Thursday, March 20, 2008

the calm before the storm

I haven't posted lately because nothing has really been going on, with the new house, anyway! I think all of the waiting we're doing, for the title, the termite inspection, the appraisal, interest rates to go down... you get the picture. Anyway, I think this is all just the calm before the storm- I am preparing for a rude awakening on April 11, the anticipated closing date.

Margie, thanks for the lavender bath salts- they will come in handy after long Saturdays of hammering or painting or caulking or doing whatever Kyle tells me to do.

Monday, March 10, 2008

picture and link

Found this picture of the table in an old RH catalog online:
And, for you Balti-morons who want to check out the warehouse, here's the site: http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/info/warehouse.jsp . Call me if you're going!

noT ABLE to resist!

ok, I apologize for the lame title. But I am excited to share my awesome deal, so I didn't want to waste time trying to come up with something more creative. Plus, this one seems like something Will Shortz, the NPR Puzzlemaster, would come up with on the Sunday Puzzler.

Anyway, this Saturday my wonderful friend and best ex-roommate ever Janae came to Baltimore to do some antiquing/dining room table shopping with me. Here is Janae looking smashing while dancing up a storm on an equally blustery day last April:
First we visited a place called Second Chance, Inc., a series of warehouses behind the Ravens stadium in Baltimore, containing, well just about everything, including antique furniture in excellent condition, antique furniture in poor condition (like this table that fell on top of Janae while we were under it trying to figure out if the leaf worked),

salvaged mantlepieces, doors, windows, and a very random assortment of new and used cabinetry, sinks, tubs, and hotel furniture! It was fun to look around, and we did find a brand new Kohler bathtub that Kyle and I may consider buying for our new bathroom (goes down to $57 on April 4!) but we didn't find anything I had to have.

Next stop: Restoration Hardware Warehouse, aka one of the best things about living in Baltimore. It is one of only two in the country, and contains scratch & dent merchandise at a fraction of the original (albeit, inflated) price. We found a dark brown, round, pedestal table with a leaf- exactly what I've been looking for! List price: $2,195. Warehouse price: $199. Delivery price: $170. So, we were determined to make it fit in the Rav4, or as Caryl calls it, the family car. Lukily, the mister was along for the ride too.

We figured we'd just remove the top, but it was just a few inches too wide to fit in assembled. So, we had to separate the two halves, connected by a gear system and lots of screws. The really nice loading dock employee lent Kyle his pocketknife screwdriver, which got the job about halfway done, but some of those screws were really in there! So, as it was getting late and dark and rainy and cold, we called upon our friend Jeff to come on over in his truck and bring his screw gun. While Jeff was on his way, our loading dock friend remembered there was a screw gun in the office- hooray! Jeff arrived momentarily, and good thing, because the green screw gun just wasn't cutting it. Jeff's did the trick, and we finally got the table apart and in the car. Janae and I cuddled in the front seat for the ride home and loved every minute of it (at least I did).

The table is not quite ready for its close up yet, but when it is, we'll be sure to post its pretty mug. Thanks, Janae, Jeff, and warehouse guy!


Saturday, March 8, 2008

inspect yourself, hey hey hey hey

We spent four hours at soon-to-be our house yesterday, while it had a house's equivalent of "turn your head and cough"- the home inspection! Kyle and the inspector spent a couple hours of quality time together in the basement, making good use of their flashlights and pocket knives (and other sophisticated tools, too).

They found a slight crack in the basement wall letting in a teeny bit of water, a few termites having a party in the crawl space, and the hose from the dishwasher fertilizing the lawn with sudsy water. Margie, my mother-in-law, called the latter "country plumbing." Good thing the termites were partying, because there was a funeral in the chimney...a poor little birdy had looked for heat over the winter but couldn't find his way back out.

We expect all of these things to be fixed, then we'll just be waiting on the interest rates to drop again and we should be, as our favorite (NOT) Rachael Ray says, good to go.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

the inside scoop

I have had a few requests to see some interior pictures of the new digs. This is wonderful because it gives me an opportunity to practice posting pictures in a visually appealing manner- something I have obviously had difficulty with in the past. Here goes! The for sale sign should be down around April 11!
I am so thankful for the nice landscaping- I'll want to learn about flowers eventually, but it's nice to have it pretty much set up for now.There is a porch swing right where I'm taking this picture from. Our streetThe front door opens into the living room.
Bay window looking out to the street.
I need suggestions on what to do with the fireplace...leave as is, paint white, install fancier mantle?
The dining room. Window looks onto front porch.I know, I know, the kitchen looks pretty cute already, but we're going to remodel. The cabinets are old and sticky and we love to cook so we want a really great kitchen! The wall on the right backs up to the dining room and will most likely come down. LOVE this window right above the sink.
This is the other end of the kitchen. Lots of wasted space right now. I love that the fridge is set back into the wall.
The only bathroom. It may eventually get a little facelift, but it's great for now!

Moving upstairs....This will be the master bedroom. There is a large closet outside and to the right of that doorway, that we will convert to a second full bath.
There are also two good size bedrooms downstairs. They are both about 12x12 and each has a closet.Oh, here is that large closet!
The back yard. I'm envisioning a nice patio on the left.
And a nice little side yard- perfect for a grill. You can just make out a staircase on the side that goes into the kitchen.