Linen Luxury

So this weekend I got a lovely early birthday present from los padres...it's this IKEA armoire I'd been wanting for the bathroom to serve as a linen closet! I was excited enough about the armoire itself since it would mean I could actually keep towels in the bathroom instead of carrying one in from my bedroom everyday.  As a bonus, the shelves can hold all the random bathroom stuff that has remained unpacked in my room for the past...ohhh, 4 months! But not only is it be incredibly functional, it's style compliments the bathroom and claw foot tub perfectly...

So on Friday evening the parents delivered it to me. I was too distracted by studying for a Calculus test to get too excited. Then Saturday I was busy with work, taking the test, napping, and then a few errands! While out and about I stopped in Hobby Lobby (more affectionately referred to as Hob Lob) and picked up this hot little number for 50% of $19.99.

Could this scream Ellen's bathroom any louder? It's black and white, says "Paris", depicts a claw foot tub, and was on sale! Well, truth be told...I was still unsure how I'd like it once I got it home. But as soon as I saw it against that Tiffany blue wall I was SOLD.  The combination makes me love the artwork AND the color of the walls even more. Now I'm starting to get excited about this whole bathroom makeover.

At some point on Sunday afternoon I checked in on Ben's assembly progress and it was right at the point where the backing gets nailed on. I looked at the subtly stripped background and it looked...blah. Too bad it couldn't have some sort of unexpected surprise that would really stand out when you opened the doors to get a towel. But wait! I have the perfect black and white gift wrap! I can already imagine just how amazing it will look with that as the backing. Thank goodness for the One Spot at Target and my proclivity to purchase things I love without quite knowing what to do with them yet. (Yes, I bought gift wrap with no intention of using it to wrap presents. )  Here's what the pattern looks like:

The 1st attempt to affix the wrapping paper to the backing was made with Mod Podge and foam brushes. This failed. You pretty much get one try to put down the paper and it is nearly impossibly to avoid wrinkling the paper/getting air bubbles trapped.  After two attempts with the Mod Podge I was left with this...

...and then quickly moved on to plan B: cut two pieces of wrapping paper the proper length, match the pattern down the middle by looking at the wrong-side of the paper (luckily the paper was very thin and the design showed through well enough to make wrong-side matching possible), tape the seam together with packing tape making one large piece of gift wrap. Next, we just wrapped the backing up like a present taping the paper around the perimeter of the back (wall-facing) side of the armoire back:

Then came the moment of truth. We flipped it over and voila!

(If I were doing this again I would probably verify the design was matched up down the middle before actually taping it to the backing...but thank goodness I got lucky!)

Then it was as easy as finishing assembling the armoire according to instructions.

Here it is in all it's glory:

The pattern does not capture well on camera (try not to look at it too hard or you'll get a headache!) but it looks really cool in person (just like the above close-up photo of the pattern).

Then came the fun part: filling it up!

I already had the black fabric bins purchased from Family Dollar near Grandma's house in August. They were $5 for a 3 pack of either size. I originally bought them for another use but they didn't work out and are perfect in this space instead.  I also used a hanging sweater rack I had leftover from my apartment closet to hold towels and eventually sheets (once I get around to putting them in there...).  I'd really like if it were black too but I can't argue with free! 
I have a few more small things planned for this space but I am loving how it's turning out so far.

Richmond Moment of the Week

When driving back to work from lunch a girl rode her bike across the street in front of me...and by rode I mean darted out in front of my moving vehicle...and by darted I mean swerved uncontrollably. Once I slammed on my brakes and she reached the other side of the road safely I realized the reason for her hurry...and her swerving. It was all because she wanted to get to the other side of the road so I could read the GIANT poster board sign that she was holding. It informed me she is selling her KING sized mattress and box spring set for ONLY $400. I sure hope she doesn't deliver by bike too!

Red, White and On Sale!

I have never really liked the 4^th of July. Sure I enjoy the excuse to grab a good burger and we all know I love a themed outfit so the whole Red, White and Blue thing isn’t lost on me. But the whole holiday has never been anything special…it’s already summer time so it’s not like you got a day off from school. You might go see some fireworks while sweating to death and getting eaten alive by bugs. Or maybe you stay home in the AC but there’s nothing to watch on TV except coverage of the fireworks--who watches fireworks on TV anyway? This year, things were different. This year, I discovered the true meaning of the 4^th of July...shopping.

