We
made bought some new friends over our Christmas vacation. Yes - they are pieces of furniture for our new condo. But I will love them and speak to them just like they are my real friends.
This whole moving into a place which hasn't been built yet has really been a real test on my patience. I think it was June when we actually signed the papers and purchased our condo, and by the way, just last week we received our first "notice of delay" on our move-in date. The new closing date is now set for July 23, 2012. Claridge is only allowed to give us 3 "notice of delays", and they all must be a minimum of 90 days before the closing date. After the third notice we can either opt to cancel the contract and receive reimbursements or they are fined and we receive a payment. I'm not sure of all the details that go along with that - I'm just hoping we don't' need to go there. Maybe after "notice of delay" #2 I will look into it.
But back to my point - this has been a huge test in patience. We got so excited when we selected all of our finishings back in October, but then had to remind ourselves that we still had 9+ months until we could see it all come together (kind of like a baby! And this condo has definitely become my baby).
Then over the past week or so we took advantage of boxing week sales and made some furniture purchases. Our beautiful new furniture will be stored in my parents' basement all wrapped up and in the boxes until we move (hopefully no later than July 23).
One of the reasons I love shopping so much is the instant gratification I get from making a purchase. I love bringing home a new purchase and doing any of the following:
- pairing my new boots with clothes that are already in my wardrobe
- adding the new pillows to our bed, couch or chair to see where I like them best
- wrapping up new baby clothes for a girlfriend and watching her open her gift in excitement
- I even get a little high from buying food, and then I instantly enjoy it while I eat it!
With our condo, however, I have not been able to instantly enjoy any purchases we have made. I think this is actually a good thing though since one of my New Year's Resolutions is to cut back on shopping. This will help me get away from the need for that instant gratification that I seem to be so addicted to.
Ok! So onto to meeting our new furniture. You may recall that we originally wanted to purchase this table from Structube:
We loved it because of its thin and long shape and the fact that it extended almost 2 feet in length. The shiny chrome legs match our kitchen hardware and the see-through glass won't take up any "visual space".
But THEN, while out doing some furniture browsing over boxing week, Derek spotted this puppy in
Phillip Van Leeuwen:
We fell in love with "Le Pop" as he (le is masculine after all) is so cutely named and you can check out more details on their website
here.
We love him because:
- as with the table from Structube the shiny chrome accents will pick up nicely with our kitchen hardware
- the shiny white legs will look great with our shiny white kitchen cabinets
- the leaf opens up from the middle and the table top is actually easier to manoeuvre than the other table
- he is slightly wider
- the frosted white tempered glass will not show fingerprints or smudges as easily as the see-through glass table top
- on that same note - if anyone is wearing a short skirt or shorts, the frosted glass will hide that really attractive squished-thigh-on-chair look which we all love
We paid $789.87 with tax for our new table. Not bad since the original price was $1500. We hope Le Pop is in our lives forever. If we move and he doesn't fit into our new kitchen/dining décor I think he would work really well as a desk, pushed up against a wall (or not).
A couple days after we purchased Le Pop, the chairs which were on display with him went on sale.
For $99 each (originally $225) we couldn't resist bringing home 4 handsome
Maddox chairs in grey (the ones in the pictures above are black fyi). With tax they came to $447.48. They are super comfortable and we love how sleek they are. I think their grey colour will look lovely across the room from......CEDRIC!!!!
Yes! We went back for our friend Cedric! At $999 with 15% off and a $100 gift card, compliments of my future brother in law, Gord, we paid $847.50.
Here's a picture of Cedric at Urban Barn
And here's one from their website
This is what the material looks like up close. It's the perfect grey and the material is almost woolly. His seat cushion is deep so it's very comfortable, and like I mentioned before, he's over 7 feet long. Derek even tried laying down on him in the store and had plenty of room. With some pretty pillows and a throw he will definitely be very comfy and cozy.
Here's Derek pretending to intensely watch a hockey game. He thinks the couch will be good for that very important purpose too.
Side note: how funny is the fat, pink buddha on the coffee table? I was so enthralled with the couch at the time, that I didn't even notice him in the store. Now that I see him in the picture, I think he's pretty awesome!
The total for the dining table, 4 chairs and couch came to $2084.85. We are definitely not used to spending this much money on furniture (or anything), so we were feeling a little light headed after all was said and done.
But we knew from the start we would want to furnish our new condo with beautiful furniture, so when we signed on the dotted line last June we also opened up a joint savings account for this purpose. So began our window shopping and saving. We felt much better using cash we had saved ourselves to pay for our new furniture. It was kind of like Christmas gifts to each other and our new home!
I don't think we will be making many other furniture purchases until we move-in. We definitely need to get a feel for the space and see how are new "friends" fit and what we think will compliment them. So far, most of our décor and finishes are modern and classic. This spring I'm looking forward to doing some antique-ing and garage sale-ing (hello
Great Glebe Garage Sale!!!) to find some unique, rustic and even quirky pieces to add to our mix.
On the list of things-to-buy once we move in are:
- bar stools for the kitchen island
- media unit for the TV
- area rug for the living room
- mattress and bed (we sleep on a futon right now....it's pathetic)
- floor lamp for the living room
- chandelier for above the dining table
I'm looking forward to the opportunity to share some true bargain hunting experiences. I am also determined to re-finish a piece of furniture....something that is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I figure with enough research I might be able to pull it off. For now, I am super pleased with where we are at....and at the same time I am also working on my patience and enjoying the time we have left in our little bachelor(ette).
Hope everyone is having a great 2012 so far!!!
