Spring Organizing (Closet #2)

The office closet had gotten out of control:

It was my giant junk drawer. But not anymore.

I did a thorough clean sweep on this closet – going through every piece of paper in it. Check out the rejects:

But it was totally worth the effort:

And since I got rid of so much paper, I rewarded myself by adding more to my "mini paper store" stash:

Paint apparently doesn't fix all

It's been freakishly cold in Kansas City for the past week, so the heater has played a staring role in the Miller household. So when I couldn't turn the heating/cooling on using the thermostat this weekend – I started seeing $$$ and getting rather nervous.

After trying new batteries and other cheap fixes, we had our heating and cooling guy come out today. It's never a good sign when you can baffle the pros. After lots of trips up and down the stairs, he discovered the wiring was going bad. Ugh.

Then he asks, "have you hung anything up in the living room recently?" Nope.

As he journeys back to the basement, I start thinking of the man cave, and then the ceiling I'm still (yes, still) painting. And how last week, before the non-existent sectional arrived – I painted the front half of the ceiling...including the wires. Crap.

Paint was indeed the issue. Apparently, some of the wiring the previous owners did wasn't correct, and some wires were exposed. And once I painted over it, bad things happened.
Thankfully, everything is now to code, working and fixed without breaking the bank.

I'm just so happy he asked me that question, because I would have never made the connection. Especially, considering the painting and thermostat incidents were 5 days apart.

Apparently, paint does not fix all.

Tall crush

I am smitten for CB2's high dining tables.


Do I plan on buying one? Nope. But I am enjoying my impractical dreams of busting out these tables during parties (that's right, in my dreams – I definitely own several of these guys). I love hightop tables.


In furniture news: I'm starting to wonder if Brent and I will ever be futon-free in the man cave. When we moved into the house, we had the money for the furniture, and the day before we went shopping, Brent's car decided it wanted the money instead. And that started the "always something" trend. The new something? Thermostat isn't turning anything on. We have someone coming out tomorrow, and I'm praying this won't break the bank (or furniture fund) too much.

In landscaping news: It has been cold and rainy for the past 2 weeks. So, I have accomplished nothing. I'm getting rather tired of this 40-degree weather.

In job news: I heard back from the place I interviewed with, and I've moved on to the design-test round. So, if I seem a little quiet, it's because I have magazine layouts to dream up.

Sofa shopping has begun

After the CL drama (and finding no other acceptable man cave sitting on there), Brent and I decided to hit up some furniture stores today.

We actually found 2 that we liked – a microfiber sectional and a leather sofa set. Originally, we were dead set on the sofa set, but with 2 sofas (who needs a loveseat), but when we came back and did some measuring, we discovered that we literally did need a loveseat. Ugh.

So now it's looking like a sectional is the best solution for the narrow space.

This is the current winner:


(Try not to be too distracted by the terrible coffee table).

The obstacle now is making sure we can actually get it into the basement. Brent took all the door and hallway measurements tonight, and hopefully on Monday we'll find out good news about the furniture guys being able to make it work.

In other news: Brent got to experience US Toy for the first time today. In a store full of little kid party favors, leave it to him to find the mini toilet toy with a smiling piece of poo in it (that can squirt water at you when you open the lid). I'm still shocked he didn't try to sneak it into the cart. Maybe this is a sign of maturity?

So mad

Apparently, "we're leaving now, see you in an hour" is now code for "we're going to stand you up."

Yep, the sectional lady was a no-show. Brent and I are livid...and sad. All our furniture has already been moved out of the man cave, so I spent last night laying on the floor.

It amazes me how inconsiderate people can be.

On to the next sofa search...

Curb Appeal (day 4)

What we left off with on day 3:

With how long the first set of timbers took Brent to remove, I wasn't expecting to get too much work done – so imagine my surprise when they all came out together:

What my timber-free landscape is looking like:

Yep, it's so much better already.

Next, we started the part I've been dreading – digging out the path:

And since I apparently need to run into a snafu each day I work on this project – we found a block of concrete in the middle of our path. After some debate, we decided it had to have been a gas lamp at some point.

Day 4 final:

I think Brent's chipped away at the concrete enough now, that we should be good.

I'm not sure when I'll have time for my "day 5," but I am happy with the progress I've made so far. Ideally, I'd like everything ready for flowers and shrubs by April 29th – which is when my favorite charity plant sale is.

Eeek!

I am so excited! I found this guy on CL, and Brent and I are picking it up tonight. This sectional will be perfect for the man cave.


Update: Ugh. Just got an email from the lady and she has decided to keep it. Guess the futon in the man cave will stay for awhile more.

Update 2: Apparently, I am getting the sectional again – the lady just wanted to keep it until she picks up her furniture on Wednesday. And since she'll be in the area, it will now be delivered to my garage. Sweet!