He didn’t believe me when I told him how hard it’s been to find fabric for the furniture he chose so I’m continuing to show him firsthand.
Seeing is believing after all.
In my search I’ve discovered that even though different stores sell the same brand, they’ll often have different fabric available and I’ve made it my mission to check them all.
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Hence our trip to Waterville to a small but 5th generation family run store.
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Their showroom is a two story barn from the 1800’s.
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And while they didn’t have the particular style set we wanted, they can order it…. at what turns out to be $600 less than their larger competitors. Free delivery included. I’m all about supporting small local businesses so this is where we’ll purchase it.
If we can ever decide on a fabric.
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Green is still nonexistent. And even the blues that I didn’t really want are muted. But I pulled and pulled hopeful something would catch my eye.
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This photo perfectly portrays how thrilled my husband was to be on the journey.
🤣
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I’d tentatively narrowed it down to these two with the husband bored out of his mind behind me.
Until…
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He discovered a huge computer loaded with the company’s app.
With it you pick your style…
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And punch in the fabric number for a peek at what it will look upholstered. He had fun with this for quite a while, laughing at how horrible some of the patterns were. But when I gave him the number for the fabric I was considering?
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I stopped laughing because he said the cushion had two eyes staring at him.
The ice was here to stay… so work on the bedroom windows was fraught with slippery hazards.
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After the two small windows were installed our contractor needed another set of hands to help him with the big picture window…. so out went my husband.
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The jerry rigged planking platform was less than ideal.
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And the supports were definitely not OSHA approved.
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Mind you, that’s all ice covered snow.
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*Gulp*
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They did it, so naturally I had to document the event.
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That thing was heavy, and awkward to maneuver.
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I was cringing the whole time… expecting a slip and a crash.
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But it exited without mishap.
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And a giant air conditioned hole was left.
The crazy part of the removal? When they took it out we found this on the sill.
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A handful of screws.
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The old window was sitting right on them. How crazy is that!
After a full day of furniture shopping my husband cried uncle.
Or more accurately, Sicilian Table in Falmouth.
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It’s the new sister restaurant to our favorite and we’ve been a few times. Remember the fabulous fish?
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We snagged a spot at the busy bar…
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And commenced cocktailing.
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Okay, maybe that was me.
First up? A rosemary lemondrop.
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Sheer herby perfection.
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Enough so that I had two, with a beautifully rich chicken Marsala.
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Moving on to the winter Cosmo I watched my husband devour the Devils Tower of beef.
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My name not theirs. It was a fabulous but ridiculously expensive filet mignon, no sides included. I don’t mind paying for a great meal, but geesh… don’t make me pay extra for potatoes and veg.
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I don’t care how full you are you can’t pass on their desserts.
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I took half home, but the hazelnut tiramisu was divine.
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And according to my fussy husband, their cheesecake is the best in the state. Caramel bourbon pear sauce…
Since I’m not on board with any of the hideous fabrics associated with the living room set my husband chose, shopping continues.
I stepped it up a notch last week and took him to an Ethan Allen showroom. And aside from the fact it was the smallest store we’d been to, they only had one hard backed sofa.
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Which was too low, too square and too soft for my Goldilocks spouse.
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Factor in most of their couches were over $5,000 a piece, even the simple ones like this, and it was a hard pass.
Next up was the store where I started my search with my girlfriend a few months ago. They had two sets I thought might work.
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But Mr, Picky vetoed this one because of the T shaped couch cushions.
Really?
At this point I thought he was just being obstinate on purpose and didn’t want new furniture. But when I brought him to set #2….
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Hard backed, rolled full arms, not too deep, available with firm cushions.
Could it be?
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A long discussion was had with the (very patient) salesman about features and quality…
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These arms were an eighth of an inch different in size… noticeable to no one on earth except my husband who worked quality control in the Marine Corps.
But despite the glaring anomaly, the husband agreed that this set might work. They even had the pattern he’d picked out at a previous store, seen on the back of the chair above.
I vetoed that as it was probably too light for our white walls and rather liked this one.
