box of ramen noodles
• 3 cans of chili
• 1 bag of yellow rice
• 1 lighter
• 4 cans of wet cat food

Some things that we consider part of our "kit," but have a home outside of it:

• 2 pet carriers (in bathroom closet next to emergency kit)
• tupperware of dry cat food (in pantry)
• extra cans of wet cat food (in pantry)
• leash/harnesses for pets (hanging next to front door)
• weather radio (on kitchen counter)
• box of candles & matches (office/guest bedroom beneath printer)
• flashlights (various places around the house)
• batteries (junk drawer in kitchen)

So, as you can see, although we had made a decent start, there was no way we could survive on those things if we happened to lose power for a week. We were missing things some pretty essential things.

 

We started brainstorming the things we might need to have on stock if we lost power for 7 days and we couldn't, for whatever reason, get out of our apartment complex. I also referenced a couple of emergency kit suggestion lists (like this one and this one) to see what else we might want/need to add to our kits.

 

Now, I should stop and mention that if a huge storm was heading our way, we'd probably head into Orlando and stay with our parents. Why? Well, we live in a second story apartment, and sometimes its more important to be on the first floor. Not to mention, Orlando is a little more inland than where we currently live. So, we didn't go really crazy with this emergency kit. I figured if it was going to be really bad, between our kit & whatever our parents had on hand, we'd be fine.

 

After brainstorming and writing everything down on our list, we first shopped around our apartment to see what we already had on hand. Then we headed out to Walmart to pick up what supplies we were still missing. We also made sure not to buy a lot of food that would need refrigeration this week in case of a power outage. Push come to shove, we could always make a second trip to the grocery store later this week. Now our kit includes (on top of everything listed above):

• Fire-proof & water-proof safe (for important documents, wedding photo cd, etc.)
• Bottled water
• Breakfast food (poptarts & cereal)
• Granola bars
• Ice pack (given to us when we donated blood)
• Sun screen
• Travel size shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, toothpaste (from hotel visits)
• Contact solution & case
• 2 gallons of water (if needed, we can fill our bathtub(s) for more water)
• Pack of water bottles

 

 

 

I also taped a small list to the top of our container of things that can't be stored, but would need to be grabbed before we left if we ever needed to evacuate, or head to Orlando. That list includes:

• sneakers
• medication
• toothbrush
• hairbrush
• clothes
• batteries/flashlights
• blankets
• cell phone chargers

Once we had everything packed into our tupperware container, we put it back into our guest bathroom closet. You'll notice that our blankets look like a hot mess that we also keep extra blankets, our toolbox, and kitty litter in that closet. We're also considering storing our new safe in there as well to keep everything in one place. But we're still not 100% sure that's where we want to keep it. The 2 gallons of water got tucked underneath the last shelf.

 

 

So, that's our little hurricane kit. Our fingers are crossed that we won't have to use it much this year. But it's nice to know that in case something did happen (**knock on wood**) we feel like we're prepared.

 

 

Do you have a hurricane/emergency kit at home? Any suggestions to add to what we've already got listed? Are you in Isaac's path? I for one will be happy when this storm is over so the news will have something else to talk about. Hope you guys are having a good weekend!

Pinterest Challenge: Cleaning Techniques

So, this time around for the Pinterest Challenge I couldn't decide on one pin I wanted to try. (To see my previous Pinterst Challenge projects, check out these posts here and here.) Instead, I tested out a couple of pins. All of the pins that I tested had to do with "miracle" cleaning solutions. Basically, you use simple everyday ingredients that you find in your pantry to clean your house rather than the fumey store bought cleaners. Since I've been on vacation the past two weeks, and home by myself while the hubby is at work, I figured I'd try some of these ideas and see if they were worth incorporating into our cleaning routine. But, before I share my adventures with Pinterest cleaning, I thought I'd share this funny pin:

Source: someecards.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Isn't that so true? Anyways, on to the cleaning, shall we? First on the agenda was cleaning the dust on the ceiling fans around our apartment. The hubby pointed out a couple of weeks ago that they were collecting, and I decided it was finally time to get on that. I should point out that I hate cleaning ceiling fans. First of all, it requires me to climb up on something so that I can reach them, and even then I'm on my tippy toes. On top of that, the dust gets everywhere! I don't know about you, but typically our ceiling fans are right above our sofa or bed, and having to clean dust off of two surfaces isn't my idea of a good time. Well, in comes some pinspiration: pillow cases!

Source: realsimple.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Why didn't I ever think of that?? Brilliant! First let me show you what I was starting out with. This is our master bedroom ceiling fan.

Check out that dust! I've seen been guilty of much worse. I stood on our bed and was barely able to reach the fan blades. But this process was so simple! Basically all you do is slide the blade inside the pillow case. Then, as you're pulling it off, use your hands to help guide the pillow case to the really dusty parts. I used my fingers to help get the dust off of the metal pieces that connect the blade to the motor (is there a proper name for those??). And let me tell you, this worked great! Very little, to almost no dust fell onto our bed. There were some tiny particles that fell, so guard your eyes, but otherwise, I'd say it was a total success. Here are the after shots...