It all started Friday after a particularly annoying day at work when I forced myself to drive to the bank to deposit my (now a month old) security deposit check from my apartment. I may or may not have been distracted by talking on the phone while driving when I missed the exit to my fave branch. Rather than make a giant circle I set about driving down Broad street until I found another one. Lucky for me the 1^st branch I found was the busiest one in all of Richmond. After waiting 12 years in the drive-thru line I realized that I actually needed to go inside because I also had to change my address…dagger! Thank goodness the line inside was even longer than the drive-thru line! And to make matters even more enjoyable…I had a close follower in line behind me. I take one step forward, she takes two steps forward. This is all enhanced by the constant sound of the lady who is operating the drive-thru lane wishing each bank patron a safe holiday. Why didn’t I appreciate the speedy drive-thru line when I was out there? It's moving at least five times faster than this line. I try to inch discreetly forward without lifting my feet in hopes close-follower won’t notice. She responses by taking two real steps forward. By this point I am contemplating my options. I will either leave the bank, go directly home and drown my frustration in Target Sangria (do not pass Go, do not collect $200). Or I will keep driving down Broad Street for some good old-fashioned emotional shopping. When it’s finally my turn and the teller informs me that I had been standing in the wrong line the entire time it all became clear: I needed to shop!

I go to Pier One followed by World Market where I manage to do some quality window shopping. Yes, I spent a leisurely hour walking through two stores that I love and did not purchase a single item. (Okay, okay! So maybe I spent $20 at Pier One…but that was on presents for other people so I say it doesn’t count.) By the time I leave World Market empty handed I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I came, I saw, I left. No (personal) purchase necessary. trifecta I will go to Trader Joe’s and get my grocery shopping done. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Go out to do emotional shopping and come home with groceries. This is going to be great. I park my car and in I go.

That’s when I saw it. Sitting not even two steps into the store. Just waiting to go home with me. The most amazing storage trunk I’ve ever laid eyes on:

Window shopping over.

I look at it for a while: it’s in good shape, it’s a reasonable price, it’s SUPER useful. I mean I just moved into a house with a significant lack of closets. Of course I need another storage trunk! This isn’t shopping for fun. This is a necessity. I will finish looking around the store and then come back for it when I’m ready to leave.

Approximately 2 aisles of rushed browsing later, I return to the front of the store and ask the lady to put it on hold while I shop. Phew. Now no one can steal it. I can continue window shopping in peace. I will not let this one lapse define the rest of my shopping trip. That was a necessity, like groceries…it doesn’t count.

I’ve almost made the full circuit of the store when what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a retro fan, all metal and red!

How perfect would that be for my kitchen? Way too perfect to leave behind. And I did just deposit that check in the bank...I can think of no better way to reward myself for not destroying my apartment than with amazing new items for my house. Shopping: justified.

Now let’s fast-forward to Monday the 4th...

I worked that morning with the small hope that I would get out around lunchtime and be able to take advantage of 4^th of July mattress deals. Low and behold, it happened! I went to Sleepy’s and quickly identified my favorite mattress. Now we all know I love a good deal and the deals seemed good…but I also didn’t feel educated enough on typical mattress prices to just up and buy one the first time out. So I decided to go to J.C. Penney’s (since I happened to have a $10 off a $25 purchase coupon in my purse) and get my table set I had seen on my Saturday evening window shopping trip. (Even though I was pretty sure I was going to get it after seeing it Saturday I knew I’d be coming back to that area for the mattress shopping anyway which gave me time to measure a few spots in the kitchen to verify the purchase.)

On my way to the table set I make a quick pass through the clearance jeans and shoes section…just to window shop, duh! But all the jeans are marked down to $7.57…so I try on all the pairs I potentially like and end up finding a style that fits perfectly and is my favorite wash. I don’t know if all you tall people know how hard it is to find “Short” length jeans on sale…but it’s hard. Typically they are only available at outlets or online which means they are never on super clearance for $7.57. Usually I just resort to buying clearance “Regular” length jeans and either cuff them or hem them. So this is an amazing find I cannot ignore. I go back to the rack, grab three more pairs (yes, three) and head to the check out!

Total for 4 pairs of jeans: $28.68
Minus $10 coupon: $18.68 + tax
Total purchase price: $19.61
That’s $4.67 per pair!

My next stop is the shoe section where I find two pairs that are just looking for a good home--and who am I to deprive them?

Originally: $50
On sale for: $19.99

Originally: $40
On sale for: $16.99

Total for both pairs: $36.98
Minus $10 coupon: $28.98 + tax
Total purchase price for both pairs: $27.28

Alright…now I’m really feeling good. All I have to do is actually make it to the home section and pick up my bistro table and I’m good to go! Before purchasing I decide to verify that the table folds nice and flat for storage purposes…it says so on the box but at this point I pretty much feel like I own J.C. Penney’s so who’s gonna stop me from moving their nice little table display and collapsing the floor model? That’s right, no one!

Originally: $239.99
On Sale for: $69.99
After tax and $10 coupon: $62.99

So all in all I scored 4 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shoes, and a folding bistro table with two matching folding chairs for the grand total of: $109.88

And that my friends, is the true meaning of the 4^th of July.