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When I asked if I could bring a few swatches home, I was told yes… for a price. For a deposit of $50 each I came home with 5. The $263 to be refunded to my card when I returned them.
Geesh.
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Lord Dudley seemed partial to this one.
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But as I suspected…. it’s too light and bright for our all white walls not to mention my husband’s feet on an ottoman.
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I need more contrast of color and though I really didn’t want blue….
Work moved on to the three remaining windows that needed replacing in our bedroom and as with every single other project we attempt in this house, it was a monumental f*ck up.
These are the old windows, stripped of trim and ready to be removed.
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Yes, that’s snow you see outside.
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Ideal conditions for exterior work.
Not.
The trouble began when the first small window was removed and its replacement was fitted.
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The problem? It didn’t fit.
Because it was too big.
Incorrect measurements by our contractor? He says no and has the paperwork to prove it.
Incorrect measurements by the retailer? They say no and have the paperwork to prove it.
Incorrect measurements by the manufacturer? They say they built what they were told and refuse to refund and replace.
Solution… (other than pulling my hair out, stripping naked, dousing myself in tequila and running down the road cursing the home renovation Gods?) … cut bigger holes in the wall.
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It wasn’t that much bigger. Maybe and inch and a quarter on each side but it meant (what has now become my mantra) more time, more work, more money. Not to mention a tighter fit when it comes to trim.
And after that first window rough opening was enlarged and the slightly larger window fitted and secured?
Let’s take a look at what’s been clogging up my photo files.
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My pickle algorithm has been on vacation lately, but this showed up the other day. I was hoping it was a joke… but sadly it does exist.
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I totally need this. And actually already have a little makeup case like the one in her left hand. Unfortunately mine is a lovely shade of mustard instead of green.
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This poem always gets me.
😰
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From my local FB page.
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Never a dull moment here.
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One thousand and two uses.
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These aren’t my pictures but they were taken in Maine and are too fabulous not to share.
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I’ve never seen a sunrise or sunset like this.
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There’s probably a meteorological term for it, but all I can say is… wow.
My husband rolled his eyes and scoffed at the idea of me not being able to choose a fabric for the sofa he liked among a hundred and fifty choices so I decided to let him experience the joy of fabric selection first hand.
Since we needed to find a different brand of furniture, shopping began anew.
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Can you tell how thrilled he was?
He didn’t mind that couch, but vetoed the square arms.
The salesperson said it could be ordered in a rolled arm style….
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And we were off.
Standing in front of that brand’s wall of fabric, I started pulling patterns.
The following comments are his.
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Too swirly.
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Too wavy.
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Too blotchy.
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Too hippie dippie.
45 minutes later, he started wandering around and picked these.
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Too bad they belonged to a brand that didn’t sell a couch he liked.
The designer in residence took up our cause at that point and pulled this.
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The husband?
He said it looked like television static.
Almost an hour and a half in, he was done…. and pointed at this.
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“That one.
Get that one.”
I thought it an odd choice, but the salesman plugged it into the creation app and the husband was so sick of the process he approved.
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I argued that it would be too light a pattern for an ottoman not to mention our white walls and opted to take the swatch home.
The husband? He opted for a bar because the whole thing had driven him to drink.
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Cranberry gin fizz for me.
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Two beers and a disappointing French onion soup for him.
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My crab cakes with spicy remoulade were wonderful.
Fortified with lunch and alcohol… we kept shopping.
Both of our new doors have been installed. Rotted wood and sub floor sections have been replaced and our contractor made double and triple sure they’re sealed up tight against the weather and rain proof.
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Hallelujah.
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Bedroom and living room door, respectively.
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It took an awfully long time, but I’m pleased.
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But as the title says, while it’s done…
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It’s not exactly finished.
Since the new flooring is next on the renovation list, there didn’t seem to be any reason to put the interior trim back on only to take it off again…. so for now I get to live with a rough insulation filled border.
There are worse things.
I can deal.
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And I’m loving the built in blind.
Progress is a beautiful thing.
👍
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 