And the inside of the pillow case...

Yuck! But, I'm just glad that it's no longer sitting above our heads. That was just the dust from one fan. I went on to clean the living room fan as well, which was dustier than the bedroom fan. Total time for both fans was maybe 10 minutes? Figuring out how to reach the fan blades took the longest amount of time.

The next pin that I tested out had to do with the tub in our master bathroom.

Source: thecraftpatch.blogspot.com.au via Hannah on Pinterest

This one honestly seemed too good to be true. Just combine equal parts Dawn dish soap and vinegar, combine in spray bottle, spray on tub, wait 1 hour, and wipe/rinse clean. So, I clicked on the pin to take me directly to the instructions to make sure the pin was right. The funny thing about the pin is that it's from The Crafty Patch's Pinterest Tested series. After seeing her success story, I finally had the courage to test it out myself.

So this is what I was starting out with...

Of course Cruz had to get in on the action too!

I used an old Shout spray bottle that I washed out. And I didn't exactly measure equal parts - I just sort of eyeballed it. Then, I followed the steps: spray, wait, wipe. I decided to do what was done in the pin and only spray half the tub to see the impact. Here are the results...

What a difference! It really could not have been any easier. The bottom of the tub just required a little wipe down. The sides, however, required a little more scrubbing. But I think that has to do with the fact that the spray slid down and didn't really stick on for the full hour. And, I can't forget to mention the smell. I don't know about you, but vinegar isn't exactly my fragrance of choice. Otherwise, this cleaning concoction really did the trick! I will definitely be doing this one again.

Although I didn't take any before/after shots of these two cleaning solutions in my own apartment, I still wanted to share these pins and let you know that they both worked really well for me.

Source: onegoodthingbyjillee.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: onegoodthingbyjillee.com via Hannah on Pinterest

If you happen to follow the instructions for cleaning your washing machine, my only tip would be to turn off the machine (for mine you have to push the knob back in) once you've filled it with water and which ever chemical you're using. I forgot to do this step, and after 15 minutes, my top-loader started to drain for the next "cycle" even though the lid was still open. Oops! Live and learn, right? And the dishwasher directions worked perfectly the way they are.

Well, there you have it. I didn't create or cook anything this time around, but I think testing out pins counts for the challenge as well, don't you? Hopefully my experience with these "miracle cleaners" gives some of you the courage to try them out in your own home.

I want to say a big "Thanks!" to the ladies who hosted this edition of the Pinterest Challenge.

Of course you have Sherry and Katie, and this time around their partners in crime are Kate and Michelle. Be sure to check out their blogs to see their projects. And don't forget to link up your challenge project too!

And if you're new here, feel free to stick around a while. You can find out me about me and my stories here, here, and here. Also, I'm currently participating in the Thirty Things challenge which will give you a bit more insight into who I am and what makes me tick. I'm glad you stopped by!

Happy

Time for another Thirty Things post. On the agenda today:

#5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

1. My Husband

2. Our Pets

3. Our Home/Apartment

4. Summer

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5. Blogging

At first I thought I would write little explanations for each one, but then I realized that each of these are pretty self explanatory. What makes you happy?

Craigslist Score

The hubby and I made our first official Craigslist purchase this weekend. And the price was a steal! But before I get ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.

Ever since our wedding, I've been on the hunt for a buffet/sideboard for our tiny dining room. We got so many new dishes and small appliances as wedding gifts that we have completely run out of cabinet space in our kitchen. We even had a yard sale to scale down the amount of stuff we had. But even with the yard sale, our kitchen cabinets are filled to the brim with stuff. So I thought a buffet would be the perfect solution - we could store our small appliances in it, or we could move all of the dishes that we don't frequently use in it.

So I started my search online. I wanted dark wood, tons of hidden storage, cabinet doors and drawer space, and preferably somewhere to store wine/liquor bottles. These were the top contenders:

Top left: Hutch-Style Buffet from Target; Top Right: Thomasville Beau Monde Buffet from Target; Bottom left: Hokku Designs Cedric Buffet from WalMart; Bottom right: Canopy Anywhere Console Table from WalMart

The problem? Buffets are expensive! Furniture in general is expensive. Maybe I'm a little naive about what a decent price is for furniture considering every item in our home was a hand-me-down or free (with the exception of our mattress). But I refused to spend $200-$300 for a buffet. So, I turned to Craigslist.

I've been searching on Craigslist religiously for the last two months or so. Although we technically live in Central Florida, we are on the very northern edge of it. So, I spend most of my time searching the Ocala Craigslist. Every once in a while, when I would get bored with seeing the same listings posted multiple times, I would scan the Orlando Craigslist. I figured both of our parents live in Orlando, so if we found anything there, we could just make a weekend trip out of it. We more than likely would have to go to Orlando to borrow my stepdad's truck anyways. And what do you know...

Last Thursday night I was doing another search on the Ocala list and got really frustrated. Before shutting the laptop down to start making dinner I decided on a whim to check Orlando's list again. It was the fifth posting listed, and it was perfect! I seriously squealed. Like school girl squealed. Which is really not typical for me. I anxiously showed the hubby and waited for his approval (our tastes are similar, but we're both very particular and stubborn). He loved it! Sold! Here are the pictures from the website that I snapped with my cellphone so we could show our parents what we were getting.

But now what? I've never actually bought anything from Craigslist before. Sure, the hubby had sold a couple of tools about a year ago, but he handled all the communication on that. There wasn't a phone number listed, so I emailed the seller immediately. Told her we thought the price was totally reasonable, but our only concern was the width of the piece (too wide), so I asked again for the exact measurements just to be sure. The seller emailed back within 10 minutes and confirmed the measurements. We thought about it for a little while, and decided that we loved the piece so much, and since this living arrangement is only temporary, we'd go ahead and get it.

The only potential problem was that we wouldn't be able to go and get it until Saturday morning. And the seller wasn't sure if she'd have any left (turns out she had like 13 identical cabinets). She wanted me to contact her before we left for Orlando to double check that she still had one - if she did, she would hold it for us at that point. Luckily, everything worked out, and we were able to pick up the piece from their warehouse Saturday morning.

My stepdad was nice enough to loan us his truck. We were hoping we might be able to fit the piece into the hubby's car once we had it back at my parents house, but that simply wasn't going to happen. So, the hubby and I drove the truck back to our house (which is two hours, round trip, from my parents) to unload the piece. We stopped by my sisters house and borrowed their dolly. Without that thing, there was no way the hubby and I would have been able to get it up a flight of stairs by ourselves. In the words of the hubby, "That piece is SOLID."

When we finally got to our place, we realized we were going to be racing against the incoming storm...

I didn't take any pictures of us trying to get this thing upstairs. I was a little preoccupied.

We set it in our dining room against the only cleared wall we had at the time. We both knew it would eventually move somewhere else, but for now it was going to work. Even the cats seemed to be excited about the new addition.

So, how much was this buffet? I'm sure you're dying to know! Well, it actually fit right at the top of our budget for this piece of furniture. It came out to an even FIFTY BUCKS! Yep, 5-0. One whole Ulysses S. Grant. Now do you understand the school girl squeal? You should have seen my mother-in-law's face when I told her how much we paid for it - her jaw seriously dropped. If you want to get technically, it cost us a little more than that with all the driving back and forth we had to do, but I still say it was a steal!

The piece is 3 feet high, 4 feet long, and 2 feet wide. It seems to be made of solid wood. The front panels seem to be clear plexiglass. The seller taped some white cardboard behind it to make it look more white/frosted. The hubby and I are considering frosting those pieces anyways.

On the inside are pull-out shelves. It looks like they had some type of plexiglass dividers in them, but the seller had run out of pieces for that. As it is, I don't think I want them anyways, so we'll probably take those out some where down the road. So far the pull-out shelves are working for us. But, we haven't crossed out the possibility of taking them out (or maybe just one set) and replacing them with standard shelves. Why? Well, I originally wanted to store our wine glasses in there, and I don't feel comfortable with them sitting in a movable shelf. But we'll see and I promise to keep you posted.

Sorry for the blurry shots... I was trying to snap pictures while also shooing away the cats.

The top is Formica, and it's pretty scratched up along the edges. The seller was nice enough to rotate the top so that the worse side was facing the wall. We're thinking about getting some white craft paint and just touching up the nicks for now. Eventually we'd like to replace the top, but we're going to wait until we have our own home and see what we want to do with it then.

Yesterday I moved the piece along the wall with all of the picture frames, which I think is where its going to stay for now. I might move the pictures frames over to the adjacent wall and find something else to put above the buffet. The whole room just looks a little unbalanced to me right now. We decided to move the fish tank into our living room, so that should help some. But this room still needs a lot of work to make it work.

Last night after the hubby got home, he helped me move the fish tank into the living room. I moved one of the chairs into the empty void there to balance out the chair on the other side. If we put all four chairs around the table, the area just looks crowded. It looks a little funny with just two chairs around such a large table, but for now I think we're going to live with it this way. We're entertaining the idea of finding a small, square, wooden dining table to replace our current table. Neither one of us has ever been a fan of this table - but it was free, so we've learned to live with it.

Anyways, this is what the set up currently looks like...

 (the sign is from our wedding reception)

But there you have it. Our first Craigslist purchase. And the first piece of furniture that we've actually shelled out some dough for. I couldn't be happier with the piece! Have you snagged any good deals lately? Maybe at a thrift store or yard sale? I love hearing stories about good deals!